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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 narrator states in Part I that the protagonist is used to the lack of what?
(a) Stars
(b) Birds
(c) Warmth
(d) Sun

2. St. Michael is described as being located by what body of water in Part I?
(a) The Gulf of Alaska
(b) Cook Inlet
(c) The Bering Sea
(d) The Arctic Ocean

3. What is the point of view for the narrative of To Build a Fire?
(a) First-person
(b) Second-person
(c) Third-person
(d) Fourth-person

4. Which word from Part III means anticipation of adversity or misfortune?
(a) Peremptorily
(b) Irony
(c) Conflagration
(d) Apprehension

5. The narrator claims in Part I that fifty degrees below zero means what degrees of frost?
(a) Forty-odd
(b) Fifty-odd
(c) Twenty-odd
(d) Eighty-odd

Short Answer Questions

1. What refers to the condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions?

2. What does the dog yearn toward as the man departs after eating his lunch in Part III?

3. Naturalism was a literary movement that emerged in what decade?

4. Where was Jack London born?

5. How many inches of snow cover the furrow of the last runners on the old sled-trail in Part II?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the protagonist eat quickly when he stops for lunch in Part III?

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

3. What are the most significant elements of the setting of To Build a Fire?

4. How is symbolism tied to the character of the protagonist in To Build a Fire?

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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