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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. How are Joe and Ian rescued?
2. What is a sticht plate?
3. What does Simon insist that Joe not do on this trip?
4. What does Joe say about bivouac sites?
5. A hundredweight of icicles falls on Joe's head. How much is this?
Short Essay Questions
1. Explain how Joe feels for the two days immediately prior to setting out for Siula Grande.
2. Toward the end of "On the Edge", Joe awakens in the snow hole with what sensation?
3. Compare or contrast the influence of the incident on The Bonatti Pillar on the climbing careers of Joe Simpson and Ian Whittaker.
4. On the first practice climb to Seria Norte, Joe loses sight of base camp and immediately notices what?
5. On page 65 in "On the Edge", Joe says, 'Funny how my anxiety [about Simon's frostbitten fingers] seemed to have more to do with whether he would be able to carry on climbing after we got down rather than concern for his injuries'. Why is this statement significant?
6. What happens on The Bonatti Pillar on Les Petits Drus in the French Alps?
7. Why do Simon and Joe avoid the issue of discussing their game plan after Joe's injury?
8. What is Joe's plan of action if Simon falls through, or off, the ridge again?
9. In "Storm at the Summit", how does Joe get a bloody lip and a cracked tooth?
10. What occurs to Joe at the beginning of "On the Edge"?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Did Simon do the right thing by cutting the rope? Joe staunchly defends him. Discuss the moral and ethical issues at hand.
Essay Topic 2
Joe mentions more than once in the book that he has strange feelings of dread or uneasiness before bad things happen. Why do you think this is? What are Joe's ambiguous feelings on the summit? Research other climbers' similar comments, and compare. Why does he continue to climb mountains if he is so dubious about the ultimate objective? Is the journey more important, or the destination, or even the return journey? Do you think the unspoken final objective of mountain climbers is the summit, or actually making it back alive to tell about it?
Essay Topic 3
Revisit the Shakespeare soliloquy that Joe hears in his head and eventually recites. Why does this verse come to mind, and why is he familiar with it? Why is it significant that a soliloquy surfaces in his mind, and not another type of speech or writing? What inherent characteristics of a soliloquy make it appropriate to Joe's current circumstances? Does the content of the Shakespeare piece have any significance to Joe's situation? How do you interpret the soliloquy?
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This section contains 1,120 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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