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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. For what disaster have Lewis and his wife prepared?

2. What is Ed most proud of about his business?

3. What does Ed always notice about people in the rural South?

4. What does Drew do after he and Lonnie play a duet?

5. At lunch, discussing the canoe trip, why does the trip organizer suggest the men take the trip now?

Short Essay Questions

1. As Lewis and Ed drive to Oree, how does Lewis describe the lifestyle of the people in the hill country?

2. From where does Ed think the model in the photo shoot is?

3. Why might Drew and the albino boy, Lonnie, become friends after the trip?

4. What does Ed tell his wife when she asks if he really wants to go on the canoe trip?

5. When the locals arrive with a gun while Ed and Bobby are resting, what does Ed think is the reason for their accosting Bobby and him?

6. What argument does Lewis use at the luncheon to convince the other men to take the trip now?

7. After the rape, why does Ed side with Lewis and cast the deciding vote to hide the body instead of reporting the incident to the authorities?

8. Why did Ed let his employee, George Holley, go?

9. On the second day of the canoe trip, why does Lewis rearrange the gear to lighten Ed and Bobby's load?

10. Why does Lewis share a canoe with Bobby when the men first enter the water?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The four men who embark on the canoe trip are representative of typical suburban men of the seventies. Write a few paragraphs about the following:

1) Describe a typical suburban man of the seventies.

2) Compare and contrast that man with a typical suburban man of today. Explain the differences and similarities.

3) The story is set in the South. Would the men have differed from men from similar suburbs in the North? If so, describe what those differences would be.

Essay Topic 2

Sports are associated with competition and are a way of improving one's self. Discuss the various sports Ed and Lewis trained for and had experience in before the novel begins and how those skills come in handy during the events of the trip. Discuss how things might have turned out if neither man possessed those particular skills. If they had no such skills, would the men have survived? If your answer is no, explain the difference their survival skills make. If your answer is "y es," explain how they might have survived.

Essay Topic 3

While climbing the cliff and preparing to kill the attacker, Ed takes time to admire the awesome view. It is a well known psychological phenomenon that during times of great stress some people become acutely aware of seemingly insignificant things. Choose at least three of the following to discuss:

1) Tell why you think James Dickey chooses to include this phenomenon in his novel and why he does so at this point in the story? What revelation about Ed results from this scene?

2) Do you believe this event adds to the drama of the situation or detracts from it? Explain your answer.

3) If any of the other characters had climbed the cliff to kill their attacker, do you think that character would have stopped and admired the view? Why or why not? Why does the author choose this character to accomplish this task?

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