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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. Which legendary captain is the topic of a lecture delivered by Slocum?

2. What was the name of the nearby town?

3. How did Slocum feel when he was introduced by the admirer?

4. Slocum says that he had _____ to keep him company.

5. Slocum managed to make money off of which sea creature?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss Slocum's arrival on the Keeling Cocos Islands. What was Slocum's first sign that he was getting close?

2. In chapter 12, the author talks about spending a lot of time in various ports. Discuss the stops and how they relate to Slocum's long stretches of time spent on the sea.

3. Discuss Slocum's stay on Thursday Island. Why was Slocum's presence so important?

4. How does capitalism become involved in the story?

5. Where did the Spray land in South Africa? Who did Slocum meet there?

6. What was Slocum's final comment on the islands?

7. What did Slocum do while out on the ocean for such long stretches of time?

8. The Spray's next port was on the island of Rodriguez. Explain the expectation of Slocum's arrival.

9. Slocum recorded many unusual incidents along the way including the "rain of blood." What is the "rain of blood" and where is it found?

10. Examine Slocum's first interaction with the children of the island.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Slocum stayed in many different ports during his journey. Examine Slocum's choice to remain in the ports. Why would Slocum choose to spend so much time in some of the ports? Was it necessary? What might have prompted Slocum to stay if there was no need? Where did Slocum spend the most amount of time? Why? What did Slocum learn while he was at the various ports? How was Slocum received? What was the general opinion of the Spray? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Joshua Slocum was compared to several different famous explorers including Columbus. Choose two famous explorers and compare them to Slocum. What routes did they take? What similarities were there between the men? Which had the most experience? Which was the most successful? Which took the longest voyage? Include details of at least one major undertaking of each explorer.

Essay Topic 3

On several occasions Slocum was faced with people who harbored age old beliefs and superstitions. Choose at least three incidents, explain the belief or superstition, and how it was handled by Slocum. Did Slocum attempt to educate the people or allow them to believe what they wanted to believe in order to keep the peace or save face? Which is the most commonly held misconception? How could Slocum convince the people of the truth?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 948 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample