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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. Whose clothing does the devil's clothing resemble?
(a) Puritan clothing.
(b) African clothing.
(c) Quaker clothing.
(d) Native American clothing.

2. What is financial speculation?
(a) A group of expert opinions about the economy.
(b) Illegal investing by people with inside information.
(c) Buying something with the hope that it will rapidly increase in value.
(d) A joking term for illegal gambling.

3. What mark does the devil leave on Tom?
(a) A claw mark.
(b) An upside-down cross.
(c) A black fingerprint.
(d) A red mark in the shape of an axe.

4. The swamp is full of quagmires. What does this mean it is full of?
(a) Burrows and hollows where animals live.
(b) Dead, floating timber and brush.
(c) Thick stands of evergreen trees.
(d) Soft, wet ground that gives way underfoot.

5. When Tom opens the apron, what does he find inside?
(a) Valuable silver.
(b) His wife's heart and liver.
(c) A skull.
(d) Gold coins.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is true of the tree with Deacon Peabody's name on it?

2. Why does the narrator say that only Tom Walker would have the nerve to stop at the Native stronghold in the sawmp?

3. To what does the narrator metaphorically compare the financial speculation of Governor Belcher's time?

4. What causes Tom to start to worry about the deal he has made with the devil?

5. Why does Tom Walker originally go into the swamp?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is similar about Tom's fancy house and his religious behavior?

2. Why is the death of Absolom Crowninshield announced as the death of a great man in Israel when he actually died in Massachusetts?

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

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

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

6. What natural event happens in the area in 1727, and what is its thematic significance?

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

8. Before Tom and the devil part, how does the devil seal his side of the bargain and what does this allude to?

9. What is the significance of the devil's comment about Absalom Crowninshield's tree being ready to burn?

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

(see the answer keys)

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