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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. After a leave of absence, Gann flies route AM-21. What does he think of this route?

2. An inspector administers a flight test for Dudley. What does the inspector do after the test?

3. At the very end of the novel, the reader learns that Gann has logged nearly how many flight hours?

4. What crew position does Grimes hold on Gann's flight from San Francisco to Honolulu?

5. What weather patterns and geography does Gann note in chapter 14 that he and other pilots have come to know?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Gann feel about flying for the military when he first starts flying for them?

2. What happens on Gann's flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, causing the plane to have to stop the flight and return to San Francisco?

3. What is the weather situation during Gann's emergency landing back to Steensville? What does Gann do to land the plane?

4. What does Gann learn kept his flight safe on the way from Honolulu to Burbank despite the fact that they were missing a critical piece of equipment?

5. How do the rescue planes keep track of where O'Connor's downed plane is located?

6. What stories does Gann tell Keim about his recent long-distance flight transporting Chinese cash?

7. Why does O'Connor's flight from Goose Bay crash-land?

8. Who is Dudley, and what is Gann's impression of him?

9. After WWII, what war does Gann fly in, and how does he feel about his role as a pilot in this situation again?

10. How did his crash affect O'Connor in the long run?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gann uses descriptive language throughout his novel. Explain the importance of descriptive language in a novel and what the purpose of such writing is? Provide multiple examples of Gann's use of descriptive language in the novel and how it affected the way readers interpreted the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Now and then, Gann updates the reader on the status of the airline industry at the time. At the beginning of the book, what is the status of the airline industry? How does this seem to change throughout the novel? What various outside factors seem to affect the success of the aviation industry? At the end of the novel, how does the airline industry seem to be doing?

Essay Topic 3

Tone is common in literature and in this autobiography. Please explain what tone is in a piece of literature and whether it is important. Please provide at least three examples of the use of tone in this novel, preferably examples of different types of tone used (i.e., angry, scared, tense, upset, etc.).

(see the answer keys)

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