View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Garner Ward?

2. How was smallpox first introduced to the New World?

3. What is the payload on board the I-403's final voyage?

4. Who does Kang meet with in his mansion in Chapter 14?

5. Who is the section chief of the FBI's International Terrorism Operations?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Dirk and Sarah escape the thugs in the Cadillac in Chapter 18?

2. What is the outcome of the meeting between Dirk and bureaucrats from the Department of Homeland Security?

3. Describe how Dirk and Summer escape from the I-411 in Chapter 25.

4. What are Kang and those on board the Sea Rover looking for in Chapter 22?

5. What is so audacious about the way Kang plans to kill Dirk and Summer in Chapter 34?

6. How do Dirk and Summer go about exploring the sunken Japanese submarine in Chapter 24, and what do they discover?

7. Describe briefly the history of the use of Zyklon B.

8. Why does Tanaka lie to Commander Ogawa in the introduction when Ogawa asks if his crew is in danger in the book's introduction?

9. What is Kang's true motivation for wanting the American military out of South Korea?

10. Why do Sarah and the other scientists survive the same toxin that killed the two meteorologists in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Black Wind is chock-full of familiar characters. Even if one has never read any of Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels, the reader will recognize many archetypes - the hero(s), the villain, the mentor, the deceiver, etc. Looking at the novel as a whole, select five characters. For each character, (a) compare them to other similar characters in fiction - other heroes, other villains, etc.; (b) evaluate how creative Cussler has been in breathing new life into these familiar types.

Essay Topic 2

Black Wind is full of novel gadgets, watercraft, aircraft, and other technological gizmos. Discuss how effective Cussler is in integrating technology into his novel, how much technology contributes to the overall plot, whether or not he gets bogged down in minutiae, and whether or not the reader feels that he/she needs a degree from M.I.T. to follow what is happening.

Essay Topic 3

The theme of destruction for personal gain runs throughout the novel. Looking at the book as a whole, discuss how substantive this theme is, evaluating whether or not it is compelling enough to support the weight of the whole book. Identify several incidences in the plot that support this theme and evaluate how effective those incidents are in holding the story together.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 716 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample