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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. In which year of high school are most Maine public school students required to take a course called Hunter Safety and Outdoor Skills?

2. Finkel suggests that most hermits throughout history have seceded from society during what period of their lives?

3. When Finkel asked Knight for the "grand insight" that may have been "revealed to him in the wild," (147) what element does Knight say is crucial?

4. What title is given as "the only book Knight didn't steal" and "the one he most often saw" (115)?

5. What single word did the hiker Knight encountered say when he spoke to Knight?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the physiological theory Finkel discusses that focuses on the therapeutic effects of silence on humans.

2. To which transgressions did Knight admit and which act of wrongdoing did he adamantly deny?

3. What terms does Finkel list when he describes the various monikers hermits have taken on within different societies and eras?

4. How does Knight view the workaday world in the United States?

5. What real-life example does Finkel use to demonstrate the wide variety of ways in which people respond to solitude?

6. What three diagnoses did the forensic psychologist make after examining Knight?

7. How does Finkel inject humor into the text by providing the comments of Stephen M. Edelson regarding Knight's mental state?

8. How did Knight maintain knowledge of the world around him, though he only came into contact with a total of four humans over 27 years?

9. What point does Finkel make about the difference between Knight's life timeline and the timelines of other hermits throughout history?

10. In what way is the theme of eccentricity treated within Chapter 16?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Finkel’s use of characterization methods to portray real people. What effect do these characterization methods have on the work's inherent themes and messages?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the messages sent about the theme of appearance versus reality within The Stranger in the Woods.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the ways in which the themes of adaptability and resignation appear within Finkel’s novel The Stranger in the Woods. What message is Finkel sending about these two themes over the course of the narrative?

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