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. A year after Chris's death, what did Krakauer observe on the banks of the Teklanika River where Chris had been unable to cross?

2. Why does Krakauer relate his own experiences in Chapter 14?

3. Where did Chris leave from on April 15, 1992 on his journey to Alaska?

4. What daunting challenge did Krakauer set for himself as a young man?

5. Why did Chris write in his journal that he had found the Magic Bus?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Carine and her parents regret after the fact of Chris's death?

2. Who was Sam McCandless, and why was he the one to notify Chris's parents?

3. What kind of work made Walt McCandless such a success?

4. Explain Jim Gillien's difficulty in contacting the Alaska police.

5. What discovery did Chris make the summer after his freshman year in college that drove a deeper wedge between him and his father?

6. What indicates to Krakauer that there was a very close relationship between Carine and Chris?

7. How did Chris manage the last leg of his trip into Fairbanks?

8. To show his kindred spirit with Chris, what does Krakauer write about in Chapter 14?

9. What discovery about himself did Krakauer make after conquering Devil's Thumb?

10. How does swainsonine become lethal in the body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look up four or five edible wild plants and write about them. Tell where to find them, how to prepare them for eating, whether they must be cooked, and any danger of confusing them with another plant that is poisonous.

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

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 938 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample