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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. To where is Jason heading when he passes back through Skagway?

2. What does Jason think while he is walking?

3. Why are many of the people Jason meets heading back to Skagway going there?

4. How do Jack and Jason act when they see each other again?

5. What concerns Jason besides the upcoming bad weather?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jason get off the beach where the sailors dumped him?

2. What does one have to take to get to Canada and how does Jason manage it?

3. Who are Homer and Jamie Dunavant and what is their story?

4. What does Jason find out when he arrives in Bennett and what does he wonder about as far as what to do?

5. With whom does Jason meet up again at the beginning of Chapter 12 and what do they do when they see each other?

6. Upon what ship is Jason stowed away on, what does he hear and what can he not know because of the noise?

7. What does Jason think could stand in his way besides the weather?

8. How does Jason get a job in Skagway?

9. What does Jason see when he arrives in Skagway and what is the cost of living?

10. On what date is Jason Hawthorn hawking papers, where is he, what is the big news and what does Jason want to have the opportunity to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Characters are an integral and important part of almost all novels. Discuss the following:

1. Compare/contrast the characters of Jason and Barker. How are they similar? How are they different? Is there a flaw in each of their personalities? Be specific and give examples.

2. Compare/contrast the characters of Jack London and Charlie. How do they seem different? Which do you like more? Why? Which one seems more of a well-rounded character?

3. Thoroughly analyze how three of the secondary characters in Jason's Gold help drive the plot and what their contribution is to the storyline. Are any of the secondary characters unnecessary? Indispensable? Which of the secondary characters are likable? Which are either unlikable or even despicable? Be specific and give examples.

Essay Topic 2

Something in Hawthorn breaks when he sees the man drowning his dogs. Hawthorn feels that by standing by silent he is in some way responsible for the dogs' deaths. It is clear to Hawthorn that something has happened to the man, that Klondicitis has caused him to lose his senses just like many others. Hawthorn begins to wonder if he has lost his mind.

1. Do you think Jason is correct that he is responsible for the dogs' deaths if he does nothing to stop them? Use examples from Jason's Gold and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think a student who sees something wrong being done by other students is as guilty as the student doing the act? Why or why not? Use examples from Jason's Gold and your own life to support your answer.

3. There are studies that show that many people who hear or see an act of violence taking place ignore it, to the extent of not even calling 911 on a cell phone. What do you think are the reasons people ignore violence? Use examples from Jason's Gold and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Many people were running from their problems, such as jobs they hated, marriages which were bad or escaping from relatives they did not like, by leaving for the gold fields. Many realized very quickly that no matter how far they ran their character flaws were always there.

1. Running from problems by going somewhere else is called a "geographic cure." Discuss what do you think this means.

2. Do you believe taking the geographic cure is a good idea or a bad idea? Why or why not? Could it be different depending on the circumstance?

3. Discuss two situations that might respond well to a geographic cure and two that wouldn't be helped with on. Does Jason's determination to go to the gold field seem like a geographical cure? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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