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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. With whom is Rugby playing an important cricket match?

2. What does Tom understand about his relationship with Arthur?

3. When does Arthur experience a spiritual vision?

4. Why do the boys, including Tom and Williams, quickly disperse?

5. According to the narrator, how must a young man fight?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Tom do when it is time to choose which player to send into the game next? What are the results?

2. Why is Arthur worried about Tom's safety in the fight?

3. What does East confess?

4. What does Tom do when he finds out about the Doctor's death?

5. Why does East not get confirmed?

6. How does Tom get into a fight?

7. What does Tom's reaction during a debate over the Old Testament with East and Arthur show about his idea of compromise?

8. How does East get himself into trouble, regarding the farmer?

9. What does Tom think of Arthur's mother?

10. The narrator asks the reader to pardon Tom for being filled with more thoughts of the Doctor than of God. What is his explanation for Tom's behavior?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tom believes that the stagecoach ride to Rugby School is the greatest day in his life.

Part 1) Why?

Part 2) How does this foreshadow his experiences at Rugby School?

Part 3) Would he still consider this the greatest day of his life at the end of the book? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The motif equating life to fighting and competition appears frequently throughout this novel.

Part 1) What do the sporting matches throughout the story reveal about Tom's preparation for adulthood?

Part 2) Besides sports, how have his fights and struggles at Rubgy School prepared him for the future?

Part 3) Will Tom continue to have fights and struggles in his adult life? If so, what kinds of fights and struggles? How do you believe he will handle them? Use information from the text to support your response.

Essay Topic 3

East acts as Tom's trainer for the fight with Williams.

Part 1) What is East's advice to Tom?

Part 2) What does Tom do with East's advice?

Part 3) How does Tom's reaction to East's advice reflect his character?

(see the answer keys)

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