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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 thinks to himself as he dies in Part VI, “When he got back to the States he could tell the folks” what?
(a) About the rugged north
(b) Where he had lost his fingers
(c) What real cold was
(d) How he was a survivor

2. The man is described as speaking in what way to the dog in Part V, meaning leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal?
(a) Pleadingly
(b) Angrily
(c) Lovingly
(d) Peremptorily

3. What does the fire symbolize to the protagonist in Part V?
(a) Triumph
(b) God
(c) Life
(d) Comfort

4. Which of the following stylistic elements is used throughout To Build a Fire?
(a) Repetition
(b) Biblical allusion
(c) Literary allusion
(d) Flashback

5. The protagonist wonders if Mercury felt as he does doing what in Part VI?
(a) Crashing and burning
(b) Trudging through the snow
(c) Skimming over the earth
(d) Soaring like a bird

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the shoes called that the protagonist wears in the narrative?

2. Mercury was the son of what god in Roman mythology?

3. When the protagonist falls a second time and the dog sits in front of him, how does the protagonist feel about the “warmth and security of the animal” in Part VI?

4. How many times does the protagonist strike the match before lighting it in Part V?

5. The following sentence is an example of which literary technique: “It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What causes the fire to be extinguished in Part V of the story?

2. What does the protagonist envision of his family in Part VI? How does he envision the old-timer?

3. How does the protagonist regain the feeling of his fingers in Part V?What happens when he goes to light a match?

4. What does fire symbolize in the story? What message does the author convey through this symbol?

5. What is the mental state of the protagonist as he builds his fire after falling through the ice in Part IV?

6. Why does the protagonist curse the dog in Part VI? What last effort does he make before accepting his fate?

7. What is the first mental image that overtakes the protagonist as he dies in Part VI?

8. How is the protagonist able to separate the matches in Part V? How does he attempt to light a match once he does?

9. How does the protagonist react when the fire is extinguished in Part V?

10. How does the protagonist respond when the fear of death begins to overtake him in Part VI?

(see the answer keys)

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