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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Part of the story is set in a morass. What kind of location is this?
(a) A mountaintop.
(b) An overgrown field.
(c) A flat area where a river enters the sea.
(d) A muddy or boggy area.

2. What significant event happened in Massachusetts in 1727?
(a) An earthquake.
(b) A fire.
(c) A flood.
(d) A hurricane.

3. What tone does the narrator adopt when saying that Tom is a friend to his clients?
(a) Sorrowful.
(b) Sarcastic.
(c) Nostalgic.
(d) Condescending.

4. Tom Walker is described as meager and miserly. What kind of a person is he?
(a) He lives in luxury through cheating and stealing.
(b) He lives in poverty because he gives away most of what he earns.
(c) He hoards money so that he can life a lavish lifestyle.
(d) He insists on living so cheaply that he does not have the ordinary comforts of life.

5. Whom does the narrator seem to blame for the situation of Tom's clients?
(a) Tom and the devil.
(b) The devil and the government.
(c) The clients and Tom.
(d) The government and the clients.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Tom's reaction to the idea of being a usurer?

2. What does the narrator say is hard to believe about the conversation between Tom and the devil?

3. What is true of the tree Tom is sitting on?

4. Why does Tom's wife go into the swamp, looking for the devil?

5. What happens to all of Tom's money and property at the end of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Tom believe happened to his wife, and why, and how does he feel about it?

2. What does Tom find in the mud of the swamp, and why does the narrator describe it as a memento?

3. What do Tom and the devil negotiate about before striking a bargain, and what is the bargain they strike?

4. How does Tom's wife react to his news, and what is his response to her?

5. Who is the guardian of William Kidd's treasure, and why?

6. What kind of a person is Tom Walker's wife?

7. What recent events lead to Tom's business being so successful?

8. What becomes of Tom Walker and all of his wealth?

9. What things does the devil say he supervises on earth?

10. What does Tom's wife do as a result of his refusal to make a deal with the devil, and what is the outcome?

(see the answer keys)

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