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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 dreamer-like thing does Sophie's father often do?

2. How old does Sophie say Bompie was when he left England?

3. Who gave Sophie her journal?

4. What does Uncle Dock call the wind?

5. What does Sophie say when Cody asks what happened to her parents?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the nightmare the narrator has.

3. What does Cody's mom tell him when he talks to her on the phone?

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

5. In Cody's journal, how does he describe his mother?

6. Why does everyone react strangely when Sophie explains what she plans to teach?

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

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

9. What does Uncle Dock give Sophie's mother, that encourages Sophie's mother to let her daughter go on the trip?

10. What does Sophie do after she and her relatives get The Wanderer into the water?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of Sophie's primary personality traits is curiosity. Discuss Sophie's curiosity.

1) Why is Sophie curious about every new thing she encounters? Why does she ask so many questions?

2) Why does Sophie imagine living the lifestyles of new people she meets? What does imagining different lives do for Sophie?

3) How is Sophie's curiosity and enthusiasm contrasted with Brian's negativity and practicality? Is Sophie a dreamer because of her curiosity and enthusiasm?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Sophie is a young adolescent as the novel begins, and the journey she takes is part of the process of growing up. Discuss growing up in the novel.

1) How does Sophie grow as a result of her journey? What steps does she take toward becoming an adult?

2) How does Cody grow up as a result of the journey on The Wanderer? How does he change?

3) What have Sophie's uncles lost and gained in the process of growing up? What does Sophie learn about growing up from talking to them?

(see the answer keys)

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