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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. Why does Tom say they need to stop and wait by the water?

2. Does Huck tell the Welshman the Spaniard's true identity?

3. What does Tom say that he dreamed?

4. What color lights are seen in the haunted house, reportedly?

5. What is in the first closet Huck and Tom search in the haunted house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what happens the first time Becky goes to sleep in the cave.

2. Does the Welshman take credit for saving Widow Douglas?

3. Describe the Spaniard.

4. What is the town's reaction after the murder trial?

5. What is kept in the mysterious room at the tavern?

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

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

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

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

10. How does Tom feel when Injun Joe is found dead?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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 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.

(see the answer keys)

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