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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 else loves the woodstove?

2. Where has Gary spent most of his life?

3. What is the perfect temperature for running?

4. Why didn't Gary cross the lake though it was frozen and would have saved him time?

5. Which dog did Gary define as having had a sense of humor?

Short Essay Questions

1. As writing didn't completely pay the bills, how did Paulsen make ends meet?

2. What did Paulsen not know about dog feed?

3. What kinds of preparations need to be done before Paulsen can go to sleep?

4. What happened to Russel and Quincy that summer?

5. What do people do that lived through the "summer of terror" do when Hawk is on top of the woodpile?

6. What is the greatest paradox about understanding the woods?

7. What was the game Gary witnessed Columbia play with Olaf at his expense?

8. What situation occurred to make Paulsen do something he didn't want to do?

9. Why were people driven out of the house of Gary's neighbor?

10. Why was it a gamble when the deer had come into the camp?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss both sides of the argument of dog sledding as a sport. What things are said, by both sides in regards to the treatment of the dogs? Decide which side of the argument you believe in and support it with three different arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the qualities that make a good sled dog. How are these qualities that Paulsen prefers and talks about more often than the dogs that don't possess these qualities? What are the least desirable qualities in a sled dog?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how Paulsen's view of hunting changed, and the stimuli for this change. How does this affect his life later on? Does it make his life easier or more difficult, and how?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,068 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample