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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 many successful ascents of the North Face were made in 1956?

2. How did Radovan KuchaÅ™ and Zdeno Zibrin climb up to the Exit Cracks?

3. Where were Nothdurft and Mayer's bodies finally found?

4. How far behind Radovan KuchaÅ™ and Zdeno Zibrin were the Polish team who reached the summit the same day?

5. According to Corti's report, what happened to him at the Spider?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what was done to lower Alfred Hellepart down the mountain in a rescue attempt.

2. What happened to Erich Vanis, Hans Ratay, and Karl Lugmayer on the Ice Bulge?

3. When did Mayr's climb seem to slow?

4. What happened in the attempts to climb the North Face in 1953?

5. How were Albert Rabada and Ernesto Navarra's bodies recovered?

6. Why were Kurt Diemberger and Wolfgang Stephan criticized, and how does Harrer answer that criticism?

7. Why does Harrer include a route guide at the end of the book?

8. What is Harrer's attitude toward Italians?

9. What does Harrer say about Corti's knowledge of the North Face of the Eiger?

10. What information does Harrer offer in the later appended chapters about his treatment of Corti's story and the facts about Nothdurft's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the nature of youth in Harrer's vision of climbing.

1) How does Harrer see extreme climbing as a youthful activity? What about the nature of youth makes extreme climbing attractive?

2) How does Harrer both admire and envy youth? Is his portrayal of youth idealized or realistic?

3) How does Harrer seem to change from his youth to his adult self? What aspects of youth does he exhibit as a young climber?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the structure of Harrer's book.

1) How does the chronological telling of attempts to climb the North Face affect the book? Why does Harrer choose a chronological structure?

2) How does the addition of a second section to a later edition of the book affect it?

3) What stories are central to the book and gone into in more detail? Why does Harrer choose these events to emphasize?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the point of view of Harrer's THE WHITE SPIDER.

1) How does Harrer portray climbers and events that he knows of through research, compared to those that he knows personally?

2) How does the shift in point of view to Harrer's personal account of his experiences affect the book?

3) When does Harrer use personal narration, aside from the account of his own climb of the North Face? How do these personal interjections affect the book?

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