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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Joe try to use to climb up the rope?

2. What is blue ice?

3. Which practice route does Al Rouse understate as 'a ridge of some difficulty'?

4. What does Joe do while he is waiting for Simon between lowerings?

5. What object does Joe have trouble with in the beginning of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of "Disaster", what is Joe's attitude?

2. What happens on The Bonatti Pillar on Les Petits Drus in the French Alps?

3. Compare or contrast the influence of the incident on The Bonatti Pillar on the climbing careers of Joe Simpson and Ian Whittaker.

4. Describe Simon's feelings at the end of "The Final Choice".

5. What worries Joe and Simon the most about the final part of the route to the summit?

6. While thinking about the possibility of having fallen off the ridge while roped together, Joe talks about what incident witnessed by Simon?

7. What does Joe like about Simon's personality?

8. At the beginning of "Tempting Fate", what does Joe say about his fingers, and how does he deal with them?

9. What occurs to Joe at the beginning of "On the Edge"?

10. When Joe and Simon start their ascent of the first ice wall on Siula Grande, what is Joe's attitude toward what they are doing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At seven o'clock on the night before their departure, Simon and Richard hear an 'eerie wail' that Richard dismisses as a dog (p172). Study the time line of events. Is it possible that the wail they hear is Joe's first cry for help that he howls into the night from the highest point of the moraines? Why or why not? Support or refute this with evidence.

Essay Topic 2

Some may argue that the accident could have been avoided. Explore the possible causes of the accident. What single mistake leads to a chain reaction of events? Explain the cause and effect of each of these events in the chain, and how different decisions would, or could, lead to a different outcome. Why do most climbing incidents, accidents, disasters, and deaths occur on the descent? Is there anything that Joe and Simon could do differently to prevent the ordeal, or is it just a freak accident, no matter what they do?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and/or contrast Joe's use of patterns and rhythm throughout the book. Does he use them as a function of his personality, as a result of the essence of climbing, or out of necessity? Discuss the appearance of these patterns in climbing, in the rescue attempt, and in Joe's journey back to base camp.

(see the answer keys)

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