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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. Why does Tom decide that he will not agree to the devil's bargain?
(a) Because he does not want to risk his soul.
(b) Because it will please his wife if he does it.
(c) Because he believes that the devil will try to trick him.
(d) Because his wife convinces him to ask for more money.

2. Why does Tom Walker originally go into the swamp?
(a) He has heard a rumor about the pirate treasure.
(b) He is lost.
(c) He is trying to take a shortcut home.
(d) He is looking for his wife.

3. Why does the devil say that he has a right to cut wood on this land?
(a) He says that it belonged to him long before Europeans came to North America.
(b) He says that the entire earth belongs to him.
(c) He says that the owner sold it to him.
(d) He says that he owns the soul of its owner.

4. What is Tom's first mistake on his last day?
(a) He does not begin the day with a prayer.
(b) He forgets to lock his doors.
(c) He tries to cheat a man who has also made a bargain with the devil.
(d) He says that the devil can take him if he has made any money from his client.

5. By what name does Tom call the devil?
(a) Old Scratch.
(b) Satan.
(c) Old Nick.
(d) Mephistopheles.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Tom opens the apron, what does he find inside?

2. What is Tom's reaction to the disappearance and likely death of his wife?

3. Why is Tom's business immediately successful?

4. What does Tom find in the mud of the swamp?

5. What does the narrator say makes it difficult to know what actually happened to Tom's wife?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does Tom do with his money and what does it show about his personality?

5. What two reasons does the narrator give for Tom's fearlessness in the swamp and upon meeting the devil?

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

7. Explain how Tom develops into a religious hypocrite.

8. How does the narrator add to the credibility of the story by mentioning the various possible fates of Tom's wife?

9. What is the reaction of the Walkers' neighbors to their fighting?

10. What implicit racism is there in the description of the fort that once stood in the swamp?

(see the answer keys)

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