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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. Why does the giant with the golden eyes select Dirk to be the messenger of the capsule?

2. Dirk and Al leave the rescue team to salvage the Starbuck while they go to do what?

3. Why doesn't Pearl Harbor know what has been happening with the Martha Ann and the finding of the Starbuck intact?

4. What kind of shark meets Al as he speeds towards the surface with Adrian?

5. How does Dirk discover LT March after he realizes they are not alone on the submarine?

Short Essay Questions

1. Besides Dirk's lost love, what does Summer represent to the Navy and why would it have been important to rescue her?

2. In his description of the attack, Dirk notices something significant that could immeasurably assist the crew of the Martha Ann to prevent the boarding of the men from the sea. What is it and how could it be turned into an opportunity for the crew?

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

4. How does Pitt know that the Martha Ann is out of radio contact with the world?

5. What changes ADM Hunter's mind about obeying the destroy orders from the joint Chiefs in Washington D.C.?

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

7. What is unexpected and distinctly suspicious about the fog that suddenly overwhelms the Martha Ann? What kinds of conditions are required to create fog?

8. What happens during Dirk's final radio transmission from the C-5airplane before they touch down on the surface of the ocean? what does it mean for their rescue mission?

9. What does Delphi say is his main objective? What does Dirk say is Delphi's main objective?

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

Dirk Pitt's National Underwater and Marine Agency actually exists. Clive Cussler founded it and it is run by himself and his son. What are the differences between the real NUMA and Dirk Pitt's NUMA? How are the character of Dirk Pitt and his NUMA representative of perhaps a deep seeded fantasy for the author, things he would really like to do and have exist? Are perhaps some of the events in the story autobiographical or merely a dream?

Essay Topic 2

Carefully analyze the "real" condition of the Starbuck with respect to international maritime law. Whose waters is she sitting in and who can rightfully claim her? How do the laws of maritime salvage govern this kind of at-sea loss? Most importantly, how does this contribute to the urgency and top-secretiveness in the plot?

Essay Topic 3

Everything in the submarine seems to indicate that someone is actively maintaining the vessel or at least "picked up afterwards." It seems an obvious inference that there might be someone still on the ship. Yet Dirk and LT March press ahead assuming it is a ghost ship. What might be some reasons for that? Psychological? Other evidence to the contrary? Stubbornness or at least reckless disregard for prudence?

(see the answer keys)

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