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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. According to author Brown, what does the real self seek?

2. Where is Matthew Ragnarson buried?

3. What does Winnie Swona do when someone tries to steal her hens?

4. What has Thorfinn come back from the war to find in Norday?

5. What type of "disease" does Thorfinn have when the military comes looking for him?

Short Essay Questions

1. In chapter 6, what is Elphinstone's role in rounding up the young men for military service?

2. Who was Revd Hector Drummond and what was he like?

3. When the workmen are sent to build the aerodrome on Norday Island they are quite unhappy. What cheers them up?

4. What does Thorfinn do when he returns to the island after the war?

5. According to chapter 5, how did the lairds of old manage to be so wealthy?

6. Who is Major Schneider?

7. Why did the Westvoe farm catch on fire and burn to the ground?

8. In chapter five one of the previous minister uses the title of the book when referring to fossils. What does he mean?

9. How does Thorfinn see Sophie that very first time?

10. Why does the seal girl, Mara, not follow the seal-people into the sea?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a detailed character study of Thorfinn. How is he introduced? What are the major obstacles placed in the path of this protagonist? How does he evolve through the book? What does he learn and how does he change?

Essay Topic 2

The social order of Norday Island is strictly regulated. Thorfinn is cast, from birth, to be a crofter, as his father was before him. Write an essay on why such a system of pre-ordained roles is important for the continuation of any culture. Is Thorfinn simply a rare oddity who can't fulfill his role or is he symbolic of the "modern man" who longs to find himself outside the bounds of tradition and culture? What is the role of tradition in a small interdependent world such as Norday?

Essay Topic 3

Contrast the story of the two horses, Seamus (chapter 2) and Selkie (chapter 5). Write an essay describing their part in the story and what they symbolize. George Mackay Brown uses both horses symbolically. What does each represent? What is their story and how do they reveal the deeper meaning of the protagonists journey?

(see the answer keys)

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