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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. Under what flag is the ship Rome registered?

2. What pleasure does Wavey enjoy in St John's?

3. How does Tert Card like his champagne?

4. How does Quoyle feel about middle age?

5. What new job will Tert Card have?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way is Bunny's attention-seeking during the restaurant dinner important?

2. What convincing evidence is there in this chapter of Quoyle's aptness for the new life he is making at Killick-Claw?

3. Comment on the destruction of the green house on the point.

4. From the description of it in this chapter, is it possible Quoyle would enjoy living in Nutbeem's trailer?

5. In what way does Quoyle fail Nutbeem?

6. What conclusions can be drawn about the origin of the money Agnis receives?

7. What insight into Wavey and her friends, the Buggit family, is provided in this chapter?

8. What secret is exposed during the visit to St John's?

9. Why is Quoyle uncertain about marrying Wavey?

10. In what way has Quoyle reached a turning point in his life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

'The ocean is as much a character in this novel as is Quoyle.'

1) What techniques does the author use to give the impression that the sea is a character?

2) Discuss the way of the power of the sea and human responses to it, are represented in THE SHIPPING NEWS. In your answer, focus on two major characters and one secondary character.

Essay Topic 2

THE SHIPPING NEWS shows us a range of striking characters.

1) What are the usual ways in which writers represent important traits in the characters they create?

2) Choose two characters in THE SHIPPING NEWS and examine the way Annie Proulx reveals them to the reader/responder. What techniques does she employ to introduce and sustain characters? In what ways does she sustain the readers' interest in their lives?

Essay Topic 3

Reflect about the idea that we are shaped by our childhood.

1) In what ways have Quoyle's childhood experiences formed his character and shaped his adult life?

2) In what ways have his own experiences given him insight into the world of his children?

3) Have these experiences made him overly protective of his daughters?

(see the answer keys)

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