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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 many followers of the Governor does Mrs. O'Flannigan's ranch host?

2. What is Twain examining in Roughing It?

3. What is Hawaii called in the book?

4. Where do the narrator and a companion take their vacation?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the reality of the alkali desert as the narrator experiences it after leaving Salt Lake City?

2. What causes the narrator to work for a Quartz mill and how does his employment there end?

3. How does the narrator describe the Goshoot Indians?

4. As stated in the Prefatory, what is Twain's intention in writing Roughing It?

5. What role does the press play in the mining industry of Nevada and how does it affect the narrator?

6. What is the situation of Mr. Street and how does it provide an example of Utah's way of governing for the narrator?

7. What is the weather like in Unionville and what does the narrator find there?

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

9. What is Roughing It about, according to the author?

10. How does the narrator's party claim their mining areas along the mountains in Unionville, and what happens as they try to work in them?

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 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.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that provides a detailed character analysis of the narrator. Include explanations of his main skills and character traits along with how they differ from other central characters that exist in different novels. Also, describe how the narrator connects with the reader and why that is essential to the effectiveness of the story. Use examples from the entire book to support your analysis.

(see the answer keys)

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