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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. How long has it been since the four men have slept?

2. Who takes two oars first?

3. What does the correspondent take turns doing with the oiler in Part 2?

4. How did the injured character sustain his injuries?

5. What does each man finally catch a glimpse of after constructing the sail?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the correspondent feel about the recalled story when he read it?

2. What do the correspondent and cook argue about at the end of Part 1, and how is their dispute ended?

3. What are the four men about to do at the beginning of Part 5?

4. What role do the seagulls play in Part 2?

5. What thoughts do the four men keep to themselves?

6. Why is it important for the oiler and correspondent to retain their strength at the end of Part 6?

7. How is the correspondent different from the other three men?

8. What does the captain advise the others to do at the end of Part 3?

9. In Part 4, where does the captain instruct the others to take the boat, and why?

10. Describe the setting at the beginning of Part 5.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the setting of "The Open Boat" significant? What would change if the story were set in a different location?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the main themes in this story (false hope, man versus nature, etc.) and detail its recurrences throughout the story. What does it add to the story? How does it affect the difference characters?

Essay Topic 3

Which character do you view as the protagonist, and why?

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