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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. Who is the editor of the rival newspaper to Captain Landis's?

2. According to Christopher Hawk in Chapter 7, when did Captain Landis buy the land in Vineland?

3. What is the name of Rose's mother?

4. What is Willa's last name?

5. How does Helene die?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the names in Iano's family (his sisters and children in particular)?

2. How would you describe Thatcher's relationship with Rose in the beginning of the novel?

3. Why has Gwendolyn come to Willa's home in Chapter 9?

4. What has brought Thatcher and his family to Vineland?

5. Why does Willa face conflict in taking Nick to the doctor in Chapter 5?

6. Why does Thatcher go to Mary Treat's home in Chapter 4?

7. Who is Tig and why is she living in Willa's home?

8. What has Thatcher learned about the house in Chapter 2? Why does this news distress him?

9. How do Thatcher and Rose's childhoods and upbringing differ?

10. How would you describe the relationship between Tig and Zeke?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the marriage of Thatcher and Rose in the novel. For how long have these characters been married at the onset of the novel? Where did they meet? How does their relationship change in the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the controversies of Charles Darwin and his work historically, and examine how these controversies are portrayed in the novel. When was Origin of Species published? How was it received critically? Why is Darwin's work, and the understanding of that work, important in Unsheltered?

Essay Topic 3

Willa's relationship with her daughter Tig evolves throughout the novel. How would you describe their relationship in the beginning? How does this relationship change? What leads to the changes in the relationship? Do you think that their relationship grows stronger or more distant? Why?

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