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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What emotional experience disturbed Chris while he is staying in the bus?

2. What was the skeleton in Walt's closet that stressed the whole family, Chris in particular?

3. What was the tender moment between Chris and his father right after Chris graduated from high school?

4. What ambitions did Jon Krakauer's father have for all of his children?

5. What information does Gallien provide the police?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe why the McCandlesses could not take the exact trek to the bus that Chris had taken.

2. What was Chris's problem with his parents monetary success?

3. As Krakauer, visiting the site, stood on the banks of the raging Teklanika River, what advantage did he have that Chris did not have?

4. What items did Billie and Walt McCandless leave behind in the bus?

5. What do Carine and her parents regret after the fact of Chris's death?

6. How does swainsonine become lethal in the body?

7. What is so unusual about Chris's never seeing another human being while he was camped at the bus?

8. What was the irony Krakauer thought about as he kept attempting to climb Devil's Thumb?

9. How was Krakauer's Alaska experience different from Chris's?

10. To show his kindred spirit with Chris, what does Krakauer write about in Chapter 14?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about loneliness. Using Ron Franz as an example, write about how losing loved ones can affect one's life and what one can do to fill the void. Give your opinion of Ron Franz as to whether he had a good plan for living alone.

Essay Topic 2

Write about mountain climbing and the kinds of people who are compelled to do that. Use examples from the book as well as any information you find about other mountain climbers. Sir Edmond Hillery and Mr. Everest might be a good example.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay on romanticism as it pertains to frontier adventure. Use Chris, Krakauer, and Ruess from the book, but also include frontiersmen from American history and those adventurers who are at the forefront of space exploration.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 986 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample