View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Tasmania's environmental history, according to Quammen?

2. What rule governs the relationship between the size of an island and the number of species it can support?

3. Who does Quammen say typically collected insects?

4. What doe Quammen say about this rule?

5. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is dispersal ability and why is it important?

2. What took David Quammen to Madagascar?

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

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

5. What is archipelago speciation?

6. Why are islands important in ecosystem studies, in Quammen's opinion?

7. What do we know about the dodo?

8. What concept did Wallace develop in the Malay Archipelago?

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

10. What examples does Quammen cite of species changing size on islands?

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

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 3

Do you think the earth itself could become an island for the human species? How could the theories Quammen describes in plants and animals apply to human beings in the future? Describe a scenario in which human beings could have to demonstrate the same adaptive techniques other animals showed on islands.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 811 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample