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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 didn't Richard ask Jed what to do about the body?

2. Who was going on the rice run?

3. What did this person toss to the main character?

4. What had happened to the main character's neighbor?

5. How big was the lizard?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did it surprise Richard that he had volunteered to go for the Rice Run?

2. How was it that Sal was the leader?

3. What made the map intricate?

4. Why had Richard initially begun traveling?

5. What was the purpose of the lashed together branches?

6. What was the problem with the rucksacks and how was it solved?

7. What game did the three people play as they swum out to sea? How did Richard feel about the game?

8. What were the two ways that Richard could get to the garden? Which route did Richard take and why?

9. Why did Richard consider himself pretty lucky?

10. What was different between the beach and the world and how did it make Richard feel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the camp's reaction to Richard 'doing things' for Sal. How did people go out of their way to be nice to him and friendly with him? What likely prompted this sudden interest in Richard? What perspective does the reader take of Richard's association with Sal?

Essay Topic 2

Attempt to explain the camps swarming and subsequent mutilation of the bodies of the rafters. Try and provide some explanations for this bizarre and frightening behavior. How does this mark the complete and utter dissolution of the camps' social structure?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the shark attack. In what manner was it the start of the downfall of paradise on the beach? How did it change things for the residents of the beach, and how were things never again the same afterward?

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This section contains 1,025 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample