View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What complaint does the boy have about the fisherman he works for after he is forced to leave Santiago?
(a) He never catches any fish.
(b) He makes him carry everything to and from the boat.
(c) He thinks he knows everything better than Santiago.
(d) He never lets me carry anything.

2. Why does Santiago always dream about lions?
(a) He dreams about lions eating a huge fish they catch.
(b) He has always loved cats because they like fish.
(c) Lions make him feel strong and brave.
(d) They are something he saw from a ship off the coast of Africa when he was a boy.

3. Why doesn't Santiago put the marlin into his boat?
(a) He is blinded by seawater and cannot see.
(b) The skiff is too full of water.
(c) The marlin is too large.
(d) He thinks it would be disrespectful.

4. Why does the old man wish to take Joe DiMaggio fishing?
(a) He would like to talk about baseball while he fished.
(b) He thinks DiMaggio would be good at clubbing sharks to death.
(c) He heard that DiMaggio's father was a fisherman.
(d) He wants to get free tickets to a Yankee game.

5. What does his cramped hand make Santiago think about the boy?
(a) He cannot use his hand at all and the boy could take over.
(b) He thinks the boy would remember how that had happened before.
(c) His hand makes a claw that he thinks the boy would find funny.
(d) He thinks how the boy would massage his hand.

Short Answer Questions

1. What commonality does Santiago observe in deep water fish when they pick up speed?

2. What indicates the old man's pride?

3. How did the old man know the marlin had turned eastward?

4. Why does the boy stop fishing with Santiago?

5. What does the old man say he has to eat in his shack?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give an example of how Santiago refuses to give up after losing the harpoon.

2. What does the fish do that helps revive Santiago from his weariness?

3. What is Santiago's analysis of having a cramp, especially when one is alone?

4. While sleeping in the boat, what are Santiago's dream like?

5. Santiago does not consider himself to be religious, but what happens to show that he was at one time before?

6. By nightfall, Santiago recognizes a change in direction. Explain how he knows that.

7. Describe the last moments that define the valor of the great marlin.

8. Why was it simple for Santiago to defeat the Negro of Cienfuegas when they had a rematch in the spring?

9. How does Hemingway use conversation between the old man and the boy to show Santiago's age?

10. Discuss the idea of luck in The Old Man and the Sea.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 941 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample