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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 does Joe mean by a "tortured" cornice?

2. What is the name of the rock that Joe and Ian climb?

3. What does Joe assume Simon will do when he finds out that he has broken his leg?

4. What is another word for "abseil"?

5. At one of the lowering changeovers, Simon smiles at Joe, and Joe realizes that their partnership...

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of "Disaster", what is Joe's attitude?

2. Why does Joe consider standing on the summit an unsettling anticlimax?

3. When beginning his climb for the summit from the bivouac site 300 feet below the summit, what pros and cons does Joe mention about climbing in the daylight?

4. Compare or contrast the influence of the incident on The Bonatti Pillar on the climbing careers of Joe Simpson and Ian Whittaker.

5. Why does Simon cut the rope?

6. What is Joe's plan of action if Simon falls through, or off, the ridge again?

7. On page 65 in "On the Edge", Joe says, 'Funny how my anxiety [about Simon's frostbitten fingers] seemed to have more to do with whether he would be able to carry on climbing after we got down rather than concern for his injuries'. Why is this statement significant?

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

9. While thinking about the possibility of having fallen off the ridge while roped together, Joe talks about what incident witnessed by Simon?

10. What happens on The Bonatti Pillar on Les Petits Drus in the French Alps?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do Joe and Simon work so well together? What qualities does Simon possess that are attractive to Joe? Would things have turned out differently (either better or worse) if Joe would have had a different partner?

Essay Topic 2

In the Postscript, Joe says "The scars of six operations stood out lividly on the distorted joint. At least the wounds in my mind had healed better than these." After reading the Epilogue, how do you assess Joe's "healing"? Do you agree? What do you think about Joe's decision to go back and climb mountains again? Do you think this is imprudent, or admirable?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and/or contrast Joe's use of patterns and rhythm throughout the book. Does he use them as a function of his personality, as a result of the essence of climbing, or out of necessity? Discuss the appearance of these patterns in climbing, in the rescue attempt, and in Joe's journey back to base camp.

(see the answer keys)

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