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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. Where do Quoyle and Nutbeem go for the ice they need?

2. How did Agnis' mother die?

3. Which accommodation no longer seems attractive to Quoyle?

4. What happened to the old lighthouse?

5. What disturbing sensation does Quoyle have when in the green house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Comment on the way the writer uses the psychology of memory in this chapter.

2. In what way is Bunny's attention-seeking during the restaurant dinner important?

3. In what ways are descriptions of interior environment, specifically the Heavy weather bar and the Burke house, connected to the characters of Quoyle and Tert Card in Chapter 34?

4. Why is Quoyle uncertain about marrying Wavey?

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

6. What good personal quality of Quoyle's almost costs him his life?

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

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

9. In what way is the short scene involving his bath important to our understanding of Quoyle's inner journey?

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

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

Write an essay about the important contrasts that are represented in THE SHIPPING NEWS.

1) Focus on contrasting values and attitudes. In what ways are those in Newfoundland different from what Quoyle has left behind? Illustrate by focusing on three characters and make frequent reference to the text.

2) Consider the contrast between life in Killick-Claw and that which Partridge describes in his phone call from Los Angeles.

3) Discuss the ways in which these contrasts support the themes of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

'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.

(see the answer keys)

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