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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. When Cody asks Uncle Dock what happened to Sophie's parents, what does he say?

2. When dolphins come to the side of the boat, how big are their groups?

3. Who gave Sophie her journal?

4. What does Sophie say, when Cody is upset that his father berates him for going out to Wood Island?

5. Who is Sophie going to visit on the other side of the ocean?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Frank's wife call Sophie?

2. What does Uncle Dock do, when the fog comes in, and how does it affect Sophie?

3. What chore will Sophie have to take a turn at that she's not looking forward to?

4. What does Sophie think of the boat when she first sees it?

5. Describe Uncle Stew.

6. Describe Uncle Mo.

7. What is the sail to Nova Scotia supposed to be like?

8. How long have Sophie's uncles wanted to sail across the ocean?

9. What does Uncle Dock call and tell Sophie about their planned departure?

10. How do the dolphins act when they come up to the boat?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of family in the novel.

1) How does Sophie's status as an orphan affect her sense of family? Is she, in some ways, not part of the family? How do her parents and Bompie make her part of their family?

2) How does family help build identity? How does family help the characters have a sense of themselves and their place in the world?

3) How does Sophie lose her birth family even more because of her repressed memories? How does the loss of these memories, in addition to the death of her parents and grandfather, affect her?

4) What is Cody's relationship with his father like? What does their relationship reveal about family?

Essay Topic 2

During the journey, the characters learn about each other. Discuss learning about other people in the novel.

1) How does Sophie learn about her uncles and cousins during the journey? What affect does this have on their relationships?

2) How does Cody learn about Sophie during the journey? How does Cody respond to his cousin and to learning about her?

3) How do Cody and Mo learn about each other during the journey? How does this affect their relationship as father and son?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the novel's structure.

1) Why does the author divide the novel into parts? What is the significance of the six parts of the novel?

2) Why do the chapters of the novel vary in length? What is different about the very short chapters? What role do these short chapters play in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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