View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the men fight over?

2. What does Tom answer when the judge asks him who the first two apostles were?

3. What does Tom decide to run away to become?

4. What does Tom "die" of during the game?

5. What does Tom say will happen if the boys break their pact?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the graveyard.

2. What do the boys do after witnessing the murder?

3. Describe Polly's reaction when Tom says he's done with the whitewashing.

4. How does Tom trick Aunt Polly so that he can escape?

5. What grievance does Injun Joe have against the doctor?

6. Describe what Tom draws on his slate for Becky.

7. What is Tom's objection after the initial reaction to the boys' homecoming?

8. Describe the analogy between Peter, the cat, and Tom.

9. Why does Tom realize that Muff Potter cannot tell the true story?

10. Describe what Tom hears while he waits for Huck.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The force of public opinion affects events in the novel, but public opinion is changeable and fallible. Discuss public opinion in the novel.

1) How does the public's opinion of Muff Potter change over the course of the novel? How does public opinion affect events, Muff's self-image, and Tom and Huck?

2) How does public opinion of Tom change over the course of the novel? What factors effect people's opinions about Tom?

Essay Topic 2

The novel contains many examples of guilt and self-condemnation. For example, Muff Potter condemns himself for a crime he didn't commit, saying it's right that he should die for it, while Tom and Huck are overcome with guilt for not telling what they know.

1) Tom is always misbehaving and doesn't feel guilty at all. What types of circumstances will or won't make Tom feel guilty?

2) Muff Potter and Huck Finn both feel that they deserve condemnation, in part because of the society's condemnation of them. How does societal condemnation relate to self-condemnation?

3) In what ways is guilt a valuable feeling? How does it help or hinder the characters? Use examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Injun Joe is motivated to murder out of revenge. Discuss Injun Joe's desire for revenge.

1) What has happened to Injun Joe that caused him to seek revenge? Why have these events happened to Injun Joe?

2) What characteristics of Injun Joe's personality lead to him seeking revenge? To what extent is Joe's desire for revenge fueled by his personality, and to what extent is it fueled by how others have treated him?

3) Widow Douglas says of Huck that God's hand is seen in every creature he makes. Is this true of Injun Joe as well?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 796 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample