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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. How long after the eruption did it take for 271 species to be counted at Krakatau?

2. What tragedy struck Wallace on his return to England?

3. What is the Guam rail?

4. How does Quammen describe the komodo dragon's territory?

5. What function does the first chapter serve?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the understanding about the variety of life forms before the theory of evolution came along?

2. How did David Wallace make his start as a biologist, in Quammen's narrative?

3. What took David Quammen to Madagascar?

4. What findings of Michael Soule's does Quammen cite at the end of Chapter 4, "Rarity Unto Death"?

5. Describe Quammen's tone in the first chapter.

6. What examples does Quammen use of dispersal ability?

7. What example does Quammen draw from the island of Guam?

8. List the attributes that govern the survivability of individual species in island ecosystems.

9. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern of the Persian rug?

10. Describe the process by which scientists generate policies for managing ecosystems.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

Essay Topic 2

How does Quammen walk the line between stirring up the reader's outrage about extinctions, and soothing the reader's sadness about extinctions? How does he keep the reader from putting down the book out of despair?

Essay Topic 3

How realistic is this book? What parts are not believable? What leaps of faith does the author require of the reader?

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