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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 trail did Beck hike to get to Everest?

2. Where did Beck stay for a couple days before heading to Lukla?

3. How did Beck get to Lukla once he was in Nepal?

4. Why was Beck almost suffocated in his tent?

5. With whom do the climbers meet up when climbing down the mountain?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the storm that pummels Beck's tent as he lay helpless inside.

2. Whom did Peach and her friends contact to get Beck off the mountain?

3. What did Beck do while waiting to travel to base camp on Everest?

4. What did three Sherpas and Stuart Hutchinson find after they set out to locate Yasuko and Beck?

5. How did Beck communicate with his family during most climbs, and how did he do so on the Everest expedition?

6. How did Beck's longtime recovery proceed?

7. How did Beck overcome the boredom at base camp?

8. What happened when the camp radioed down the mountain about Beck's arrival?

9. What astonishes the climbers at Camp IV as they prepared to descend to Camp II, and what did the climbers do?

10. What is the date at the opening chapter and what is Beck doing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful work of non-fiction/memoir?

2. Analyze and discuss Left for Dead based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Left for Dead is a successful work of non-fiction/memoir.

3. Is Left for Dead a book you would recommend to a friend? Why or why not? Explain.

4. Can a novel be successful and yet many readers not enjoy it? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 2

Beck was reliant on those closest to him, including Peach. He underwent physical and emotional pain as he dealt with people's reactions to his unsightly body and fought infections. He had eleven surgeries over the next year. The pain was excruciating.

1. Do you think the average person would resent his or her life becoming more difficult because of a spouse's poor choice? In other words, all of a sudden Peach is faced with having to do many tasks her husband cannot do for himself, as the the result of him being determined to climb a mountain she asked him not to climb. Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

2. Humans often have a tendency to think someone deserves pain or suffering if they are the cause of their suffering. Beck chose to climb, even when his daughter and wife asked him not to do it. Does Beck deserve his suffering? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

3. Everyone has done something unwise and suffered the consequences of the behavior. Do you think the consequences of a bad choice is the best way for a person to grow? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in Left for Dead. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in Left for Dead. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of death in Left for Dead. Consider the death of some of the climbers as an random act of nature and the near death of Beck as the result of poor choices.

(see the answer keys)

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