1. Discuss the following questions.
1) What kind of fish did the old man catch? How did he feel about it?
2) Why did a shark attack? Did the old man expect it?
3) What did the shark look like? What does its appearance announce?
4) What qualities of the first shark are emphasized?
5) Did Santiago despair? How do his reactions help define the behavior of the code hero?
6) How did the Santiago fight against the shark? What was the result and consequence?
7) How did the old man feel about killing the shark?
8) What was Santiago’s answer to his questions about sin?
9) How did the old man describe his fishing life?
10) In the fight, who do you think is the winner? Why?
2. Read what happened on Santiago’s 4th day of fishing, and arrange the following events in the right order.
1) Santiago pulls into the harbor and returns in the boat where he falls asleep, utterly exhausted.
2) Santiago ties the marlin to the side of boat and begins sailing home.
3) Two big sharks attack. Santiago kills both with the knife attached to the oar.
4) The marlin passes close to the boat and Santiago harpoons it in the heart, killing him.
5) A giant Mako shark attacks, trying to eat the fish. Santiago kills it but loses the harpoon.
6) Santiago wakes up to the marlin jumping frantically. But he is too exhausted and weak to attack.
7) The marlin stops towing the boat and begins circling it. Santiago prays to kill it.
8) A pack of sharks attack. Santiago wards them off but the marlin has all been eaten.
Here is the right order: ___________________________________
3. Fill in the blanks with proper words according to your knowledge about the author and the story.
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American writer 1) , in 1951 in 2) and published in 1952. The story centers upon 3) , an aging 4) who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. One of the predominant themes in the book is the conflict between Man and 5) . Santiago’s struggle against the marlin and the sea represents the struggle of every human being against nature, or the inscrutable universe. Another important theme is unseen 6) . Santiago carries on against adversity. But he is 7) in a boat, far out at sea, when he battles the gigantic marlin. No one witnesses his extraordinary performance. Life is like that. Every day, people in every country perform magnificently in ordinary tasks even though no one is there to cheer them on. The 8) style helps to convey the complex themes. In the novel, Hemingway uses the 9) point of view in general. The book won Hemingway a Pulitzer Prize and later helped win him a 10) Prize.