Source: triple modesty, iRon leSs, Flickr
Before you try answering sample test questions about these two texts, brainstorm some similarities. Sometimes, to see similar elements, you will need to use abstract thinking. For instance, both texts are about nature. The writers of both texts are also aware of Nature’s power over human beings.
For the questions that follow, think about other similarities. See if you can select whether the stated quality or condition is similar or not similar in “Love of Life” and “How to Lick a Slug.“
1. Both texts involve canines.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the canines are the wolves that “he saw . . . slinking away before his trail.” In “How to Lick a Slug,” the canine is the dog that “looks aghast” at the grass on the ridge where they are going to sleep.
b. Not Similar
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2. Both texts involve hardships.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” there is hardly anything except hardships. The main character has only a supply of water, the relatively warm temperatures (for the Northwest Territory anyway), and five minnows. In “How to Lick a Slug,” although it is a “family camping trip,” Kristof makes a point of mentioning the hardships of ravenous mosquitoes, freezing drizzle, poison ivy, wasp’s nests, and so on.
b. Not Similar
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3. Both texts involve reflections about the value of wilderness experiences.
a. Similar
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b. Not Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the main character has no energy to step back and consider what he is getting from his experience in the wild. He is struggling to survive, and reflection would be no comfort and no help to him.
4. Both texts describe someone waking up and finding out it’s raining.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the main character says that the snow turned to rain and that “he awakened many times to feel it falling on his upturned face.” In “How to Lick a Slug,” Kristof describes waking up at 4 a.m. “to a freezing drizzle.”
b. Not Similar
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5. Both texts suggest that fish can contribute to health.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the main character catches two minnows that he knows he must eat even though he feels no hunger because “he must eat to live.” In “How to Lick a Slug,” Kristof cites the study that indicates watching (not eating) fish “lowers blood pressure significantly.”
b. Not Similar
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6. Both texts describe someone using backpacks.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the main character “strap[s] on his pack” and later pauses to consider the (mysterious) moose-hide sack before putting on his pack. In “How to Lick a Slug,” Kristof refers to the family’s “annual backpacks” around Mount Hood.
b. Not Similar
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7. Both texts involve a religious awareness of nature.
a. Similar
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b. Not Similar
Correct! Neither of these texts make any reference to religion.
8. Both texts involve an unconventional view.
a. Similar
Correct! In “Love of Life,” the main character thinks of nothing except his hunger at first, and later his thoughts are all about finding the “cache by the river Dease.” Beyond these two obsessions, he thinks only of each moment and how to solve the problems each moment brings. This is not what we usually mean by “unconventional view,” yet it is not the type of thinking that most of us do in the course of a day. In “How to Lick a Slug,” the idea that “getting awed by nature” is as important as reading is fairly unconventional. Both authors, therefore, seem to be inviting us to “think differently” about nature and what is important in life.
b. Not Similar
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