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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 happened to Billie in July of 1992?

2. Why does Krakauer think Chris could not excrete poison from his body?

3. What sad discovery does Krakauer make just a quarter mile down stream on the river?

4. What shows Chris's attitude toward injustices that began when he was in college?

5. Who gave Krakauer dinner and a place to sleep in Petersberg?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was Krakauer's Alaska experience different from Chris's?

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

3. How does swainsonine become lethal in the body?

4. What was the irony Krakauer thought about as he kept attempting to climb Devil's Thumb?

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

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

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

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

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

10. What items did Billie and Walt McCandless leave behind in the bus?

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

Interview someone who has had an unusual travel adventure and write their story. It can be any kind of travel adventure and not just a solo trip living off the land. Ask questions about the people they met and the descriptions of the places they visited.

Essay Topic 3

Write your opinion of how Chris McCandless might have changed had he survived. Some of the passages he underscored in books he was reading might give you some insight into how he might have been after leaving Alaska.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 955 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample