The Great Alone Quiz

Take our free The Great Alone quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

After the first beating, Leni and Ernt sit in silence as the VW radio broadcasts messages between distant loved ones. Which elements lend this scene its irony? (from Chapters 10-11)

The people on the radio may reach out in time, but it is too late for Leni and Ernt.

Leni and Ernt’s silence and the radio’s noise.

Leni and Ernt’s physical proximity but emotional distance.

The cold in the car and the emotional warmth on the radio.

Cora laments that Leni has said “I won’t leave you” too many times in her life (390). Why is that sentence so painful to Cora? (from Chapters 27-29)

Leni is too self-sacrificing.

Leni has made all the sacrifices for Cora that Cora should have made for Leni.

Leni has always been too stubborn to do what is right.

Cora has been holding Leni back from safety and happiness.

As the family drives north, the narrator (and Leni, thanks to free indirect discourse) describes a book as “propped up like a pup tent, yellowed pages splayed out” (21). Why is this description significant? (from Chapters 3-4)

All of Leni’s possessions are worn out, like the “yellowed pages” of the book.

Leni has neglected the book because she wants to be a part of her own story.

The narrator’s language shows how Leni has begun to think in Alaska-related images.

Leni has lost interest in reading, which had once been important to her.

Why is it noteworthy that Mad Earl calls the end of the world “TSHTF” (the shit hits the fan)? (from Chapters 5-7)

He says it so often that the initialism has lost its original meaning.

The profanity demonstrates his crude and uncaring personality.

His theories are only for the initiated, who will understand what the letters mean.

It is a rhetorical device which sounds certain and precise even though it is not.

Why does Mad Earl “betray” Ernt by encouraging his family to work on Tom’s saloon? (from Chapters 12-13)

He is too practical to refuse work for foolish dreams.

He is scared of Ernt’s radicalization.

He never believed in Ernt’s cause.

He is fond of Tom and their shared memories.