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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 does Peach do to help Beck?

2. Who fell 150 feet into a crevasse that Beck heard about?

3. What does Linda Gravelle do for Peach?

4. How many in Beck's group made it to the summit?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of the climbers' stay at Base Camp?

2. What does the rest of Chapter 7 describe after Beck arrives at Camp II?

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

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

5. How did Beck's longtime recovery proceed?

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

7. What did Beck say was the reason he climbed, and what was the impact of his climbing on his family?

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

9. What did Beck say about a climber's drive?

10. Why did Dan fly to be with Beck while Beck was in a hotel recovering?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the Epilogue, Beck summarized his experience. He covered the spiritual ramifications of his experience and recognized that every person has determination and strength within themselves, and that hardship bring the strength out.

1. What do you think are the spiritual ramifications of undergoing an experience like Beck's? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

2. Define what you think are Beck's strengths before and after he went through his ordeal. Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you think hardship is essential in order for a person to find his or her own strengths? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Left for Dead is a memoir by Beck Weathers. Discuss the following:

1. Define the word "genre" in the context of literary criticism.

2. Why do you think literature is categorized by genre?

3. Does it help to know how a book is categorized as to its genre before reading it? Explain.

4. Memoir used to be considered inferior to what are considered "the classics." Why do you think this is so? Do you believe a book such as Left for Dead is inferior to something such as A Tale of Two Cities? Explain.

5. What is your favorite genre and why?

Essay Topic 3

Though Use examples from the book to support your answer. is a non-fiction memoir, it has some of the characteristics of a bildungsroman. Discuss the following:

1. Define bildungsroman, or "coming of age," and give several examples from literature you have read.

2. Trace and analyze the character of Beck as he changes from a rather selfish man to a more self aware man. What are the significant events that change Beck?

3. After thoroughly analyzing Beck's growth, do you think Use examples from the book to support your answer. could be considered Beck's coming of age story? Why or why not?

4. Are there any other persons in Left for Dead who go through a coming of age experience? Who? Why do you think so?

(see the answer keys)

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