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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does David want to do with the fish in the morning?

2. The men take turns taking footage of the wood they have chopped rather than letting the women film them because

3. When the narrator visits her mother in the hospital, she informs her mother that

4. What does the narrator say she should have studied instead of art?

5. The name of the film David is making is called

Short Essay Questions

1. What is significant about David's interest in fishing and filming Random Samples?

2. How does the narrator see David?

3. Describe the narrator's initial beliefs about Americans.

4. Describe the picture the narrator has found as a "gift" from her mother.

5. The narrator says that living on the island felt "normal" to her, which suggests what about her personality?

6. In what time period did the narrator grow up?

7. What stops the narrator from responding to Joe's voice?

8. Describe the narrator's perception of the townspeople toward her.

9. What does the narrator decide about marriage at the end of the chapter?

10. Both of the childhood rhymes mentioned in the chapter have to do with what subject? Why are they important?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Andrea Dworking said, "Marriage meant the taking [of a woman by force] was to extend in time, to be not only use of but possession of, or ownership." Write an essay in which you defend or refute this statement based on evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

The three settings frequently mentioned in the novel--the city, the town, and the island--all carry different connotations. Considering the connotations of each, write an essay in which you explore the meaning of each setting and its significance to the narrator's development.

Essay Topic 3

Consider the motif of isolation in Atwood's novel. Write an essay in which you explore the connotation of isolation and identify examples of isolation in the text that contribute to Atwood's message.

(see the answer keys)

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