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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. Near the end of Part 3, how long do the men guess it will now take them to reach shore?

2. Who rows with the correspondent?

3. Who is trying to figure out what he is doing on the boat?

4. Where is the lighthouse?

5. What does the captain try to do to their intruders?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the correspondent see when he wakes at the beginning of Part 7?

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

3. Near the end of Part 5, what does the correspondent want, and why?

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

5. Why do the men's hopes not sink at the beginning of Part 4?

6. What do the four men see at the beginning of Part 4, and what do they think is odd?

7. How do the four men view the seagulls?

8. What is the only thing that the correspondent can do in Part 5 while the shark is present?

9. What does the correspondent see when he resurfaces after jumping from the boat?

10. What does the correspondent see in the middle of Part 6, and what does he do as a result?

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

What is the significance of the oiler being the only character who is named and the only character who dies?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the four men. How are their relationships with nature similar and different?

(see the answer keys)

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