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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 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. The narrator says that the timing for Tom's business is propitious. What kind of timing would this be?
4. What does the narrator say makes it difficult to know what actually happened to Tom's wife?
5. What mark does the devil leave on Tom?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is similar about Tom's fancy house and his religious behavior?
2. What are some of the details of the plants and animals in the swamp, and what do they signify?
3. How does Tom's wife react to his news, and what is his response to her?
4. Before Tom and the devil part, how does the devil seal his side of the bargain and what does this allude to?
5. What does Tom find in the mud of the swamp, and why does the narrator describe it as a memento?
6. The devil lists several of his own nicknames for Tom; what pattern can be seen in these names, and what is its significance?
7. What does Tom's wife do as a result of his refusal to make a deal with the devil, and what is the outcome?
8. What recent events lead to Tom's business being so successful?
9. Why is the death of Absolom Crowninshield announced as the death of a great man in Israel when he actually died in Massachusetts?
10. How does Tom ultimately slip up and get captured by the devil?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Throughout the story, Irving mentions a large number of professions. Write an essay in which you explain the pattern behind Irving's treatment of these professions. Which seem to be most openly condemned, which seem to be criticized by implication, and which seem to escape criticism entirely--if any? Be sure to offer textual support for your claims.
Essay Topic 2
Washington Irving was devoted to the idea of the creation of a specifically American literature, separate from the European literature of the Old World. Write an essay in which you analyze how "The Devil and Tom Walker" fulfills this purpose.
Essay Topic 3
Why is it important for Irving to describe Tom Walker's house and horses both before and after Tom makes his bargain with the devil? Write an essay in which you explain the thematic function of these images. Be sure to offer textual support for your claims.
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This section contains 993 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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