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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The protagonist experiences a pang of regret that he had not devised what object that Bud wears in cold snaps in Part II?
(a) A musk ox mask
(b) Caribou pants
(c) A hat with flaps
(d) A nose-strap

2. What refers to an obstacle located outside the protagonist, including nature, the supernatural, or society?
(a) Manipulation
(b) Relational conflict
(c) Internal conflict
(d) External conflict

3. What causes the “traps” that are along the protagonist’s path in Part II?
(a) The sun
(b) Springs
(c) Rocks
(d) Branches

4. The protagonist is bound for an old claim on the left fork of what in To Build a Fire?
(a) Alberts Creek
(b) Johnson Creek
(c) Henderson Creek
(d) Indian Creek

5. What does the narrator refer to the protagonist in the story as?
(a) The explorer
(b) The wanderer
(c) The fool
(d) The man

Short Answer Questions

1. What location is 1,000 miles north along the “dark hair-line” of the main trail visible in Part I?

2. Which word from Part III refers to something that threatens to cause evil, harm or injury?

3. What is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different?

4. What refers to related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest?

5. When the protagonist reaches the top of the steep bank on the little-traveled trail in Part I, he stops to catch his breath and excuses the action by doing what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the relationship between the protagonist and the dog significant to the plot of the story?

2. What does the protagonist do to warm up as he eats his lunch in Part III?

3. What symbolism is tied to the character of the dog in the story?

4. When did Jack London drop out of school? Where did he go to work at that time?

5. What is the setting of To Build a Fire?What clues indicate this setting?

6. What literary purpose does the dog serve in To Build a Fire?

7. When and where was Jack London born? Who were his parents?

8. How does the narrator describe the protagonist’s experience of the cold in Part III?

9. Where does the protagonist decide to eat lunch in the narrative? Why?

10. How does the author use symbolism to illustrate “instinct” versus “reason” in the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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