View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Mr. Higbie join the narrator's party?

2. What is the rich ledge called that Mr. Higbie discovers in the beginning of Chapter XL?

3. How many Chinese people live in Virgina at the time of the book?

4. How long does the narrator stay with Capt. John Nye to help him through his spasmodic rheumatism?

5. What mountain does the narrator see as he is leaving for California?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Higbie, and why is he valuable for the narrator's search of Mr. Whiteman?

2. What is on the islands in the center of Mono Lake?

3. What is the process of mining silver and shipping it to California in 1865?

4. How long is the narrator's trip, and what does he conclude at the end of the story?

5. Why is finding a good horse a difficult task in Hawaii?

6. Why is the narrator's work never published in The Weekly Occidental?

7. What is the new career choice the narrator makes towards the end of the book, and how does it begin?

8. What difficulties does the narrator have in finding stories to write?

9. What causes the narrator to travel to San Francisco?

10. How does the narrator describe Mono Lake?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mr. Whiteman is the elusive subject of another plan to strike it rich by the narrator.

1) Describe the background of Mr. Whiteman and why it is believed that he can lead people to a gold mine.

2) Describe Mono Lake and the narrator's experiences there. Include what the lake represents in the theme of the narrator's quest for fortune.

3) Explain how the author successfully introduces events surrounding a character that never appears.

Essay Topic 2

Twain uses a variety of literary techniques to bring his story to life in Roughing It.

1) Describe 3 examples of symbolism and how they are important to the theme of the story.

2) Describe 3 examples of foreshadowing and their impact on the narrator's life experiences.

3) Explain at least 3 examples of how Twain uses both humor and descriptions to provide an informative, yet entertaining account of the changing West in the 1800s.

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)

This section contains 989 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample