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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 city is the narrator in when he waits in line to see a woman while mining?

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

3. How many temples does the narrator see in the City of Refuge?

4. How many times does Bill Nookes attempt to climb aboard Captain Ned Blakely's boat?

5. When does the narrator's party leave for Mono Lake?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe Mono Lake?

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

3. What is the Whiteman Cement Mine and why is it considered to be elusive?

4. What is pocket mining and the result of the narrator's attempt at it?

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

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

7. How does the narrator describe Hawaii and what initial setback does he encounter there?

8. How long does the narrator stay in Hawaii, and in what way does the author's literary tone change in these chapters?

9. What lifestyle does the narrator have in the first few months of his stay in San Francisco, and how does it change dramatically?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Mark Twain's objectives of writing Roughing It. Use the information in the Prefatory to explain his reasons for chronicling his adventures and the style he intends to use in the book. Then, provide examples that display how Twain accomplishes his objectives on multiple levels.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Compare and contrast the author's descriptions of the Goshoot Indians and the Chinese people that live in the West during the late 1800s.

1) Describe the Goshoot Indians and provide specific examples of why the narrator objects to their way of life.

2) Describe the Chinese people and how the author depicts their way of life in California.

3) Analyze the difference between the narrator's views of the Goshoots and the Chinese people, including how his descriptions of them add validity to his views.

(see the answer keys)

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