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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 do the men view their current situation in Part 2?

2. Who is the crew on the tiny boat?

3. What do the waves seem determined to do?

4. What makes the men feel the way they do about their current situation in Part 2?

5. How do the men view the intruders?

Short Essay Questions

1. What thoughts do the four men refrain from sharing at the beginning of Part 6?

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

3. What does the shark do?

4. What does the correspondent do when the oiler takes his place at the oars in Part 6?

5. Describe the actions of the man onshore while the four men are swimming toward shore.

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

7. What is the result of the four men going without sleep for two days and nights?

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

9. When the captain interrupts the correspondent's reverie, what does he say, and how do the men react?

10. What would the men think if they could view their situation from a different vantage point?

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

Investigate "The Open Boat" in terms of Naturalism. How does it adhere to and differ from the typical Naturalist story? What changes could be made to mark it more clearly as Naturalism? What changes could be made to prevent critics from classifying the story as Naturalism?

Essay Topic 3

How does the alternating point-of-view enhance and inhibit the story? How would the story be different if a different point of view were used?

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This section contains 712 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample