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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which word describing the protagonist in Part VI means to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements?
(a) Recoil
(b) Flounder
(c) Manipulation
(d) Apprehension

2. What are the shoes called that the protagonist wears in the narrative?
(a) Mukluks
(b) Moccasins
(c) Clogs
(d) Sneakers

3. What does the protagonist do once the fire is a success and he remembers the advice of the old-timer in Part IV?
(a) He laughs
(b) He cries
(c) He smiles
(d) He scowls

4. According to the narrator in Part VI, the protagonist’s plan of running until he reaches camp has one flaw in it. What is this flaw?
(a) He has to cross a river
(b) He lacks the endurance
(c) The snow is too deep
(d) Darkness is setting in

5. Which word from Part V refers to any of the main branches of a tree?
(a) Twig
(b) Root
(c) Bough
(d) Trunk

6. What kind of weapon does the protagonist carry?
(a) A pistol
(b) A rifle
(c) A machete
(d) A sheath-knife

7. Which of the following stylistic elements is used throughout To Build a Fire?
(a) Flashback
(b) Biblical allusion
(c) Literary allusion
(d) Repetition

8. What is portrayed as the antagonist in To Build a Fire?
(a) Nature
(b) The old-timer
(c) The dog
(d) Fire

9. The protagonist’s socks are described as being like what “halfway to the knees” in Part IV?
(a) A cast
(b) Clenched fists
(c) Quicksand
(d) Sheaths of iron

10. The narrator states in Part IV, “Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had” what?
(a) Been lucky
(b) Triumphed over nature
(c) Kept his composure
(d) Saved himself

11. What does the protagonist drop in the snow as he attempts to build his second fire in Part V?
(a) The birch bark
(b) The matches
(c) His watch
(d) His knife

12. The protagonist begins to think that the old-timer was right about what after the snow falls and puts out his fire in Part V?
(a) Following the ridgelines
(b) Traveling with a trail-mate
(c) Only traveling in the dark
(d) Letting a dog lead the way

13. Which word from Part IV means inanimate or dead?
(a) Lifeless
(b) Jovial
(c) Meditation
(d) Regal

14. The protagonist thinks to himself, “those old-timers were rather” what, in Part IV?
(a) Superstitious
(b) Brave
(c) Womanish
(d) Cautious

15. In describing the protagonist’s thought of death in Part VI, the narrator states: “Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard, but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things.” This is an example of what literary technique?
(a) Alliteration
(b) Personification
(c) Assonance
(d) Irony

Short Answer Questions

1. In order to build a fire, the protagonist must do what in Part IV?

2. The narrator states in Part V that the dog looks to the protagonist as what?

3. Where does the dog go in the end of the story?

4. The protagonist agitates the tree above him every time he does what in Part V?

5. How does the protagonist become aware that his hand is on fire in Part V?

(see the answer keys)

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