The Autobiography of Mark Twain | Short Essay Assignments

Short Essay Questions

The 60 short essay questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the text. Students must describe what they've read, rather than just recall it.

Short Essay Question - Introduction | Preface

1. How do we know that not everything in this book is true?

2. To what does Twain compare writing his autobiography?

Short Essay Question - Chapters 1-2 | Chapters 3-4

3. How did Twain's mother feel about slavery?

4. What was Twain made fun of for when he first went to school?

Short Essay Question - Chapters 5-6 | Chapter 7

5. What character did Twain model after his cousin James Lampton?

6. What did Twain's mother's deep compassion lead her to do?