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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. Why does the USS Swordfish not come to Australia?

2. How did the war escalate?

3. Why does Mr. Davidson think people are not migrating south ahead of the radiation?

4. Why are they forbidden to go to Townsville?

5. Why was the war limited to the Northern hemisphere?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has the boisterous revelry of the townspeople changed over the past year?

2. What is the consensus about which countries actually started the war?

3. Tell what is known about the global nuclear war.

4. What is the problem with Moira's ability to understand what has happened in the world?

5. How is Moira Davidson dealing with the eminent threat of death by radiation?

6. How does the USS Swordfish illustrate the movement of the radiation?

7. Explain why Peter, a navy lieutenant-commander, has not worked for the past seven months.

8. What is notable about Mary's plans for her garden?

9. How has the war simplified life in Australia to a large extent?

10. What does it mean that the people had all died tidily?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a critique of Nevil Shute's ON THE BEACH. Evaluate Shute as a story teller and how well he holds the attention of the reader. Also evaluate the importance of the subject matter and whether it contributes a good message to the world. Mention the parts you think are strongest and weakest in the book. Conclude with a recommendation as to who would most benefit from reading the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about what visitors from another planet find on earth 100 years after ON THE BEACH. In your essay tell what they find and how they speculate what happened to all the people. Use you imagination and be creative.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about pure love. It is clear that Moira is in love with Dwight. Leading up to her introduction to him, she is described as having lived a promiscuous life. What is it in the relationship between her and Dwight that prevents her from attempting to seduce him.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 691 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample