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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. What argument does Summer use to convince Delphi not to shoot Al and Dirk inside the seamount?

2. Who arrives on the comm deck as Dirk is communicating to the Martha Ann and LCDR Boland?

3. How does SN Farris react to the battle raging around him on the Martha Ann?

4. How many men escape with Dirk on the helicopter from the Martha Ann?

5. Who are the two men waiting for Dirk in the torpedo room as he tries to escape the submarine with SN Farris?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dirk fear lays in store for the Martha Ann? What information is he now armed with that may help? What does he still not know that could be fatal?

2. In both Chapters 9 and 10, Dirk endeavors to get his way by assuring the Naval men that he "will take full responsibility." Why does this seem to be the easiest way for Dirk to gain their compliance?

3. How does Dirk reinforce his disregard for authority upon return from the Pacific Vortex with the crew of the Martha Ann?

4. Who or what is Selma Snoop?

5. There are three operations, with different codenames going on simultaneously in Chapter 16. What are their different codenames and objectives?

6. It is evident that Seaman First Class Farris could never have been any help to Delphi's cause or mission, however, Delphi keeps him alive, in spite of admitting to Dirk that Farris is "a minor miscalculation." What might be some reasons for this?

7. How do Summer's divided loyalties express themselves in their final moments in the doomed seamount as the missiles hit and the mountain begins to crumble?

8. What are ADM Hunter and Dirk Pitt's differing opinions on Adrian?

9. How is the scent of the eucalyptus oil explained? How does it support the theory of the seamount?

10. What does LT Robert Buckmaster discover at the old Army installation, which supposedly belongs to Delphi that partially explains the entirely unexpected fierce resistance to Marine's invasion? How might this situation have come to be?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you characterize Cussler's writing style in Pacific Vortex? Analyze all of the elements of writing style including the perspective, bias, structure, diction and syntax, imagery, etc. Is this a laudable first effort on Cussler's part? Is there perhaps a stylistic reason it is not the first published book?

Essay Topic 2

Dirk refers to the salvage operations on the Thresher, the Bluefin, the Scorpion, and the submarine F-4. What are these boats or ships and what happened to them? How are they relevant to the sinking (and raising) of the Starbuck?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the character of Captain Orl Cinana. Captain Cinana's reaction to Dirk when he arrives in ADM Hunter's office for the first time is somewhat markedly different from the attitudes of the others yet changes that same evening at the bar. Identify other inconsistencies in Cinana's character and identify how they fit with the revelation of Cinana's actual role in the plot.

(see the answer keys)

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