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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 makes Aunt Polly able to forgive Tom anything?

2. What do Tom and Huck do instead of going to the haunted house?

3. What does Huck decide to do when the men come out of No. 2?

4. How far away from the cave entrance are Becky and Tom when they emerge?

5. How long does Tom have to stay after school?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Tom think he's found No. 2?

2. What evidence of Becky and Tom do the searchers find in the cave?

3. What does Tom think when he's whipped for ruining his schoolbook?

4. What does Tom say that people often find that leads them to a buried treasure?

5. What happens during Tom's speech on examination day?

6. How does Tom treat Amy Lawrence when he comes back to school?

7. What happens at the Fourth of July celebration?

8. What good deed does Tom do for Becky?

9. Describe Huck's reaction to living with the Widow Douglas.

10. What is Tom's prior experience with the boy he saw Becky with?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tom Sawyer is a dramatic person. He creates melodrama out of the events of his life.

1) Why does Tom Sawyer take on a melodramatic attitude of pining for Becky and then depression when Becky rejects him? Who is this attitude aimed at?

2) How and why does Tom dramatize the things that he does, such as running away to become a pirate? Why does Tom choose to let his family suffer, thinking he's dead, so that he can make his reemergence more dramatic?

3) What is the origin of Tom's desire for drama?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the structure of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

1) In what ways is the structure of the novel episodic? What does the episodic nature of the novel add to its story?

2) What things does the author keep from the reader to build suspense? How does the author use surprise?

3) How does the structure of the novel follow the stages of Tom's development?

Essay Topic 3

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is filled with stereotypes. Discuss stereotypes in the novel.

1) What are the racial stereotypes in the novel? How is Injun Joe a stereotype of the author, and how is he stereotyped by the town?

2) What are the gender stereotypes in the novel? Discuss Aunt Polly, Widow Douglas, Becky Thatcher, and Amy Lawrence as examples of female stereotypes.

3) How are Tom Sawyer and Huck Finns stereotypes of boys?

(see the answer keys)

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