Brave Companions | Short Essay Answer Key

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What is the purpose of Brave Companions?

Brave Companions is a volume of seventeen previously published articles and addresses about diverse people and events selected by historian David McCullough to inspire Americans to shake off their ambivalence towards and fight their ignorance of history, which has much to teach.

2. Who is the subject of the essay entitled "Journey to the Top of the World?"

McCullough's first essay, "Journey to the Top of the World" portrays the life and career of the German-born naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt. In May 1804, at 34 and still unknown, Humboldt visits President Thomas Jefferson, a "friend of science" and astounds Jefferson with stories of South and Central America. Within a year, Humboldt reigns as the high priest of 19th-century science but today is largely forgotten, upstaged by Lewis and Clark.

3. Who is Humboldt's partner and what is the...
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