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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After falling through the ice, the protagonist believes this mishap will delay him for how long in reaching his destination?
(a) 2 hours
(b) 1 hour
(c) 20 minutes
(d) 45 minutes

2. The protagonist recalls the tale of a man who was caught in a blizzard and killed what before climbing into the carcass in Part V?
(a) A horse
(b) A caribou
(c) A steer
(d) A musk ox

3. To Build a Fireis considered to be a reflection of Jack London’s own experiences where?
(a) The Northwestern Yukon Territory
(b) Nova Scotia
(c) Northern Alaska
(d) Norway

4. What is the old-timer doing when the protagonist envisions him as he dies in Part VI?
(a) Smoking a pipe
(b) Hunting moose
(c) Reading a book
(d) Panning for gold

5. What element of the story is omitted in the earlier version of To Build a Fire?
(a) The old-timer
(b) The knife
(c) The dog
(d) The cold

6. The protagonist thinks to himself in Part IV, “Any man who was a man could” do what?
(a) Survive a storm
(b) Mine gold
(c) Build a fire
(d) Travel alone

7. 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 lacks the endurance
(b) He has to cross a river
(c) Darkness is setting in
(d) The snow is too deep

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

9. What does the fire symbolize to the protagonist in Part V?
(a) Life
(b) God
(c) Comfort
(d) Triumph

10. Which word from Part IV means to draw back; start or shrink back, as in alarm, horror, or disgust?
(a) Success
(b) Recoil
(c) Manipulation
(d) Flounder

11. Mercury was a messenger in Roman mythology who wore what?
(a) A golden crown
(b) An invisible cape
(c) A silver helmet
(d) Winged sandals

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

13. The popularized second version of To Build a Firewas published in what year?
(a) 1899
(b) 1927
(c) 1880
(d) 1908

14. The protagonist moves on to feed the fire with branches the size of what in Part IV?
(a) His foot
(b) His neck
(c) His wrist
(d) His finger

15. The protagonist thinks to himself as he dies in Part VI, “When he got back to the States he could tell the folks” what?
(a) Where he had lost his fingers
(b) How he was a survivor
(c) About the rugged north
(d) What real cold was

Short Answer Questions

1. What refers to the decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a literary plot?

2. What does the protagonist plan to remove by the fire to dry in Part IV?

3. An earlier version of To Build a Firewas first printed in The Youth’s Companion in which year?

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

5. Which word, describing the dog in Part V, means sadly pensive, especially about something yearned for?

(see the answer keys)

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