Name ________________________________ Date ________________ Period _____
Peak Study Guide Answer Key
Directions: The concepts on this study guide will appear on your Peak unit test. Use
this guide to prepare for your test.
Point of view (story told from whose
perspective?):
Peak’s Perspective
Characters: (Names)
Character Description:
Peak
Teri
Rolff
Two P’s (Paula and Patrice)
Josh
Zopa
Sun-Jo
Holly
Captain Shek
Peak – protagonist; loves his family, wants a
closer relationship with his father, adventurous
Teri- Peak’s mom, protective
Rolff – Peak’s stepfather, really cares about
Peak
Two P’s – Peak’s half sisters, twins, love and
adore Peak
Josh - Peak’s father, experienced climber, not
close with Peak
Zopa – cagey monk, mysterious
Sun-Jo - young, intelligent, climber, hard worker
Holly – reporter, pampered, loud, bossy
Relationships between characters:
Peak and Josh
Peak and Sun-Jo
Peak and the Two P’s
Peak and Rolff
Peak and Zopa
Captain Shek – antagonist; spy; is after Sun-Jo
and doesn’t want him on the mountain
Description of relationship:
Peak and Josh – in the beginning the
relationship is distant; Josh chose climbing over
family; in the end Peak realizes he can’t change
his father, but doesn’t want to be like him
Peak and Sun-Jo – close in age although Peak
is slightly younger; cares about Sun-jo (checks
on him when he is sick); gets upset with Sun-Jo
for not telling him about the summit plan; then
saves his life on the climb; Peak learns that SunJo’s dad saved his father’s life so he pays him
back by letting him summit
Peak and the Two P’s – close relationship even
though they are his step-sisters; they share the
same birthday; sisters miss him desperately and
send him airfare
Peak and Rolff – relationship starts out distant
but then grows closer; Peak realizes how much
Rolff cares when he tears up at the airport; Rolff
sends him with money
Peak and Zopa – Zopa keeps secrets; Peak isn’t
sure how he does things (predicting the weather,
appearing and disappearing); Peak unsure
whether or not he can trust him; in the end, Peak
respects him because his son saved Josh’s life
Conflicts: (4 Types)
Examples from Peak:
Man vs Man – Peak vs Sun-Jo; Peak vs Josh
Man vs Man
Man vs Nature
Man vs Society
Man vs Self (inner conflict)
Man vs Nature – Peak (the climbers) vs Mt.
Everest
The climbers vs the weather (blizzards, extreme
temperatures, etc.)
Man vs Society – Peak vs NYC cops (when
arrested)
Man vs Self – Peak’s inner conflict about how to
feel about his father; Peak’s decision to let SunJo summit or not
Figurative language: (Definition)
Examples from Peak:
Simile – comparing two or more unlike objects
using like or as
Simile – It was like the glacier was a bowling
lane and we were the pins. (page 153)
Metaphor- comparing two or more unlike
objects NOT using like or as
Metaphor – Whatever his fate, I didn’t have a lot
of time to worry about it because our trip down
to Base Camp was a nightmare. (173)
Personification – giving human qualities/traits
to a nonhuman object
Sequence of Main Events:
Peak is arrested for scaling the Woolworth
Building in Manhattan, New York.
While in the courtroom, the judge decides to let
Peak go on one requirement - he must go with
his father out of the country to Tibet.
When Peak Marcello and Joshua Wood, his
biological father, a famous mountaineer, go to
Thailand, Peak is subject to a physical.
Josh then reveals that they are going to climb
Everest so that Josh's climbing company can
receive more business for sending the youngest
person to climb Everest—enough money to
retire.
They fly to Nepal and meet a Buddhist monk,
Zopa, and Sun-jo, a young Nepalese boy who is
revealed to be climbing Mount Everest.
It is later revealed that Sun-Jo is Zopa's
grandson and is only a few days older than
Peak.
When Peak and Sun-jo are only 10 feet from the
summit he lets Sun-Jo reach the summit first
becoming the world's youngest Nepalese person
to climb Everest so he and his sisters will have
the money to go to school.
After this, Sun-jo tops the mountain by going
down the Nepal side of Everest and Peak climbs
back down the Tibetan side of Everest so
nobody will know he reached the summit.
Josh then says he might take Peak to climb
Mount Everest with him when he's older.
Peak then goes back home to New York City in
time for his and his twin sisters' birthday party,
Personification – You can never tell who the
mountain will allow and who it will not. (113)
where he is interviewed by Holly Angelo and
talks to his writing mentor, Vincent, about his
Moleskin assignment.
Vocabulary (of the given words be able to
use 10 in an original sentence): (Word with
definition)
Here are all of the given words from the
novel for you to select from:
Original sentence using the vocab. word:
Example: The book was in a precarious position
on the desk; it looked like it could fall to the floor
at any moment.
Precarious, Audacious, Duress, Begrudgingly,
Concurred, Cringed, Auspicious, Disheveled,
Surly, Pristine, Finite, Poignant, Belligerently,
Garish, Daunting, Debilitated, Vigil, Disperse,
Enmeshed, Efficiency, Elusive, Blanch,
Denouement (23 words to select from = pick 10)
Example – precarious – in an unstable position;
likely to fall
Role of change in the novel:
Some of the changes in Peak include:
Peak is a dynamic character and has changed
greatly from the beginning of the novel to the
end.
-
His “acceptance” of Josh – realizes he
can’t change Josh, but he doesn’t want to
be like him
His realization that Rolff cares for him
His realization that family is more
important than climbing (biggest
theme/lesson learned)