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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. How does Agnis describe berrying?

2. What is the distinctive feature of the Quoyle house?

3. What is the meaning of the word 'atavistic'?

4. What bizarre tale does Nutbeem tell?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How important is the rhythm of their new lives for Quoyle and his family?

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

3. What are Quoyle's expectations of marriage and how is the reality different for him?

4. How does Quoyle respond to the news about the Quoyles' past?

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

6. Comment on the significance of the contents of the suitcase Quoyle finds floating in the water.

7. What is revealed to Quoyle during the trip to Gaze Island with Billy Pretty?

8. What does the green house on the point mean to the aunt?

9. What insight into Jack Buggit does the harbormaster convey to Quoyle?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

'The ocean is as much a character in this novel as is Quoyle.'

1) What techniques does the author use to give the impression that the sea is a character?

2) Discuss the way of the power of the sea and human responses to it, are represented in THE SHIPPING NEWS. In your answer, focus on two major characters and one secondary character.

Essay Topic 2

THE SHIPPING NEWS shows us a range of striking characters.

1) What are the usual ways in which writers represent important traits in the characters they create?

2) Choose two characters in THE SHIPPING NEWS and examine the way Annie Proulx reveals them to the reader/responder. What techniques does she employ to introduce and sustain characters? In what ways does she sustain the readers' interest in their lives?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the way the idea of personal freedom is dealt with in THE SHIPPING NEWS.

1) How would you define personal freedom? Does personal freedom imply that there are no responsibilities? What interferes with the exercise of personal freedom?

2)Discuss these ideas with focus on three characters from THE SHIPPING NEWS.

You should focus on three characters, giving equal discussion time to each.

(see the answer keys)

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