Touching the Void Short Essay Assignments

Short Essay Questions

The 60 short essay questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the text. Students must describe what they've read, rather than just recall it.

Short Essay Question - Beneath the Mountain Lakes

1. What observation does Joe make about tents in the opening scene of the book?

2. What does Joe like about Simon's personality?

3. On the first practice climb to Seria Norte, Joe loses sight of base camp and immediately notices what?

4. Describe the Peruvian family that lives in the huts.

5. Joe describes the beginning of their practice climb on Yantauri as 'inauspicious' (p24). Why?

6. Explain how Joe feels for the two days immediately prior to setting out...
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