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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 do the climbers call their melted-snow drinks?

2. After his accident with Ian, Joe regains his desire to climb, except for the dread of what?

3. How far does Simon lower Joe each time before he descends himself?

4. What is the first thing that Simon says to Joe in the chapter "Tempting Fate"?

5. Joe recalls an incident with climber Ian Whittaker in which country?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In "Disaster", Joe says, 'In an instant an uncrossable gap had come between us and we were no longer a team working together.' In "The Final Choice", how has Joe's view changed?

3. In "Storm at the Summit", how does Joe get a bloody lip and a cracked tooth?

4. When beginning his climb for the summit from the bivouac site 300 feet below the summit, what pros and cons does Joe mention about climbing in the daylight?

5. While trying to find the North Ridge again after leaving the summit, what happens to Simon?

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

7. Toward the end of "On the Edge", Joe awakens in the snow hole with what sensation?

8. Why does Joe consider standing on the summit an unsettling anticlimax?

9. Describe the first bivouac site on Siula Grande.

10. What is Joe's plan of action if Simon falls through, or off, the ridge again?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Revisit the Shakespeare soliloquy that Joe hears in his head and eventually recites. Why does this verse come to mind, and why is he familiar with it? Why is it significant that a soliloquy surfaces in his mind, and not another type of speech or writing? What inherent characteristics of a soliloquy make it appropriate to Joe's current circumstances? Does the content of the Shakespeare piece have any significance to Joe's situation? How do you interpret the soliloquy?

Essay Topic 2

In the Postscript, Joe says "The scars of six operations stood out lividly on the distorted joint. At least the wounds in my mind had healed better than these." After reading the Epilogue, how do you assess Joe's "healing"? Do you agree? What do you think about Joe's decision to go back and climb mountains again? Do you think this is imprudent, or admirable?

Essay Topic 3

In "Ten Years On", Joe includes an excerpt from Simon's book "Against the Wall", in which Simon describes the rope as representing a "powerful symbol of trust and friendship". Cite examples in the book that support or refute this notion. Is the climber's rope simply a safety measure or, as Simon suggests, symbolic of a powerful life-and-death bond of trust between men on the mountain?

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