View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is The Gammy Bird?

2. What can be 'injurious as well as beneficial'?

3. When is the library open?

4. What happened at Perdition Cove?

5. According to stories, how was the Quoyle house brought to its present location?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author use the symbolism of the iceberg that Quoyle and Wavey see during their walk?

2. In what way is Bunny showing herself to be different from her father?

3. What does Chapter 10 show the reader about the relationship of people to the sea?

4. How does the aunt account for her wish to return to Newfoundland?

5. In what way is the aunt's reaction to the appearance of the distant Quoyle different from her nephew's?

6. What change in Quoyle occurs following the incident of his article on the 'Hitler yacht'?

7. What is significant about the different ways in which Quoyle and his aunt respond to the finding of Bayonet Melville's head?

8. What major fear does Quoyle face up to in Chapter 12?

9. In what way are Billy and Quoyle connected?

10. What do we learn about the aunt in Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

THE SHIPPING NEWS is about physical and internal journeys.

Our lives can be described as journeys during which we encounter many experiences, some pleasant, others terrifying. Our journeys involve the physical, as we move from place to place, and the emotional/psychological, as we respond to what happens to us. Examine the way journeys shape the character and destiny of Quoyle, Agnis, Hamm and Jack Buggit.

Essay Topic 2

All human beings need to have a sense of belonging to a group or a place. Without that, they can feel rootless, bereft.

Discuss the way in which the theme of 'belonging' is explored in THE SHIPPING NEWS.

Focus on three characters and their quest to belong.

Are there characters who do not follow such a quest? Who are these characters and why do you think they are different?

Essay Topic 3

Reflect about the idea that we are shaped by our childhood.

1) In what ways have Quoyle's childhood experiences formed his character and shaped his adult life?

2) In what ways have his own experiences given him insight into the world of his children?

3) Have these experiences made him overly protective of his daughters?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,010 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample