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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. Why was the thylacine killed off?

2. What is the tone of Quammen's writing in the opening chapter?

3. When did Krakatau erupt?

4. What is a trophic cascade?

5. What assertion did Frank Preston make based on his data?

Short Essay Questions

1. What concept did Wallace develop in the Malay Archipelago?

2. What example does Quammen draw from the island of Guam?

3. What do we know about the dodo?

4. Who is Philip Darlington, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

5. What is trophic cascade?

6. What findings of Michael Soule's does Quammen cite at the end of Chapter 4, "Rarity Unto Death"?

7. What is the difference between an isolate and a sample, according to Quammen?

8. What is archipelago speciation?

9. How did David Wallace make his start as a biologist, in Quammen's narrative?

10. Why are islands important in ecosystem studies, in Quammen's opinion?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is ecotourism a solution to the problem of species loss? Is tourism a competitor to enforce some constraints on commerce and development? Would the problem of species loss be remedied or worsened if people followed Quammen's example and traveled from one island to another witnessing the environmental degradation and stress on species?

Essay Topic 2

Write an evaluative review of 'The Song of the Dodo'. What is this book's place in culture? What are its uses? Who is its audience? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 3

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

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