Quiz Isola Allegra Goodman

Isola by Allegra Goodman: Full-Book Quiz

Test your understanding of Allegra Goodman’s Isola with this 20-question quiz. Questions span plot sequencing, character motivation, themes and symbols, and higher-level synthesis. Mix of multiple-choice and short-answer formats. After the questions you will find the answer key with brief explanations.

For deeper analysis, explore our ending explained or discussion questions.

Plot and Sequence

  1. What event directly leads Roberval to maroon Marguerite on the island?

    • A) She refuses to marry him.
    • B) Her affair with Auguste is discovered.
    • C) She tries to escape the ship.
    • D) She steals his gold.

  2. Short answer: When Marguerite first arrives in La Rochelle, Roberval gives her a gift instead of money. What is it?

  3. Which character dies first after the three are marooned?

    • A) Damienne
    • B) Marguerite’s infant son
    • C) Auguste
    • D) Marguerite

  4. Short answer: What animal does Marguerite kill with an arquebus and an axe after Auguste’s death?

  5. How does Marguerite convince the Basque fishermen that she is trustworthy when they first meet?

    • A) She shows them gold coins.
    • B) She recites Latin prayers.
    • C) She speaks to them in Basque.
    • D) She gives them a map of the island.

  6. Short answer: What does Queen Marguerite de Navarre give Marguerite after hearing her true story?

  7. What happens to Damienne near the end of the novel?

    • A) She returns to France with Marguerite.
    • B) She dies of an infected cut on her hand.
    • C) She marries a Basque fisherman.
    • D) She chooses to remain on the island alone.

  8. Short answer: What physical object does Marguerite keep as a permanent memento of her time on the island?

Character Motivation

  1. Why does Roberval insist that Marguerite sail with him to New France?

    • A) To find her a wealthy husband.
    • B) To claim her inheritance for himself.
    • C) Because she belongs to him and he wants total control.
    • D) To protect her from his creditors.

  2. Short answer: Why does Claire refuse the convent dowry that Marguerite obtains from the Queen?

  3. Why does Auguste draw his sword and attack Roberval on the ship?

    • A) To defend Marguerite’s honor when Roberval accuses her.
    • B) To seize control of the ship and sail back to France.
    • C) Because Roberval insults his playing of the cittern.
    • D) Because he is jealous of Roberval’s friendship with Cartier.

  4. Short answer: What impulsive feeling motivates Marguerite to begin teaching the Montfort daughters, Suzanne and Ysabeau?

  5. Why does Marguerite beat her maid Alys with the psalm book?

    • A) Because Alys stole Marguerite’s ruby ring.
    • B) Because Alys betrayed her by giving Roberval the secret letter.
    • C) Because Alys refuses to do her household chores.
    • D) Because Damienne orders the beating.

Theme and Symbol

  1. What does the white bear primarily symbolize in the novel?

    • A) The physical dangers of the wilderness.
    • B) Marguerite’s rage and her transformation into a survivor.
    • C) Roberval’s cruelty and greed.
    • D) The loss of childhood innocence.

  2. Short answer: What does the cittern (a stringed instrument) come to represent for Marguerite after life on the island?

  3. Throughout the novel, birds appear in dreams, on the island, and in the prologue. What do they most strongly represent?

    • A) Hope, freedom, and the possibility of escape.
    • B) Death, decay, and the indifference of nature.
    • C) The wild, untamable spirit of the New World.
    • D) Community and the bonds of family.

  4. Short answer: What does the gold ring with the letter “M” (given by Claire) symbolize when Marguerite shows it to the Basque interpreter Mikel?

Synthesis

  1. How does Marguerite’s version of events challenge the official story that Roberval told Queen Marguerite?

    • A) She admits that Roberval was kind to her.
    • B) She insists on her suffering, loss, and despair, rejecting the romanticized account.
    • C) She claims that she was entirely at fault for the affair.
    • D) She fabricates a completely new tale to please the Queen.

  2. Short answer: According to the Author’s Note, how did Allegra Goodman first discover the story of Marguerite de la Rocque?

  3. What is the most important significance of Marguerite founding a school for poor girls at the end of the novel?

    • A) It shows her desire to regain social status and wealth.
    • B) It represents her transformation from a powerless victim to an agent who uses her story to empower others.
    • C) It is a way for her to spite Roberval and his family.
    • D) It fulfills a promise she made to Claire on the ship.

Answer Key

  1. B – Roberval discovers the affair between Marguerite and the secretary Auguste. This is the immediate cause of the marooning (Chapters 20-21).
  2. A book of psalms. – Roberval gives her a psalm book instead of money, disappointing her (Chapter 9).
  3. C – Auguste dies first from a stomach illness during the harsh winter (Chapter 27).
  4. A white bear. – After the bear digs up and devours Auguste’s body, Marguerite shoots it and cuts off its head with an axe (Chapter 27).
  5. B – She recites the Hail Mary in Latin, which the Basque fishermen recognize, leading them to believe she is a nun (Chapter 34).
  6. A silver casket of gold coins and a charter to found a school. – Moved by Marguerite’s honest account, the Queen grants her this (Chapter 41).
  7. B – Damienne dies of an infected cut on her hand while the two are surviving on the island (Chapter 31).
  8. A bear’s claw. – Marguerite keeps the claw as a reminder of her survival and transformation (Chapters 39, 42).
  9. C – Roberval tells her she must go because she belongs to him; it is an act of ownership and control (Chapter 11).
  10. She chooses to stay and teach with Marguerite and her mother, rather than enter a convent. – Claire values their friendship and shared purpose (Chapter 42).
  11. A – Auguste attacks Roberval to defend Marguerite’s honor after Roberval rages over their relationship (Chapter 20).
  12. She impulsively offers to teach them, feeling a desire to help and empower the girls. – She volunteers after seeing them and feeling proud of her own learning (Chapter 5).
  13. B – Alys gave the secret letter to Roberval, exposing Marguerite’s plan to escape (Chapter 12).
  14. B – The bear represents Marguerite’s grief and rage, and killing it marks her fierce transformation into a survivor (Chapter 27).
  15. Love, civilization, and art; later it becomes a cradle for her dead child, symbolizing sacrifice. – She breaks the cittern to fashion a cradle (Chapter 29).
  16. A – Birds recur as symbols of flight, hope, and the desire to escape captivity (Prologue, island scenes).
  17. Her noble identity, friendship with Claire, and connection to the Queen of Navarre. – The ring proves she is not merely a ragged castaway (Chapter 34).
  18. B – She refuses to let the Queen’s sanitized version stand, telling the painful truth of her abandonment, losses, and inner despair (Chapter 41).
  19. She read about Marguerite in a children’s book about Jacques Cartier while on a family trip. – This sparked her fascination (Author’s Note).
  20. B – The school is the ultimate act of agency: she turns her story of survival into a tool to educate and inspire other girls (Chapter 42).