View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the total walking distance of the typical American in one week?

2. For what is Bryson yearning?

3. What does Bryson discover when he walks to Kmart in Waynesboro?

4. What is it like hiking in the Hundred Miles Wilderness?

5. Which beautiful Appalachian ranges are at the north and west of Pennsylvania?

Short Essay Questions

1. What has Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts, inspired?

2. Explain why Mount Washington has such extreme weather conditions.

3. How do Bryson and Katz adapt to hiking through Maine's wilderness?

4. Describe the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

5. Summarize the weather conditions in which most people fall victim to hypothermia.

6. Summarize why Bryson is so angry about Katz drinking again.

7. Summarize the statistics Laurie Potteiger, the Information Specialist at Harper's Ferry, gives to Bryson about the number of thru hikers who hiked the Appalachian Trail the year before.

8. Explain why Katz starts drinking again.

9. Describe what Bryson finds strange about the town of Centralia.

10. Summarize Bryson's experience hiking in Pennsylvania.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Analyze the resolution of the story as it relates to each of the characters in the novel.

2) Explain the metamorphosis each of them experiences in the final chapter.

3) How has their experiences on the trail affected their attitudes toward the future?

Essay Topic 2

1) Describe the changes to the Appalachian Trail from the time it first came into being to the present day.

2) What differences from the original plan have been made?

3) What effect does the National Forest Service have on the trail?

Essay Topic 3

1) Examine how Bill Bryson uses humor throughout the book, even in dangerous circumstances.

2) Analyze and describe at least three instances of humor depicted in the story.

3) Explain why Bryson writes the situation with comical imagery and what is revealed to the reader through humor.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 597 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample