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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. Why was author Jon Krakauer interested in writing Chris's story?

2. When Chris corresponded with his sister, what did he confide to her?

3. How do Waterman and Chris differ?

4. Why did the employees at McDonald's object to Chris?

5. What happened when the moose hunters got to the bus where they plan to camp out?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a literary parallel between Chris and Ruess?

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

3. Describe Jim Gallien's difficulty contacting the Alaska state troopers.

4. How did there happen to be an abandoned bus where Chris could find it?

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

6. What was the relationship Chris developed with the Westerberg family?

7. Discuss Chris's abandonment of his beloved Datsun.

8. What is clear about the author's intentions in writing this book?

9. What impression did Chris make on Ron Franz?

10. How abrupt was Chris's separation from his family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a fictitious story about meeting Chris McCandless. Place yourself in one of the locations where Chris was (e.g. the McDonald's in Bullhead City, on the Colorado River, at Oh-My-God Hot Springs, in a railroad freight car, etc.) and write your story as a dialog between you and him.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay expressing your opinion of Chris McCandless. Answer whether he was mentally stable, how he did or did not use people, whether he might have survived except for some bad luck, and how well he was prepared to survive alone.

Essay Topic 3

Given the amount of information Krakauer includes about Chris's abilities, write and OP-ED piece about another successful course Chris might have taken to realize his ideals. You might want to have him go into the Peace Corps or get involved in something like Habitat for Humanity.

(see the answer keys)

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