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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 does Tom begin to wonder while waiting for the prince?

2. Why do Edward and Tom switch clothes?

3. What does Tom's father do for a living?

4. In what ceremony does Tom have to participate in Chapter 9?

5. What troubles Henry VIII while he sleeps?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Tom read about? What does he do with what he learns? What does he desire from his reading?

2. What does Hertford tell the king in response to the king's problem in question # 16? What does Hertford do? What is the result of Hertford's action? What does the king decide to do?

3. What do Hertford and St. John decide individually and together about Tom?

4. What does Edward command Miles to do before the prince will go to sleep? What does Miles do first when morning comes?

5. Where does the prince go when he is lost in the crowd?

6. What is Tom doing when the prince first does not return?

7. Why is Tom taken to meet with Lord St. John and Lord Hertford? Who else comes in to talk with Tom? How does he feel about them?

8. Where does Edward go the first time he escapes from Canty and the others?

9. What does the prince's presentation to the people look like?

10. What does Miles tell Edward of his problem with Miles' brother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Like many novels, The Prince and the Pauper ends on a happy (or at least optimistic) note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think most people want a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each reason in light of The Prince and the Pauper. How many of the reasons mentioned are fulfilled by the book? Using details from the book, explain how The Prince and the Pauper fulfills or fails to fulfill each reason.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The huge gap between nobility and the peasantry in 16th century England is apparent by simply stating that Tom's family did not welcome his birth, while the entire country rejoiced at the arrival of Prince Edward.

1. Do you think the above statement is true? Why or why not? Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your ideas.

2. Discuss the implications that exist for a family below the poverty level to add another child to the family.

3. How do you think not being wanted by his parents affected Tom emotionally? Might it have affected him in other ways? Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Before Mark Twain begins his tale, his indication that it might or might not have actually happened is a way of suggesting that the facts themselves are secondary. What counts most, the author implies, are the truths to be found behind the events.

1. Discuss, in depth, what you think is meant by the above statement. Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to illustrate your discussion.

2. List three truths you believe can be found behind the actual plot or actions in The Prince and the Pauper and explain why you believe those to be truths.

3. In your opinion, what is Mark Twain's agenda is for writing The Prince and the Pauper? Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your opinions.

(see the answer keys)

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