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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 vice are the main characters doing when the novel opens?

2. What time do the men wake up on the day they start their journey?

3. What does the group do with the initial list of items to bring?

4. What kind of song does the audience think the German man is singing in J.'s story about the joke being played on everyone at a dinner party?

5. Who remembers that he has forgotten to pack boots?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where do J. and Harris ultimately end up getting George?

2. What does J. note about what people remember about being seasick after they return from a trip?

3. What does J. remark about the original packing list the men create for their trip?

4. What item does George bring onto the boat when J. and Harris pick him up?

5. Who is Stivvings?

6. What does the group of boys tease the men about as they are outside waiting for a cab to take them to the train station?

7. What are the men wearing as they prepare to start their journey?

8. What does J. admit he thinks when he reads advertisements for new patent medicines?

9. What does J. believe boaters can do to prevent tangles in the tow line?

10. Why do Harris and J. have to pick up George after they start the journey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze at least one short story that is told by a character in "Three Men in a Boat" and what it contributes to the larger story of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

"Three Men in a Boat" has never gone out of print in its 120+ year history. Discuss at least three aspects of the novel that readers have identified with over the years. Will those aspects continue to connect with readers in the future? If so, how?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how alcohol/drinking/being drunk is portrayed in "Three Men in a Boat" as well as why Jerome would include the instances he does of characters drinking/having too much to drink in the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 804 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample