View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the tour guide for the author's and his friends' hike to Machu Picchu?

2. Who wrote the book The Conquest of the Incas?

3. What book by Anne Lamott did the author listen to during his ride through Argentina?

4. What is the title of Chapter 11?

5. How much rain does the Atacama Desert get yearly?

Short Essay Questions

1. What issues did the author and Weston have with their passports going to Columbia?

2. Why did tensions begin mounting between the author and Weston in Chapter 15?

3. How did the author and Weston cross the Darien Gap?

4. What did the author learn about the buildings in Panama City in Chapter 11?

5. What deaths did the author learn about in Chapter 18?

6. Where did the author and Weston stay in Medellin? How is this setting described?

7. Where did Weston say he was departing for soon in Chapter 15? Why?

8. How is the setting of Salento described?

9. Where did Weston and the author go camping outside Medellin? What was this experience like?

10. Why did Weston say he regretted doing the cocaine in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of sexuality in To Shake the Sleeping Self. How does the author identify in terms of sexual preference? What history does he relate regarding his sexuality? How do his perceptions of sexuality change in the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss three examples of irony in To Shake the Sleeping Self. How does this example serve the story? What is its effect? What type of irony is employed in each example?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the history of the Incan Empire. When were the Incans vanquished? By whom where they conquered? What remains of the Incas?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 632 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample