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 so poignant about the final photograph Chris took of himself holding his good-bye note?

2. What kind of business do Carine and her husband operate?

3. What is significant about August 5?

4. How was Westerberg able to help the police?

5. What did the bones outside the bus reveal?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Chris's problem with his parents monetary success?

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

3. Describe why the McCandlesses could not take the exact trek to the bus that Chris had taken.

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

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

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

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

8. How does swainsonine become lethal in the body?

9. What defense does Krakauer make of Chris's ability to survive in the wild?

10. In Chris's journal, what did he think was happening to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Write an essay on your idea of living off the land. In the essay give specific details about the knowledge one would need before attempting to live that way. What skills would a person need as well? Where would be ideal locations for such an endeavor?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 846 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample