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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 doing at the office on his last day?

2. What is the reason the narrator gives for Tom not fearing the devil?

3. Part of the story is set in a morass. What kind of location is this?

4. What does the narrator compare Tom's clients to?

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 is in the apron, and how does he feel when he sees it?

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

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

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 is the implication of the conversation between the devil and Tom about the ownership of the swamp land?

6. Explain how Tom develops into a religious hypocrite.

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

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

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

10. The devil lists several of his own nicknames for Tom; what pattern can be seen in these names, and what is its significance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explore the casual racism of Irving's short story "The Devil and Daniel Walker." Describe the elements of the story that are racist and explain the irony in this racism, given the stand that Irving takes against the slave trade. Be sure to use quoted textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Is Tom Walker a static or dynamic character? Write an essay in which you make a claim about whether or not Tom changes and what relationship this has to the theme of Irving's short story. Be sure to offer textual support for your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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