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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 causes the driver to lose the road one night?

2. When the party reaches Esmeralda, how much do they conclude that the claims they have are worth?

3. According to the narrator, how are the profits of the mining industry in Nevada glorified?

4. Which one of the following is NOT found in the Great American Desert?

5. Where does the author start out on his journey?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the limitations of the stage coach that is going to Carson City, Nevada, and which items does the narrator take with him?

2. What is the writing style of Mark Twain that is established in the Prefatory?

3. What is the experience the narrator has in buying a horse in Carson City?

4. How does the narrator's party claim their mining areas along the mountains in Unionville, and what happens as they try to work in them?

5. What are the details of the court case between Hyde and Morgan, and what is the outcome?

6. How is the breakfast that the narrator is served in Nebraska described, and what future traveling accommodations does he compare his situation to?

7. What is the economy of Salt Lake City like, and how long do the travelers stay there?

8. What skills does Captain John Nye have, and how does he help the narrator and his party?

9. As stated in the Prefatory, what is Twain's intention in writing Roughing It?

10. How do the members of the narrator's mining party get lost in Chapter XXXII, and what happens with their attempts to start a fire?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the historical significance of Roughing It by explaining the value and uniqueness of the first hand account being provided. In your analysis, answer the following questions: What are the most significant events that the narrator witnesses? How is the process of silver mining described? What are the "flush times" and how do they affect the narrator and other people living in the West? What other changes have a big impact on Western life? In what way does the media contribute to the actions of the narrator and other would be miners? How does the information in the book support Twain's intentions of writing it as stated in the Prefatory?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the court case between Hyde and Morgan. Include the events leading up to the case and each side's arguments. Also, explain the significance of the referee, his decision, and the message the narrator is delivering with the outcome of the case.

Essay Topic 3

One of the major lessons in Roughing It is the contradiction in the notion of becoming rich with little effort. This theme is returned to a number of different times throughout the book.

1) Explain what the goal of the narrator is in Nevada and why he believes it is possible.

2) Describe 3 ways that the narrator attempts to achieve his goal and the results of them.

3) Analyze the concept of becoming rich with little work, including what the author's message about it is in the book, and how the narrator's opinion of it changes.

(see the answer keys)

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