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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 phenomenon heralds bad weather?

2. What is the audience reaction when Sunshine calls out to Bunny and Marty?

3. According to Beety, what can you never have too many of?

4. Of which type of figurative language is this an example: 'The bay was an aluminum tray dotted with paper boats.'?

5. What does Herry perform?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. In what sense is the new boat symbolic?

5. In what way has Quoyle reached a turning point in his life?

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

7. What convincing evidence is there in this chapter of Quoyle's aptness for the new life he is making at Killick-Claw?

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

9. For Quoyle, what are the outcomes of his misadventure with the 'speedboat'?

10. What behaviors show the reader how the relationship between Quoyle and Wavey is developing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is anyone happy in THE SHIPPING NEWS?

1) Identify characters who might be described as happy and those who are not. Can you account for those states of mind? What does the novel tell us about the characters' dilemmas, crises and uncertainties?

2) Discuss the importance of happiness and unhappiness in the main plot of THE SHIPPING NEWS.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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