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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. The unexpected guests in Edward's new home include

2. Quicksand is simply

3. What were Husk and Graham hoping for?

4. Indian artifacts in the national forest are

5. Why did Roy Scobie need to round up his cattle?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Abbey's reasoning that joy may support survival.

2. How does Abbey get rid of the rattlesnakes?

3. Explain Abbey's description of the life cycle of the spadefoot toad.

4. What are the two wild animals that Abbey has never seen in the Southwest?

5. What is one of the innate demands of industrial tourism?

6. What is Roy Scobie's problem?

7. Abbey seems to jump back and forth in time in his book. Where in this chapter does that first become obvious?

8. Discuss Abbey's relationship with the natural world as he watches the stars.

9. For what does the author seem to be searching by taking this job?

10. How does Edward Abbey seem "polemic" in his views about national parks?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Edward Abbey depressed? His inability to stop or shift the tides of progress comes through in his writing. Is he hopeful, or has he given up on the human race altogether? Explain your impressions, and provide examples.

Essay Topic 2

Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire is not simply a story of his stay in the desert, but is a narrative of his experiences and feelings about the land as he learns its peculiarities and the nature of the desert. What, however, is the main thrust of Abbey's message? What does he want us to think about after having read about all of the aspects of the Arches and the surrounding land? Does Abbey's story have an ulterior motive?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay on your close reading of the section of the book where Abbey describes the noonday sun as if it were a drug-induced experience. Try to explain and expand on the description he has given, and consider why he describes it the way he does. Do you feel he was suffering from heat stroke? Do you think being alone might have caught up with him? Do you think he is afraid for his survival in this moment of extreme heat? What is the reality of this section, in your opinion?

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This section contains 980 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample