Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson: Full-Book Quiz

This quiz spans the full arc of Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water, from the first meeting in a south-east London pub basement to the novel's closing reflections. Questions are grouped by type: plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. The complete answer key follows with brief explanations for each answer. Try to answer without referring back to the text, then check your work against the key. 20 questions total. Good luck.

Plot and Sequence

1. (Multiple Choice) Where does the narrator first meet the woman?

A) At a jazz night in Deptford
B) At a birthday party in a south-east London pub basement
C) At a gallery opening in Brixton
D) At a house party in north London

2. (Multiple Choice) What project does the woman propose to the narrator in Chapter 4?

A) A dance performance collaboration
B) A documentary film about London
C) A photography project documenting Black people
D) A music album cover series

3. (Multiple Choice) What happens on the Sunday evening in Chapter 16?

A) They break up
B) They attend a jazz night together
C) She leaves for Dublin
D) They become physically intimate for the first time

4. (Multiple Choice) What does the woman do at the end of Chapter 25?

A) She moves to Dublin permanently
B) She throws his hoody at him and walks away
C) She apologizes and they reconcile
D) She asks him to come with her

5. (Multiple Choice) What happens to Daniel in Chapter 24?

A) He moves to Ghana
B) He gets a job at the barbershop
C) He crashes through the barbershop window and is later found injured
D) He reconciles with the narrator

6. (Multiple Choice) What does the narrator encounter at Carnival Monday in Chapter 20?

A) He runs into an old friend just released from prison
B) He meets the woman's family
C) He performs at a sound system
D) He gets arrested

7. (Multiple Choice) What happens in Chapter 26 when the narrator is at the portrait session?

A) He photographs the woman for the first time
B) He meets Zadie Smith
C) He decides to move to Dublin
D) He sees himself reflected in the subject and breaks down crying

8. (Multiple Choice) Who narrates Chapter 30?

A) The narrator's brother
B) Samuel
C) The woman, addressing the male protagonist
D) The barber Leon

Character Motivation

9. (Multiple Choice) Why does the narrator decide to let his desire for the woman bloom in Chapter 2?

A) He wants to make Samuel jealous
B) He decides it is better to hold onto the ache of believing he is heading toward love
C) He believes she will leave Samuel for him
D) He wants to prove Freddie wrong

10. (Multiple Choice) Why does the narrator leave the woman's flat in the early hours in Chapter 4?

A) He feels shame because Samuel, her partner, has arrived
B) He has to work in the morning
C) She asks him to leave
D) He receives a call from his brother

11. (Multiple Choice) Why does the narrator stop calling the woman in Chapter 25?

A) He loses his phone
B) He decides he no longer loves her
C) She asks him to stop calling
D) He sinks into grief and anger after Daniel's death and pushes her away

12. (Multiple Choice) Why does the woman travel from Dublin to confront the narrator in Chapter 25?

A) She is angry that he has been ignoring her and wants honesty
B) She wants to retrieve her belongings
C) She wants to introduce him to her family
D) She wants to end the relationship formally

13. (Multiple Choice) Why does the narrator ask to photograph the woman in Chapter 18?

A) She needs professional headshots for work
B) He wants to sell the photos
C) He wants to see her through his viewfinder, reflecting his habit of observing
D) Samuel asks him to

Theme and Symbol

14. (Multiple Choice) What does open water symbolize throughout the novel?

A) The distance between London and Dublin
B) The narrator's fear of swimming
C) The risk and necessity of emotional vulnerability
D) The woman's dance career

15. (Multiple Choice) What does the hoody symbolize in the novel?

A) Connection, intimacy, and the memory of the woman
B) The narrator's fashion sense
C) A gift from his grandmother
D) His school uniform

16. (Multiple Choice) What does the barbershop represent in the novel?

A) A place of violence and danger
B) A sanctuary and site of ritual and community
C) A symbol of the narrator's childhood
D) A place where the narrator works

17. (Multiple Choice) What does the green sofa in Chapter 4 represent?

A) A recurring motif of connection and intimacy
B) The narrator's favorite color
C) A symbol of the woman's wealth
D) A reference to the Irish countryside

Synthesis

18. (Short Answer) How does music function as a form of communication between the narrator and the woman throughout the novel?

19. (Short Answer) How does the novel connect photography with intimacy and being seen?

20. (Short Answer) How does the novel explore the tension between suppression and expression?

Answer Key

1. B — Chapter 1: the narrator meets the woman at Nina's birthday party in a pub basement in south-east London, where Samuel introduces them.

2. C — Chapter 4: she proposes a photography project documenting Black people, inviting him to collaborate.

3. D — Chapter 16: after she cancels their cinema plans, they spend the evening together and become physically intimate; the narrator reflects that he had no intention of it happening, but it feels better this way.

4. B — Chapter 25: she confronts him about ignoring her, throws his hoody at him, and walks away; he does not chase her.

5. C — Chapter 24: Daniel crashes through the barbershop window pursued by five men; later the narrator finds him lying on the ground injured with blood around him.

6. A — Chapter 20: at Victoria station he runs into an old friend who has just completed an eighteen-month prison sentence.

7. D — Chapter 26: he realizes the portrait subject is a reflection of himself, excuses himself to the bathroom, and breaks down crying.

8. C — Chapter 30 is narrated by the female character, addressing the male protagonist, reflecting on their relationship a year after it ended.

9. B — Chapter 2: he decides it is better to let the feeling bloom and hold onto the ache of believing he is heading toward love, rather than suppress it.

10. A — Chapter 4: Samuel, her partner, arrives, and the narrator feels shame, so he leaves in the early hours.

11. D — Chapter 25: he sinks into a haze of anger and melancholy after Daniel's death, stops calling, and turns off his phone, avoiding confronting his grief.

12. A — Chapter 25: she confronts him about ignoring her, says she came from Dublin, and accuses him of selfishness, having believed they could be honest with each other.

13. C — Chapter 18: he asks to photograph her, reflecting on his habit of observing through a viewfinder; the act of photographing her becomes a way of seeing and being close to her.

14. C — Open water recurs as a metaphor for intimacy and vulnerability: the narrator reflects that if he opened his mouth in open water he would drown, but if he didn't he would suffocate.

15. A — The hoody is a keepsake: she borrows it, it smells of her, he wears it while waiting for the bus, and she throws it at him when they break up.

16. B — The barbershop is a sanctuary where the narrator gets his haircut, where Leon offers advice and a joint, and where community gathers; it is also where violence intrudes when Daniel crashes through the window.

17. A — The green sofa is where they talk in Chapter 4, and green is noted as a recurring motif of connection and intimacy throughout the novel.

18. Model answer: Music serves as a shared language that bridges silence. They share earbuds on the Underground listening to Isaiah Rashad's