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 alias did Ruess carve on the walls of the canyon?

2. Although Waterman became something of a local hero, what job did he have in Fairbanks?

3. What problem did the authorities have after removing Chris's body?

4. What did Chris tell Gallien his plans were?

5. Why did Chris adopt the name Alex Burres?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Krakauer rebut the idea that Chris was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist?

2. What kind of place was The Slabs?

3. Explain Chris's lack of readiness for his Alaskan adventure.

4. Describe the evidence at the opening of Chapter 1 that indicates Chris might have had a premonition about his death.

5. How did Wayne Westerberg come to notify the police?

6. Why does Krakauer include the story of Everett Ruess in Chapter 9?

7. How are letters written by Ruess and Chris another point of similarity in their stories?

8. What are some particulars about Alex (Chris) deciding to go to San Diego?

9. Describe Westerberg's comments to Krakauer two months after Chris died.

10. What impression did Chris make on Ron Franz?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Gather information about Jack London. Write about how Chris admired his description of survival in the Alaskan wilderness but did not recognize it as fiction written by a man who never did the things included in his book, CALL OF THE WILD.

Essay Topic 3

Look up information about the Mojave Desert and write an essay about the advisability of trying to exist alone in a place like that. Give your opinion about what might have happened to Chris in the Mojave Desert when he is reported to have nearly died.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 736 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample