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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. Why is it claimed that biologists have visited the Tough Baby?

2. Petal tells Mrs Moosup she will leave the little girls in . . .

3. What is the Back Buddy for?

4. What unusual sight do Quoyle and Wavey see as they return with the lunch basket?

5. What is the man in the dory doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do we feel at this point that there is cause to be optimistic about Quoyle's growing friendship with Wavey?

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

3. What is the significance of Agnis' relationship with Irene Warren?

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

5. How does Quoyle feel about Bunny's problems at school?

6. Account for Quoyle's cherished hope that he was, in fact, a changeling.

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

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

9. What is Quoyle's attitude to Petal and her death?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In THE SHIPPING NEWS there is a range of events that can be classified as bizarre.

Discuss the use of the bizarre and unusual in THE SHIPPING NEWS. Is there any pattern in this? Is it linked to theme and/or character?

Focus on three bizarre incidents or characters and show how these are important for the novel as a whole. What is revealed or emphasized about choices, fortune and behavior?

Essay Topic 3

THE SHIPPING NEWS is a novel that is dominated by landscape and weather.

1)Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement.

2)To what extent is there correlation between the external world and the characters' lives?

3) Consider how this happens in a novel or film from your general reading and viewing, and compare it with THE SHIPPING NEWS.

(see the answer keys)

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