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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. What does Capt. John Nye help the narrator's party find?

2. What is it about the economy and people that the author is concentrating on?

3. How long does it take the narrator and his brother to reach St. Joseph on the steamboat?

4. What prevents the author from attaining his goal?

5. What is the weather like when the narrator and his crew arrive in Unionville?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator live past the cold night, and what is ironic about the crew's actions afterward?

2. What are the details of the court case between Hyde and Morgan, and what is the outcome?

3. How does the narrator describe the Goshoot Indians?

4. How do the members of the narrator's mining party get lost in Chapter XXXII, and what happens with their attempts to start a fire?

5. What causes the narrator to marvel at the sight of the Rocky Mountains?

6. What is the story of Bemis and the buffalo, and how do the other passengers respond to it?

7. How does the narrator begin his journey in Chapter I?

8. Why is Slade feared and what happens between him and the narrator?

9. How is the breakfast that the narrator is served in Nebraska described, and what future traveling accommodations does he compare his situation to?

10. What warning is the narrator and his party given as they approach the Honey Lake Smith's Inn, and what is their response?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the historical significance of Roughing It by explaining the value and uniqueness of the first hand account being provided. In your analysis, answer the following questions: What are the most significant events that the narrator witnesses? How is the process of silver mining described? What are the "flush times" and how do they affect the narrator and other people living in the West? What other changes have a big impact on Western life? In what way does the media contribute to the actions of the narrator and other would be miners? How does the information in the book support Twain's intentions of writing it as stated in the Prefatory?

Essay Topic 2

The Great American Desert and the repetitive story of Hank Monk and Horace Greeley both prove to be frustrating for the narrator.

1) Describe how the Great American Desert appears, why it is different than the narrator expects, and the difficulty his stage coach experiences there.

2) Explain what the story of Hank Monk and Horace Greeley is about, how it is presented to the travelers, and why it is the source of frustration for the narrator. Also, include what the intention of the story is meant to be and why it has the opposite effect for the narrator.

3) Describe the literary technique that Twain uses in order to convey the repetitiveness of the story and why he is effective in helping the reader to understand his objection to it.

Essay Topic 3

The situations of Jack Williams and Captain Ned Blakely are used to depict the value placed on reputations in the West during the 1800s.

1) Explain Jack Williams' professions, how they contradict each other, and why the narrator includes his story to describe how retaliation was used in building reputations.

2) Describe the actions of Ned Blakely, the events leading up to the trial, how he influences the verdict, and the way his outlook on retaliation reinforces the point the narrator is making.

(see the answer keys)

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