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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 kind of craft do the townspeople take onto the river to look for the boys?

2. What thought discourages Tom from committing suicide?

3. What does the preacher do at the funeral service?

4. What do the boys play after the storm?

5. What is Tom's recent accomplishment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Tom and Joe's plan to run away?

2. What does Sid do to try to hear what Tom is saying in his sleep?

3. What do the villagers want to do to Injun Joe?

4. What does Huck caution Tom about when speaking of the dead?

5. What mistake does Tom make that gives away to Polly that he played hooky?

6. How does Tom find his lost marble?

7. What about Tom's behavior at school strikes Sid as strange?

8. What do Tom and Becky talk about before their discussion turns to romance?

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

10. Why does Tom confess that he stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn on the way to school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Huck Finn feels constrained by the Widow Douglas, just as Tom feels constrained by his Sunday shoes. Discuss freedom in the novel, and how freedom conflicts with civilization.

1) What does Huck Finn find constricting about civilization?

2) The boys admire and emulate outlaws. Why do they admire fictional outlaws? How do they feel about the real outlaws in the novel?

3) Tom Sawyer admires Huck for his free lifestyle, and yet at the end of the novel, he convinces Huck to stay with the Widow Douglas. Why does he do this?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss religion in the novel.

1) Is Tom religious? Discuss his reactions to Sunday school, his behavior in church, his beliefs in superstition, and his beliefs about the afterlife.

2) What role does religion play in Tom's family? What purposes does the Sunday-morning family ritual serve?

3) Do the community's religious leaders influence thought in the community? How?

(see the answer keys)

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