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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. Where do Surprise and her prizes go after leaving St. Martin's?

2. What does Maturin insist is possible with tragic literature?

3. What do the men do in the bay?

4. With whom does Surprise rendezvous on the open sea?

5. What does Maturin have that belongs to Diana?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Aubrey take Surprise when they set sail again following the first shakedown cruise?

2. How many ships does Aubrey capture and what happens to him as soon as they are captured?

3. Why is Aubrey driven to succeed in taking Diane?

4. Maturin and Martin discuss literature and what? What does Maturin insist about tragedy?

5. What does a government official say to Aubrey and what is Aubrey's response?

6. What does Aubrey do about the crew's response in question #32?

7. How did the crew respond to Aubrey's orders concerning the incident in question #31?

8. What does Sir Joseph tell Maturin about a possible target for Aubrey?

9. Why does Aubrey encounter Babbington outside St. Martin's bay and what does Aubrey want from him?

10. What type of injury does Aubrey have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Seemingly, reinstatement is within grasp, but Aubrey is too proud to accept it on any terms but his own. While most men would jump at the chance of an official pardon, Aubrey sees it only as an admission of guilt and declines. Aubrey's decision is not practical but instead is based on ideals. This marks a major turning point in Aubrey's characterization as it demonstrates that he is fully committed to correct principles.

1. Discuss Aubrey's refusal to accept a pardon and whether you think it is a foolish decision.

2. In light of the above statement discuss what is meant by the cliche "false pride" and whether you think Aubrey is afflicted with it.

3. There have been a number of documented cases in justice where a person refuses to plead guilty to a lesser charge because they were innocent of any charge and yet were convicted and sent to prison. Discuss what you believe you would do if you were charged with a crime you did not commit. For example, would you risk 20 years in prison to have a jury trial for a crime you did not commit or would you plead to a crime you also did not commit but would only put you in prison for a year?

Essay Topic 2

Surprise captures two American privateers and their five prizes. One of the privateers contained the entire considerable treasure of the Spanish ship Azul. Though Spain and England are allies against France and America, at this point in history, the fact that the American ship had transferred the cargo and the Spanish officers had deserted their sinking ship makes the quicksilver Aubrey's legal prize.

Not only is Great Britian engaged in a war against France and Napoleon's allies, it is at the time of THE LETTER OF MARQUE engaged in a war with the United States, later named the War of 1812. Discuss the following:

1. What is the War of 1812 and why does it occur? Do you think the British or Americans are most to blame for the problems that engender the war? to which side does O'Brian show the most sympathy?

2. How does it feel if you are from the United States to read about a war from the perspective of the "enemy"? How does that affect your reactions to the events in the book?

3. What do you think are the unique problems for Great Britain in being engaged in wars on two different fronts? Do you think Great Britain was unwise in not settling the issues with the United States rather than going to war? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 3

O'Brian's female characters are almost always peripheral to the story line of any of his novels. Discuss one of the following in view of O'Brian's female characters in THE LETTER OF MARQUE.

1. What type of reader demographics do you think THE LETTER OF MARQUE might appeal to given the limited scope of O'Brian's female characters. Use examples from THE LETTER OF MARQUE or other O'Brian books you have read to support your answer.

2. Do you think O'Brian's books would be better with more in depth female characters? Why or why not? Use examples from THE LETTER OF MARQUE or other O'Brian books you have read to support your answer.

3. Do you think the O'Brian's paucity of female characters reflects history in our reality? Discuss why it might be possible that females played more significant roles in history but were ignored by the primarily male historians through the ages.

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