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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. Where did Harrer and Kasparek camp after their first day climbing the North Face?

2. What did the first description of the North Face from above say about it?

3. When was the first attempt to climb the North Face?

4. What type of weather hit when Terray and Lachenal reached the Spider, during their climb in 1946?

5. What did the climbers do that blocked their path back down?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the climbers do on their last night on the mountain before reaching the summit?

2. Describe the ascent of Buhl, Jöchler, the Maags, and the French through the Ramp.

3. Describe the White Spider.

4. What did Rebitsch and Vörg do, after a harrowing climb on the mountain, when they learned that Gollackner had died on the mountain?

5. What research did Harrer do for his book?

6. What did the author mean by "Come back safe, my friends"?

7. What were Otto and Sepp Maag doing when they first encountered Buhl and Jöchler in July 1952?

8. What knowledge did Sedlmayer and Mehringer have and lack when they attempted to climb the North Face?

9. How does Harrer portray the climbers' relations with the newspapermen?

10. What metaphor did the author use to describe the societal function of mountain climbing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss conflict in Harrer's book.

1) In what ways is there conflict between man and nature in the book? How does the Eiger function as an antagonist?

2) In what ways is there conflict between man and himself in the book? How does Harrer struggle with himself? What internal conflict is there in other climbers in the book?

3) In what ways is there conflict between man and man in the book? What personal and national conflicts, enmities, and rivalries are associated with mountain climbing?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss danger and courage in Harrer's book.

1) What is Harrer's attitude toward danger? How does he feel about courage?

2) What outweighs the inherent danger of extreme mountain climbing for the climbers who attempt the North Face? In what ways are they courageous, and in what ways are they foolhardy?

3) What are the dangers of the North Face, and can they be mitigated by those who attempt the climb? How does the risk become worthwhile, and under what conditions?

Essay Topic 3

Harrer sees taming the North Slope as expanding the domain of humanity. Discuss this aspect of the book.

1) Is humanity's intellectual and physical domain expanded by the successful attempts to climb the North Face? How does this expand human accomplishment?

2) How does Harrer ultimately feel about the affect of humans climbing the North Face? Once the North Face has been repeatedly climbed, has something been lost as well as gained?

3) Is the expansion of the human domain inherently good? Is it inevitable? How does the North Face fit into the bigger picture of human accomplishment?

(see the answer keys)

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