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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 was the dress code at the fish market?

2. How did the seals respond when Joan dove into the ocean?

3. Which of the following items was not something Joan brought with her when she visited the seal island?

4. What made Joan miss her sons at the end of Chapter 5, Water Therapy?

5. Which of the following is not something Joan woke up to the morning after her husband's arrival for Christmas?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 9, Fogged In, why was Joan concerned about her writing career?

2. Where did Joan and her husband meet, and how did Joan's in-laws feel about the couple's relationship?

3. What costume did Joan wear for the New Year's Eve footrace, and what did it symbolize to her?

4. What is ebb tide and how did Joan relate the concept of ebb tide to her own life?

5. How did Joan's husband respond to her day with the seals and what does his response indicate about their marriage?

6. How did Joshua Cahoon differ from Joan's husband?

7. Who was Joan Erikson and how did Joan meet her?

8. In Chapter 6, Waves of Truth, how did Joan feel about her sons' plans to spend Christmas with their wives' families instead of with Joan and her husband?

9. What reflections did the seals give Joan on her body image?

10. What kind of job did Joan get in Chapter 4, Riptide, and why didn't she ask her husband for financial help instead of getting a job?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of the seal island to Joan. What lessons did she learn from the island and the seals that inhabit it? Why did her husband not understand the importance of the island to her? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Joan Anderson's relationship with Joan Erickson. What did Joan learn from the older woman? In what ways were the women similar, and in what ways were they different? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, Joan and her husband reunited. Discuss whether you found this ending satisfying or not and why. Did it negate Joan's feminist precepts for her to take her husband back? Was it believable that Joan would reunite with her husband after her unhappiness during her marriage? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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