The Open Boat

Refer back to the beginning of The Open Boat.

1. Write down some of the descriptive language used in the opening:

2. What does it mean, “none of them knew the color of the sky?” What
kind of mood does that set for the story?

3. What type of conflict is presented at the beginning of The Open

Boat?

4. What kind of imagery does the opening scene present?

5. How does the narrator describe the crew? What adjectives does the
narrator use?

6. What kind of point-of-view is the narrator adopting in this story—

first or third person? How does this perspective effect the telling of
the story?

7. Does the narrator focus on any one character more than the others?
Are there any characters that are more significant than the others?

Go back to section II of the story (page 561). Read until “the

cook was bailing…”

8. What is the relationship between man and nature in this scene?

9. Does Crane see nature as arbitrary, malicious, or something else?

10. Find three passages in the story that emphasizes the power of
nature over humans. Write the quote and page number below:

1.

2.

3.