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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 does Cody tell his father, as the sail-less boat is whipped by the waves?

2. What does Brian say he felt like when the wave hit?

3. What do the crew do to practice radio code?

4. What do the travelers try to use for navigation after the wreckage of the storm?

5. What goes wrong with the boat's mainsail?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the weather like, the first night on the open ocean?

3. What do Sophie and Cody do to the sails of the boat, when they finally get them up again?

4. What dreams does Cody have about Sophie, after the storms are over?

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

6. What injury does Cody sustain in the large wave that hits the boat?

7. What does Cody notice that Sophie does when retelling the story of their journey?

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

9. How does Sophie describe the color of the sea?

10. What seems different to Cody about the way Brian bugs Sophie, as they near Bompie's?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The sea and The Wanderer are the main settings of this novel. Discuss setting and its importance in the novel.

1) Why is the sea the main setting of the novel? In what ways is the sea personified in the novel? What does Sophie expect from it? How does she respond to it?

2) How does The Wanderer function as a setting of the novel? What does the boat contribute to the novel? Why does the author set the novel on this boat?

3) How does setting affect the beginning and end of the journey, when the characters are in Kentucky, Grand Manan, Ireland, England, and elsewhere? How are these settings different from the sea and The Wanderer?

Essay Topic 2

Death is central to the novel. Discuss death in the novel.

1) How does Sophie react to killing fish on the journey? What is her attitude toward the death of fish?

2) How does Sophie deal with the death of her parents and grandfather? How does she deal with the impending death of Bompie?

3) How do the characters deal with the prospects of their own deaths?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss careers in the novel.

1) How do the characters define themselves by their careers? How have Mo and Stew's careers changed them?

2) How does Sophie define herself by what she will be in the future? Why does she imagine different types of lives?

3) How do Sophie, Brian, and Cody view careers differently from each other?

(see the answer keys)

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