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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. Why is it difficult for the men to row in Chapter 8?

2. What does Chase do as Nickerson and Lawrence prepare to bury Cole?

3. Why does Joy request to be transferred to the captain's boat when he is close to dying?

4. When does Pollard's boat disappear in Chapter 8?

5. How long does Pollard wait before being taken home on the Two Brothers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Chase's boat deal with a shark attack?

2. What discovery do the men in Chase's boat make while trying to combat the heat?

3. How does Cole die in Chapter 12?

4. What happens at the end of Chapter 11 when lots are drawn in Pollard's boat?

5. Who attends the dinner on the night Pollard is rescued, and what does Pollard discuss with Aaron Paddack later that night?

6. What is the crew concerned about as it sees land in the beginning of Chapter 9?

7. What happens to Chase at the end of his life?

8. Why does the crew decide to leave Henderson Island? Who chooses to stay?

9. How is Pollard's boat rescued?

10. How has has the town of Nantucket changed since the nineteenth century?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the way that Philbrick conveys the desperation of the men as they get farther away from the sunken ship. Provide multiple examples of how he uses literature in order to emphasize the severity of their situation and their inclination to surrender. Also, analyze the way that Philbrick simultaneously engages the reader along the way with signs of hope and optimism.

Essay Topic 2

The Whaling Museum features an exhibit for the Essex. Discuss how the sinking of the Essex is initially regarded by the town, the reasons why, and the way that the ship is now remembered. In addition, provide an analysis of how the sperm whales have changed as a result of the whaling that took place during the nineteenth century.

Essay Topic 3

Upon their return to Nantucket, Pollard, Chase, and Nickerson decide to give their accounts of the tragedy.

1) Analyze all three accounts, including the similarities and differences between them.

2) Compare the facts of the trip that Philbrick provides in the book with Chase's version.

3) Describe Pollard's response to the existing stories and how his version is received.

(see the answer keys)

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