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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. The juvenile shark that killed Bruder had probably been frightened off by what?

2. On July ________, 1916, Renny Cartan, Jr., his cousin Johnson Cartan, and some other friends took off for the swimming hole at the nearby creek.

3. As the shark-patrol steered its motorboats back and forth, hunting for the shark, the shark was doing what?

4. Benjamin Everingham had been instructed to bring a rifle and ax along. Why did he not bring any weapons?

5. The expert and some of his assistants had witnessed sharks first hand and had observed how difficult it was for them to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do events in this story prove that not everyone had heard about the man-eating shark?

2. What did Coppleson think of the shark attacks of 1916? How does this compare to other beliefs at the time and beliefs today?

3. What did Lucas and others think about the idea of man-eating sharks? How did they support this belief?

4. How did Renny's cousin and friends react to the scratch marks on Renny's body and his fear? Why might they have reacted in this way?

5. Whom did newspaper reporters in New York contact regarding shark attacks? Why did they contact this man?

6. What might have drawn the shark to the shark-patrol boat? Why?

7. What did Fisher do to try to get Lester's body? How did this affect Fisher? Should he have done this? Why or why not?

8. Describe the first realization that a shark had entered the Matawan Creek.

9. How did the boys react to Lester Stilwell being pull under by the shark? Was this a good idea? Why or why not?

10. How were New York and New Jersey's economies affected by this shark? How did the people of these states react to this? How did this lead to federal government efforts?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the resorts along the Jersey shore wanted to keep their beaches open.

Part 1) What attempts were made to keep these beaches open? Were these good ideas? Why or why not? Should the beaches have been kept open? Why or why not?

Part 2) What other disasters might affect the economy of a beach community like the Jersey shore? How might those living in and visiting these communities deal with these disasters?

Part 3) When have communities or the government kept information from the general public to keep the economy from collapsing? How did this, in the end, affect the economy?

Essay Topic 2

A Great White shark's appetite is difficult to sate.

Part 1) How is this statement supported by information in this book? Why is its appetite so difficult to sate? How does this guide the shark in its daily life? How might this have played a role in its attacks on humans?

Part 2) Besides its hunger, what else guided the shark towards the shore and humans? Could this have been prevented? If so, how? If not, why not? Are attacks by Great Whites a large threat? Why or why not? What can humans do to protect themselves?

Part 3) Can Great Whites and humans coexist? If so, how? If not, why not? What can be done by mankind to improve the Great White's living conditions so that it will not come close to shore and attack humans?

Essay Topic 3

Several hunts took place to find the man-eating shark.

Part 1) Describe one of these hunts. Who organized this hunt? How was this hunt operated? What information about sharks and other creatures did the men have when organizing this hunt?

Part 2) How successful was this hunt? Explain. How could this hunt have been more efficient and organized?

Part 3) Compare the hunts to each other. Which hunt was more successful? Why was it more successful?

(see the answer keys)

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