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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 question does Quammen say was debated for years after Darwin's theories were published?

2. What was Tasmania's environmental history, according to Quammen?

3. What was the first species to arrive in Krakatau after the eruption?

4. What is a trophic cascade?

5. How would you describe Quammen's style?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Frank Preston, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

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

3. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern of the Persian rug?

4. What factors have effectively broken the Persian rug of nature into pieces, according to Quammen?

5. What other Mauritius species does Quammen describe?

6. What was MacArthur and Wilson's contribution to island biogeography?

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

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

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

10. What is the governing metaphor in the opening chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Is Quammen somehow at fault for not making solid proposals for how to mitigate switch loss? Is his informative book somehow flawed for failing to make recommendations? Debate this proposition using examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

What is the genre of 'The Song of the Dodo'? Is it a travel narrative? Is it primarily a memoir? A book-length article about a scientific field? Is it a scientific treatise?

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This section contains 739 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample