View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why wouldn't Heloise marry Abelard?
(a) She was afraid of him.
(b) She didn't love him.
(c) She didn't want to ruin his career.
(d) She thought he was already married.

2. To what does Twain compare the St. Peter's maintenance men?
(a) Spiders.
(b) Bees.
(c) Caterpillars.
(d) Monkeys.

3. What are the more lively sources of entertainment offered on the ship?
(a) Mock trials.
(b) Music.
(c) Dancing.
(d) All of the answers are correct.

4. What does Twain find mundane about Gibraltar?
(a) Its history.
(b) Its guides.
(c) Its people.
(d) Its legends.

5. What is the problem with the bartender in the bar advertising "ALL MANNER OF AMERICAN DRINKS ARTISTICALLY PREPARED HERE"?
(a) He can't understand the group's American colloquialisms.
(b) He can't make a single American drink.
(c) He is blind.
(d) He is deaf.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first site the group visits in Chapter 14?

2. What does Twain think about the people of Marseilles?

3. How are the ship's passengers described in Chapter 2?

4. What happens to most of the ship's passengers in Chapter 29?

5. What did young Mark Twain discover upon sneaking into his father's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. What impresses Twain about St. Peter's?

2. Twain is a bit contradictory in his opinions of the French. Outline Twain's opinions and theorize why he might feel that way.

3. What particularly gruesome item is the group confronted with when it visits the Cathedral of Milan? How does Twain react to this artifact and why?

4. Twain has a moment of questioned faith in Chapter 6. What inspires this questioning? Is he questioning his faith or the object? Why does he question at all?

5. Venice seems to bring out a flurry of emotions in Twain. He is at first disappointed then excited, and in Chapter 23, eventually bored. Why is Twain eventually bored?

6. After their visit to Versailles, the travelers return to find that a "great battle" has taken place on the ship, and they have missed the events. What was the battle about, and who were the participants?

7. Twain's first exposure to another people is when he lands in the Azores Islands. He listens to the people speaking Portuguese and scoffs at the many beggars. What is his first impression of the people of the Azores, and why do you think he feels the way he does about them?

8. The ancient city of Pompeii was buried under an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Twain imagines what the lives of the people of Pompeii must have been like and wonders whether U.S. history would be correctly reported if something similar occurred in the United States. What do you think prompts Twain to wonder such a thing?

9. What observation does Twain make that seems unlikely in the heavily Christian city of Rome?

10. Describe Twain's Parisian quest and its result.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,176 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample