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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 feeling did the Smokejumpers share with all other youth their age?

2. Who was Henry Thol, Sr.?

3. What did Maclean and the others decide was one key point on the hillside they needed to locate?

4. What time was recorded on the watch found near the bodies?

5. What happened to the Smokejumpers once they left Dodge and his escape fire?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. How did the author describe the final moments of the men's lives before the fire overtook them? What elements of nature were prominent in their lives just before their deaths? How did they actually die?

3. How did the perspective shift as the author continued his discussion of the fire from looking at the mushroom cloud in the sky? What did he hope to learn by changing perspective?

4. What did the land in Mann Gulch look like in the aftermath of the fire?

5. What was the movie released in 1952 about the Mann Gulch fire? What does Maclean note about the film and its historic accuracy?

6. To what did the author compare the cloud of smoke atop the Mann Gulch fire when the blowup rose out of the gulch?

7. When did Maclean begin research on the Mann Gulch fire? What where his first steps?

8. What object do Sallee and Rumsey discover at the site of a fallen comrade? Why was this discovery important?

9. What happened to the men when they left the foreman, Dodge, at the site of the escape fire? What name did the author give to the point at which the men left? From what perspective did the author tell the story of their assent?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Maclean suggests that there were a set of specific and unique circumstances surrounding the jump into the Mann Gulch fire. He mentions, for example, that the radio broke upon landing leaving the Smokejumpers unable to communicate. What other specific events and circumstances made this jump unique and unusual? How did each event affect the outcome of the tragedy?

Essay Topic 2

When speaking about the young men who were Smokejumpers in the 1940s, Maclean explains that these men wanted to make it clear "to themselves and to the universe that they love the universe but are not intimidated by it and will not be shaken by it, no matter what it has in store." Discuss this quote in light of the profile of a typical smokejumper, and the specific Smokejumpers who landed in Mann Gulch into the fire.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the escape fire set by Wag Dodge. Where was the fire located? Why did Dodge light his fire? Upon what information did he base his decision to light the fire? Why was it controversial? What has Dodge's fire contributed to modern firefighting? What are some of the theories concerning the escape fire causing the death of the Smokejumpers?

(see the answer keys)

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