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. What does the USS Scorpion find when it emerges near Queensland?

2. What does Moira tell Dwight her occupation is?

3. Where is the USS Swordfish, another nuclear powered submarine?

4. What is Peter hoping for?

5. What does Moira call the submarine trips into the Northern hemisphere?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why Peter, a navy lieutenant-commander, has not worked for the past seven months.

2. In what way does Dwight hold out some hope for the situation?

3. Explain where is it deemed possible that life might actually be able to continue on Earth?

4. How does Shute explain the proliferation of atomic weapons?

5. What does John Osbourne estimate was the size of the nuclear war that was fought?

6. What is Dwight's experience in church the weekend he spends with Peter and Mary?

7. Tell what is known about the global nuclear war.

8. How is Moira Davidson dealing with the eminent threat of death by radiation?

9. How does the USS Swordfish illustrate the movement of the radiation?

10. How had Dwight been warned of the possibility of the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about going home to die. Clearly Dwight would like to do the same thing as seaman Swain. Explain what prevents him. Define the characteristic of Dwight's that prevents him from ordering the USS Scorpion to return to the northeastern United States.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about optimism as the mirror image of denial. Express the difference between optimism and denial. Give examples from the novel that indicate an optimism that something might happen to prevent the approaching radiation cloud from reaching Melbourne.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about holding onto personal values regardless of external circumstances. Express your opinion of Dwight who remains faithful to a dead wife and children. Does his behavior in the novel mark him as a heroic figure?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 572 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample