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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. When did the investigative committee that the chief forester assembled arrive in Mann Gulch?

2. Who did Maclean meet who finally makes the connection for him to Robert Sallee?

3. What did thinking about the struggle for oxygen that the Smokejumpers' experienced remind the author of?

4. What did Mike Mansfield accomplish for the families of the fallen Smokejumpers?

5. After Smokejumpers are dropped on a fire, what time do they say the fire will be put out?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the firsthand source of information Maclean and his investigative partner Laird Robinson set out to find before they did anything else? Why? Who were they looking for?

2. What did Sallee and Rumsey explain to Maclean that answered one of his most important questions? What was the question? What was the answer?

3. What was it like when the fire reached its height and totally covered the landscape? To what did Maclean compare the fire at this point?

4. Maclean believed that the Smokejumpers did not see their lives in review as they died. What did he believe their final thoughts to be? How was he able to confirm his idea?

5. What did the gulch look like forty years after the fire? Was there any living vegetation?

6. What did the author mean when he spoke of bi-visual and tri-visual?

7. Who was Henry Thol, Sr.? What was his role in the Mann Gulch fire?

8. How did Dr. Hawkins describe the death process the Smokejumpers underwent in the final moments of their lives? To what did Maclean compare their suffering?

9. As Maclean began his comparison of the Smokejumpers' run to the top of the ridge to a race run on a track, how did he compare the race run by the Smokejumpers and that of the athlete on a track?

10. When Maclean and his group began their trek to Mann Gulch, how did Maclean respond to those who were concerned about his heart being strong enough to make it to the site of the fire?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When he was young, Maclean worked for the Forest Service. His experience fighting one particular fire greatly influenced his desire to study the Mann Gulch fire. What was that experience? Why was it important?

Essay Topic 2

There are certain attributes and personalities that are typical of a Forest Service Smokejumper. Who is the typical Smokejumper? Write a detailed profile of a Smokejumper and include as much information as possible.

Essay Topic 3

Maclean and Laird Richardson developed three main questions for which they would seek answers during their study of the Mann Gulch fire. What were those three questions, and did the two men find the answers? If so, what were the answers they found?

(see the answer keys)

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