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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. Where does the narrator begin touring for his lectures?

2. What does the narrator do before he leaves to visit Capt. John Nye?

3. What species feed around Mono Lake?

4. While the narrator is in Virginia, how is a person's reputation determined?

5. How does the narrator feel before giving the first lectures?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Higbie, and why is he valuable for the narrator's search of Mr. Whiteman?

2. How does the narrator describe Mono Lake?

3. What is the rivalry between Captain Ned Blakely and Bill Nookes?

4. What is the new career choice the narrator makes towards the end of the book, and how does it begin?

5. What lifestyle does the narrator have in the first few months of his stay in San Francisco, and how does it change dramatically?

6. Why is finding a good horse a difficult task in Hawaii?

7. What causes the narrator to travel to San Francisco?

8. How does the narrator begin working for the Enterprise in Virginia?

9. What is the Whiteman Cement Mine and why is it considered to be elusive?

10. How does the narrator describe Hawaii and what initial setback does he encounter there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mr. Whiteman is the elusive subject of another plan to strike it rich by the narrator.

1) Describe the background of Mr. Whiteman and why it is believed that he can lead people to a gold mine.

2) Describe Mono Lake and the narrator's experiences there. Include what the lake represents in the theme of the narrator's quest for fortune.

3) Explain how the author successfully introduces events surrounding a character that never appears.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the contrast between Carson City and Lake Tahoe. What are the narrator's experiences in both places? Why does he choose to spend time in Lake Tahoe, and what are some of the ways it provides what the city cannot? How does Twain's description of Lake Tahoe illustrate his writing talent? Which events in both Lake Tahoe and Carson City display the main theme of the narrator's trip, and why?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the narrator's trip on the stage coach to the trip made by a reporter after the railroad is completed. Also, include the point the author is making with the comparison and why he chooses to contrast his trip with a future one.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 972 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample