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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 did humans hurt the dodo population indirectly?

2. Who is Owen Griffiths?

3. What advice did Darwin receive from his friends, with regard to Wallace's work?

4. What does Michael Soule study?

5. What important book did Robert McArthur and Edward Wilson publish in 1967?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Quammen's narrative progresses from one idea to the next.

2. What is the governing metaphor in the opening chapter?

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

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

5. What does Quammen use the island of Tasmania as an example of?

6. What are the different terms Quammen describes for how people have accounted for the degradation of ecosystems?

7. Who is Frank Preston, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

8. Who is Philip Darlington, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

9. What is the difference between an isolate and a sample, according to Quammen?

10. What practical assertion does Quammen say Frank Preston made based on his findings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the scientific methods used to measure and assess island biogeography. What do we gain by way of insight and understanding? What patterns or trends does the data fail to account for?

Essay Topic 3

Write an evaluative review of 'The Song of the Dodo'. What is this book's place in culture? What are its uses? Who is its audience? What are its limitations?

(see the answer keys)

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