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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. How many species of the animal Philip Darlington studied did an island of four square miles possess?

3. What is a sample?

4. How did humans hurt the dodo population indirectly?

5. How does Quammen say islands are sometimes formed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What other Mauritius species does Quammen describe?

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

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

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

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

6. What is the first explanation Quammen offers for the relationship between island size and species count?

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

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

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

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

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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This section contains 710 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample