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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 types of flowers does Old Mrs. Hempstock bring into her house in Chapter 3?

2. What type of dog does the secretary who works for the narrator’s father have?

3. What color are the walls in the narrator’s parents’ bedroom?

4. What is Lettie’s ocean implied to actually be?

5. In Chapter 7, from where does the narrator watch as his father shows Ursula around the gardens?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator get rid of the worm after removing it from his foot?

2. What does the narrator’s sister do every night before bed?

3. Where does the narrator like to read on nice spring days?

4. Who steals the narrator’s father’s car in Chapter 2? Why?

5. What does the narrator’s father do in Chapter 7 after the narrator refuses to eat or apologize to Ursula?

6. Who are Mr. and Mrs. Wollery? What are their positions in the narrator's household?

7. Describe the narrator's dream in Chapter 3. What does the narrator discover when he wakes?

8. What items lead Lettie to the creature in Chapter 4?

9. What new job has the narrator's mother taken in Chapter 6?

10. How does the narrator describe the lane that he drives in the Prologue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the narrator's escape from his locked bedroom in Chapter 8. What emotions go through the narrator’s mind when he realizes that Ursula has locked him in? How does the narrator escape? Does he leave because of fear or courage?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of memory in The Ocean at the End of the Lane. How have the narrator's memories led him to the Hempstock farm? How do the narrator's memories change in the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 6, the narrator finds himself reading to try to quell his fears. How would you describe the narrator’s reading habits? Why does he enjoy reading so much? What does reading take the place of in his life?

(see the answer keys)

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