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. What does Hornblower do at Oxford?

2. What does Hornblower volunteer to do?

3. What does Hornblower do at the end of the day of loading Atropos?

4. What sort of affect does Hornblower maintain?

5. What is the name of the privateer Hornblower captures?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the Atropos anchored and what does Hornblower do with the time?

2. What happens when the Prince and his retinue come on board the Atropos?

3. How does Hornblower respond to Eisenbeiss's blusters?

4. Why does the boat stop and what is the captain's concern?

5. How are things progressing at the beginning of the procession?

6. Describe Hornblower's encounter with the King.

7. Describe the boat's journey from the tunnel to Oxford.

8. What is the status of the Atropos when Hornblower questions Lieutenant Jones?

9. What is recovered from the sea and what does Hornblower figure out from the object?

10. Describe Maria Hornblower.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Forester is masterful in his description of battles, storms and life in general in the West Indies in the early 1820s. Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze Forester's descriptive passages about life at sea, particularly in times of stormy weather or difficult passages. How does he use descriptions of the five senses to make the reader feel s/he is there? Do you find his descriptions compelling? Seemingly accurate? How would the novel be different if he did not include such descriptive passages?

2. Analyze Forester's descriptive passages about the social structure of the times and discuss what you think it would be like to be a person of wealth and/or privilege such as Hornblower, The Prince, Admiral St. Vincent or any other characters of the gentleman or noble class. Contrast that to the lives of those who are in a lower social strata such as the Singalese divers or the drunk who is leading the horses in chapter one.

3. Describe and analyze Forester's descriptive passages about the topographical setting and the physical descriptions of the people. Does Forester do an adequate job of actually making the reader "see" the land/sea where the action is taking place? How about getting a visual image of the characters? How do the descriptions of the setting add to the novel? Do you like having an idea of how a character looks? How would the novel be different without such descriptions?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation whereby Hornblower believes he is fooling the Mudir. Find two other incidences of irony in Hornblower and the Atropos and discuss them.

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use of and meaning of five symbols found in Hornblower and the Atropos.

3. Discuss the use of foreshadowing in literature. What is the purpose of foreshadowing? Cite 3 examples of foreshadowing and how it is used to indicate events to come in Hornblower and the Atropos.

Essay Topic 3

Often in Forester's series involving Horatio Hornblower, his ship and/or life is saved by extraordinary means. Discuss the following:

1. Research and define the literary term "narrative contrivance."

2. Identify and analyze a time in the book when Forester makes free use of the technique of narrative contrivance to save Hornblower and his ship in Hornblower and the Atropos.

3. Does the use of narrative contrivance diminish the impact of the plot? The believability of the storyline?

4. Is there any other way Forester could have a mixture of suspense and action while at the same time making certain the main characters are not killed?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,272 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample