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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 join the Cadets of Temperance?

2. By Monday morning, what do the men searching the cave send word to town for?

3. Why do Tom and Huck think it's useless to break Muff out of prison?

4. What does Polly say that Tom should have done?

5. What does Tom dump onto the table?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe the Spaniard.

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

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

6. What is Tom's approach to finding buried treasure?

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

8. How does Becky react when she first realizes she and Tom are lost?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tom Sawyer lives in a world of fantasy. Not only does he play Robin Hood, but he imagines that adventure stories about pirates and robbers are true, as well as stories of witches, ghosts, and magic. Discuss fantasy and reality in the novel.

1) In what ways does Tom's experience of fiction change the way he views the world?

2) How do Tom's fantasy games become reality?

3) How does Tom twist reality to make it more fantastical?

Essay Topic 2

Culture is the values, beliefs, and attitudes of a society, reflected in what they do and make and how they communicate. Describe the culture of Tom and Huck's town. What do the townspeople value and admire? What are the religious and political beliefs and values of the town? How do they enforce good behavior? What are the beliefs about child-rearing? What other important beliefs or attitudes can you identify?

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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