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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 did the Black prisoners yell to them when their van stopped at a gas station on the way to Robben Island?

2. Where does John get injured after being beat up in Scene One?

3. When John and Winston first met, he had just returned from his trial, which was where?

4. What are the prisoners doing on the Island at the start of Scene One?

5. Who is the old man, who started singing, which John remembers as being with them the day they met?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Winston do in the cell after Hodoshe takes John away in Scene Two?

2. What does Winston resolve to tell John about Antigone when he returns to the cell in Scene Two?

3. What does John say in regards to the audience potentially laughing at Winston?

4. Describe how John reacts when he sees Winston dressed as Antigone at the start of Scene Two.

5. Why is John frustrated with Winston in regards to the play, Antigone?

6. What happened in Scene Two when John returns to his cell after being called by Hodoshe?

7. How does John and Winston take care of each other in their cell after they have been beaten?

8. What reason does John give Winston for laughing at him when he saw him dressed as Antigone?

9. What do Winston and John say about the sand they were digging after Winston wipes some from his eyes in their cell?

10. What does John recall about when they approached and arrived at Robben Island?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing what John’s impending freedom and Winston’s life sentence represents in The Island. Use examples from The Island to support your analysis.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the author’s choice to structure The Island as a play. What effect does this have on the story and the reader? In what way would this story be better or worse if it were written as a short story?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing The Island’s commentary on the political climate of South Africa at the time.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 677 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample