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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. How long has it been since the four men have slept?

2. Who calms the dispute towards the end of Part 1?

3. Who is forced into rowing again in Part 3?

4. How did the injured character sustain his injuries?

5. What makes the men feel the way they do about their current situation in Part 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What taunts the four men, and why?

2. Who rows together, and how?

3. What do the four men wonder in Part 4, and what do they think that the people onshore may believe?

4. How does the captain try to calm the other three men?

5. What is unknown or unclear about the men's situation?

6. Describe the setting at the beginning of Part 5.

7. Near the end of Part 5, what does the correspondent want, and why?

8. What happens after the sail is constructed, and how do the four men feel about it?

9. What would the men think if they could view their situation from a different vantage point?

10. What do the men see as they row for their lives in Part 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is foreshadowing used in "The Open Boat"? Choose one major instance of foreshadowing and follow it through the book, finishing with how the event is fulfilled.

Essay Topic 2

How is perspective used in Crane's "The Open Boat"?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the main themes in this story (false hope, man versus nature, etc.) and detail its recurrences throughout the story. What does it add to the story? How does it affect the difference characters?

(see the answer keys)

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