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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Santiago is pinned down and the line is rushing out around his back and through his hand, cutting them. What makes him think about the boy?
(a) The boy would have kept the line wet so that they did not cut his hands.
(b) The boy would talk to him and keep him awake.
(c) The boy would harpoon the marlin as it jumped out of the water.
(d) The boy would have taken over for him and let him go back to sleep.

2. When the marlin slows and is steady, Santiago finally gets some sleep. What does he dream of instead of lions?
(a) Cutting his hand on the fishing line.
(b) A flight on a plane.
(c) A vast school of porpoises.
(d) Arm wrestling with the marlin.

3. What does Santiago dream of?
(a) The women he has known in his youth.
(b) The fights he had when he was young.
(c) Fishing in a new, large boat.
(d) Africa and the lions on the beach.

4. What does the old man call the business of getting the marlin lashed to the skiff?
(a) Boy Scout work.
(b) Slave work.
(c) Easy work.
(d) Dugout work.

5. What complaint does the boy have about the fisherman he works for after he is forced to leave Santiago?
(a) He never catches any fish.
(b) He thinks he knows everything better than Santiago.
(c) He never lets me carry anything.
(d) He makes him carry everything to and from the boat.

Short Answer Questions

1. How is he able to clean the dolphin?

2. How does Santiago estimate the size of the marlin?

3. What does Santiago promise that he cannot do right at the moment?

4. How many rows of teeth does the Mako shark have?

5. What is Santiago's secret for deep sea fishing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the conflict of resolution between the old man and the fish.

2. Why is it important for Santiago to see the fish he has caught?

3. Describe Santiago's first sighting of the marlin.

4. Explain the first indication that Santiago has that he has caught a very large fish, even though he has not seen it and does know know what kind of fish it is.

5. Since the fish is too large to fit into the boat, how does Santiago plan on getting it back to shore?

6. What does the fish do that helps revive Santiago from his weariness?

7. Toward the end of the second day, Santiago assesses his situation and thinks he has several new advantages. What are they?

8. What is the literary purpose of references to Joe DiMaggio in the story?

9. It was noon when the old man hooked the fish and four hours later he thinks about something odd. What is it?

10. Show how Hemingway uses the literary form of personification as Santiago thinks about the great fish he has hooked.

(see the answer keys)

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