View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color is the gigantic wave that approaches behind the boat while Sophie is watching and Cody is at the wheel?

2. Who decides to stay in England and take care of Bompie?

3. When Cody's father tells him that Cody's been a good son and he's been a bad father, what does Cody think?

4. What does Cody's dad say about dolphins?

5. What do Brian, Sophie, and Cody plan on calling their raft to sail on the Ohio River?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What are Sophie and Uncle Dock's attitudes toward the autohelm?

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

4. What happens to Bompie in the story of the swimming hole?

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

6. What does Uncle Stew say about the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current?

7. When everyone is up on deck in the midst of the storm, and Sophie sees them from the helm, what does she see?

8. How does Cody describe the fog on the ocean journey?

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

10. When the travelers arrive in Ireland, who are they able to reach by phone?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 889 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample