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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 Quoyle swear will happen?

2. What news does Dennis phone through to Quoyle?

3. What can't Herry be told?

4. What pleasure does Wavey enjoy in St John's?

5. What are the men arguing about during breakfast?

Short Essay Questions

1. What secret is exposed during the visit to St John's?

2. What is the outcome of Bunny's attack on the teacher?

3. What insight into Wavey and her friends, the Buggit family, is provided in this chapter?

4. Comment on the news stories the men discuss on that cold November morning.

5. What is Quoyle's response to Billy Pretty's skepticism about him?

6. What are the implied advantages of the green house?

7. What interesting plot lines are dealt with in this chapter?

8. In what way does Quoyle fail Nutbeem?

9. Comment on the reception given Quoyle's piece about oil tankers.

10. To what extent is Quoyle drawn to the green house on the point?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

'When I first read THE SHIPPING NEWS, I was captivated by Newfoundland and wished I could travel there and meet those eccentric characters.'

1) To what extent do you relate to this student's comment?

2) What are the overall qualities of the novel that would cause you to recommend it to a friend?

3) Can you justify its status as a literary prize-winner?

Essay Topic 2

THE SHIPPING NEWS is characterized by a distinctive style.

1) What do you see as the major elements of Annie Proulx's style?

2) What is the impact of that style?

3) Focus on three salient examples and comment on their effectiveness as well as their relationship to the novel as a whole.

Make this a personal response.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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