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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 Moitessier compare to a vibration on a boat?

2. Why did Moitessier decide to sail close to South Africa?

3. What friend, who had helped Moitessier build other boats, inspired him to figure out how to make repairs now?

4. What illusion did Moitessier have at the Cape of Good Hope?

5. What dangerous reef did Moitessier avoid near New Zealand?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Moitessier make repairs to his boat after the accident?

2. Describe Moitessier's relationship with the seabirds.

3. What was Moitessier afraid of after rounding the Cape of Good Hope?

4. Describe Moitessier's passage past New Zealand.

5. Describe Moitessier's interaction with a ship in Walker Bay, South Africa.

6. Describe Moitessier's interaction with people off the coast of Tasmania.

7. Where did Moitessier get his water?

8. Describe Moitessier's voyage after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

9. Describe the fish that followed Moitessier's boat.

10. What legend did Moitessier think about after his incident with the porpoises?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Moitessier a misanthrope who hated people and therefore wanted to be away from them or merely an introvert who preferred his own company? Characterize Moitessier's temperament and his reasons for wanting to be alone for 10 months with only a few encounters with other people.

Essay Topic 2

How would a solo round-the-world trip be different today? How have communication and sailing technologies evolved since the late 1960s?

Essay Topic 3

Moitessier was at all times sailing on an element that could swallow him up without leaving a trace. How did Moitessier balance his actions against the eternally present possibility of death? What risks did he take, and did he court catastrophes? What role does his writing play in striking this balance?

(see the answer keys)

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