Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in sequence: how the ship sails on through a warm sea pulled toward the pole and the crew finds a strange white animal; how it reaches wooded islands where Too-wit and his people come aboard, amazed — believing the Jane is alive, treating the guns as idols, and recoiling in terror when Too-wit sees himself in a mirror; how they prove friendly yet shun white things like the sails and an egg; how the narrator, by his own admission, uses his influence to turn Captain Guy from trading toward pushing south; and how, ashore, the crew finds a land utterly strange, ending with water that flows in separate purple veins. Mark the moment the chapter most unsettles your sense of the possible, and ask why Poe places it there.
Discussion Questions
- At the first meeting, both peoples are astonished — Too-wit's people by the ship, the guns, and the mirror; the crew by the islanders' beliefs and fears. What might Poe achieve by making the wonder run in both directions, and why? Use details from the chapter.
- The narrator confesses he has 'acquired much influence' over Captain Guy and turns him from trading toward sailing south. How should we weigh the narrator's private sway against the captain's formal authority, and why is that judgment a hard one? Use details from the chapter.
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Critical Thinking
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