View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Gulliver say that he would feel if he never had to die?

2. When an immortal marries, it is annulled when the younger partner reaches what age?

3. How long does Gulliver stay in the country?

4. Gulliver stays for how many months in the country?

5. It is believed that it is hard enough to live forever without having to live how?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the ship captain's attitude toward Gulliver, after hearing his incredible story. How does Gulliver react to the captain's attitude?

2. How does Laputa stay in the air and do you think that such an island really could exist by using modern technology?

3. Much of Part 3, Chapter 6, talks about Gulliver's encounter with a doctor who is full of ideas. One idea is that in order to cure the woes of the government, the people in the government must be seen to and whenever the people are healed, the politics and government will be healed. Gulliver thinks that that is a valid idea. Do you think that it was? Why or why not? Is such an idea still applicable in today's society?

4. What do you think Swift's ideas about modern science are, based on Part 3, Chapter 4?

5. Customs of different people are a big part of the book. What custom must Gulliver follow in Part 3, Chapter 9 and how, in general, does Gulliver deal with the customs of people he encounters?

6. What condition does Gulliver find most of the people in, when he goes down to the lower island, and why is he told that they are that way? What implications does that have?

7. In Part 3, Chapter 5, how is Gulliver further introduced to the ideas and beliefs of the Laputians?

8. What lesson does Swift try to teach about life and death, in Part 3, Chapter 10?

9. Describe Gulliver's encounter with the pirates.

10. What do Gulliver's choices of people to call back from the dead say about his motivations?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gulliver's Travels is full of interesting things to think about and life lessons. Choose three things that you learned from the book that made you stop to think. Explain in detail why you were intrigued by those things and whether or not they ultimately changed your point of view.

Essay Topic 2

Gulliver is a doctor by profession, but an explorer at heart. Do you feel that most people take on professions that they enjoy, or do they get stuck in careers that they hate for most of their lives? Why did Gulliver become a doctor when he really wanted to be an explorer? What are some reasons that people in modern times do things that they'd rather not do.

Essay Topic 3

Gulliver is clearly an explorer at heart, even though he is a doctor by profession. Do you feel that it was appropriate for him to keep going on voyages, even though he kept leaving his family and just barely avoiding death when he did? If you were Gulliver, would you have given up traveling? If so, why and when would you have decided to stay home? Use details from the story to support your opinions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,238 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample