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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 Theresa discover during her research on messages in bottles?

2. Where does Theresa head early in the morning following her arrival at Wilmington?

3. When Theresa is in on the beach in Chapter 1, what does she look over?

4. How does Theresa react when Deanna presses her to publish the message?

5. When Theresa returns to the Cape, how long had it been since the events began?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which of Theresa's greatest fears does Garrett relieve in the restaurant?

2. Do you think removing information to identify who wrote the letter makes the moral ambiguity disappear?

3. What reasons does Theresa have for finding the man who wrote the messages?

4. Why does Theresa want to write an introduction to the message?

5. How long does it take for Deanna to convince Theresa to publish the message?

6. Why did Theresa divorce David and what happened with him afterward?

7. Why is Theresa lonely, the summer she found the bottle?

8. How does Theresa identify Garrett?

9. What were the two main uses of messages in a bottle throughout the years?

10. What advice does Jeb gave Garrett concerning his long grieving?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nicholas Sparks ends the story on an ironic note. In an essay, define the meaning of irony and apply it to the ending. How does Sparks include an ironic twist at the end? How does it affect the story line and the characters? Discuss why Sparks may have chosen to end "Message in a Bottle" in the way he did and what he accomplished with the ending. Use examples from the book to support your statements.

Essay Topic 2

Compare Theresa's loss of intimacy with Garrett's loss of Catherine. Discuss how loss affects their characters and brings them together. Provide examples from the book to support your discussion.

Essay Topic 3

Why is Theresa so eager to get a commitment from Garrett even after such a short amount of time? Do you think her reading the letters cloud her judgment toward Garrett? Whom do you think Theresa wants the commitment with: the Garrett of the letters or the man she just met? Use the novel to support your statements.

(see the answer keys)

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