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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. In the Prelude Gary writes, "The difficulty came because of ____________."

2. Why do the dogs run towards the beaver on the frozen lake while Gary is training for his first race?

3. What is the "presence" that Gary feels in the Prelude?

4. Why does Gary attend the pre-race banquet?

5. What does the command "Haw" mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is "the Burn?"

2. What is Gary's reaction when the Doughnut man kicks the dog to death at Don's Cabin?

3. What paradox of the race does Gary write about in "Alaska"?

4. How does the snow accumulate in northern Minnesota?

5. Describe Gary's run in The Yukon.

6. What "absolute fundamental knowledge" scares Gary at the end of the Prelude?

7. Why does the race start in downtown Anchorage?

8. In "Skwentna," describe the encounter with the moose on the way back to the true trail.

9. What have the mushers NOT been told about Happy Canyon?

10. What is Gary's dilemma about helping the other team at the beginning of the race? What does he decide to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think the author chooses to begin the book with a foreshadowing incident? Give at least three possible reasons and fully support each.

Essay Topic 2

Which three parts of the race do you think Gary would say are most challenging? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Gary's relationship with his dogs. How does it evolve over time? Discuss Gary's relationship with his dogs when he used them for trapping and hunting, after he lived with the dogs, during his first Iditarod, and in "An End."

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This section contains 905 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample