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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. What is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that will come later in the story?
(a) Irony
(b) Foreshadowing
(c) Climax
(d) Hyperbole

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

3. The “dark hair-line” of trail visible in Part I is said to be the main trail that leads north 70 miles to what location?
(a) Moosejaw
(b) Fairbanks
(c) Dawson
(d) Anchorage

4. What does the narrator say the dog has learned and wants in Part II?
(a) Companionship
(b) Fire
(c) Water
(d) Food

5. What does the protagonist do in order to regain feeling in his feet in Part III?
(a) Stamps up and down
(b) Puts his shoes on
(c) Pours warm water over them
(d) Gets the dog to lay on them

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. The protagonist anticipates arriving to meet the boys at the campsite by what time in Part I?

3. The protagonist shoves the dog in order to make it do what in Part II?

4. In what year did Jack London die?

5. The protagonist had been out in how many cold snaps before, according to the narrator in Part II?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were Jack London’s experiences like during the Klondike Gold Rush?

2. How is the dog described in To Build a Fire?What is his relationship to the protagonist?

3. What danger does the protagonist encounter at Henderson Creek in Part II?

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

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

6. What stylistic elements characterize To Build a Fire?Give examples in your answer.

7. How is the advice of the old-timer perceived by the protagonist in To Build a Fire?

8. What is the point of view of the narrative in To Build a Fire?

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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