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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. Who is the one person who doesn't cry in the midst of the storm?

2. Where is Rosalie leaving for?

3. Who ends up staying behind to start the repair work on The Wanderer?

4. After the destructive wave hits the boat, how does Cody say he feels?

5. What does Sophie wish, as the travelers cross through Wales?

Short Essay Questions

1. As Dock tells his story of the little girl, what does Cody realize about Sophie's stories?

2. What quotation from Tennyson does Uncle Dock yell out?

3. How does Sophie describe life on the boat in the turbulent water?

4. What theory about death and life do Cody and Sophie discuss?

5. When the family comes to visit Bompie, how does he react?

6. What makes it difficult to find Bompie's house in the town of Thorpe?

7. What happens to the sails in the heavy wind?

8. What do Stew and Mo argue about?

9. What happens in the altercation between Sophie and Brian?

10. What does Sophie hear when Cody is actually asking about her harness?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Storytelling has an important role in the novel, through both Bompie and Sophie's storytelling. Discuss storytelling in the novel.

1) Why does Sophie tell Bompie's stories during the journey? What does Sophie add to these stories? Why does she choose certain stories to tell?

2) Why does Bompie share his stories with Sophie in his letters?

3) What is the significance of the "little kid" stories that Sophie tells?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss men and women's roles in the novel.

1) Why does Sophie get angry when she is cast in a traditional women's role? Why does she want to do tasks that are traditionally male?

2) How does Cody react to implications that his tasks of cooking and cleaning are traditionally women's tasks? Why does he respond this way?

3) What is the author saying about traditional roles of men and women in society?

Essay Topic 3

Compare Cody and Brian as characters, and Mo and Stew as similar characters from the previous generation.

1) How are Cody and Mo similar? How are Brian and Stew similar? Is each generation a continuation of the past?

2) Why are Cody and Brian often at odds, just like Mo and Stew? What does this show about the family dynamic?

3) Why does the author choose family members with clear differences to include in the story?

(see the answer keys)

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