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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. Of the "dozens of North Pond summer residents who offered their opinions about Knight," what percentage of them "insisted that he was lying" (128)?

2. The photograph Knight recalled seeing in his childhood depicted a child watching over what kinds of animals?

3. Finkel suggests that most hermits throughout history have seceded from society during what period of their lives?

4. What objects did Knight watch when it was time to celebrate the Fourth of July?

5. It is revealed in Chapter 13 that Knight was how old when he drove his vehicle until it ran out of gas and then walked off into the woods, where he proceeded to live for the next 27 years?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Knight's answer when Finkel asked him whether "some grand insight" (140) had been revealed to him during his time living in the forest?

2. In what way is the theme of eccentricity treated within Chapter 16?

3. In what way does the theme of regret enter the narrative at least once before Chapter 14?

4. Define the category of hermits identified as pilgrims and provide one example Finkel gives within the text.

5. How does Knight view the workaday world in the United States?

6. How does Finkel inject humor into the text by providing the comments of Stephen M. Edelson regarding Knight's mental state?

7. What was the main reason why Knight rarely ventured from his campsite during the six months prior to each spring thaw?

8. Name three steps Knight took each year as winter approached.

9. To which transgressions did Knight admit and which act of wrongdoing did he adamantly deny?

10. How did Knight maintain knowledge of the world around him, though he only came into contact with a total of four humans over 27 years?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Finkel’s use of characterization methods to portray real people. What effect do these characterization methods have on the work's inherent themes and messages?

Essay Topic 2

Perform a biographical criticism of The Stranger in the Woods by researching Finkel's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular book and then support that claim with quotes from the book and from your research of Finkel.

Essay Topic 3

How does Finkel’s use of the first and second person point of view serve the purposes of the text? Discuss how Finkel’s choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes within the text.

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