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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 Quammen say about Wilson and Macarthur's 'The Theory of Island Biogeography'?

2. What is an indri?

3. What was the previous theory that governed speciation on islands?

4. Where did Lovejoy implement his plan?

5. What condition would help a species breed out harmful genes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Quammen choose Aru as the destination for his final chapter?

2. Who was Thomas Lovejoy, and what was his reaction to the debate Simberloff and Abele began?

3. What is Quammen doing at the end of the book?

4. How did Krakatau serve as evidence for MacArthur and Wilson's thesis?

5. What did MacArthur and Wilson argue in 'An Equilibrium Theory of Insular Zoogeography'?

6. What is the concept of the minimum viable population?

7. How do genetics play a role in the minimum viable population?

8. Where was Quammen sent, in order to find what he was looking for?

9. What was the practical example of species management Quammen cited from Texas?

10. What did Simberloff and Abele propose as a result of their data?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Quammen consistent from the beginning of 'The Song of the Dodo' to the end? What expectations does he establish in the beginning? Does he fulfill them, over the course of the book? Does he abandon or sidestep the question of conservation in his discussion of methods of analysis and study?

Essay Topic 2

Why does Quammen minimize Darwin's accomplishment as the founder of the theory of evolution? What does he benefit by debunking Darwin's accomplishment? Is it attraction to the underdog position, do you think? Was Wallace rely a superior scientist? Is Quammen just being contentious?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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