View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What makes the farmer's wife think Edward must have been a helper in the king's kitchen?

2. What test does Hertford give Edward?

3. Mile's younger brother says that he received ______________.

4. What does Miles say about Hugo?

5. Who threw the old man in the hut out of London?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the woman in the house think of Edward? What does she ask him to do, and how does he do it?

2. What does Edward do about his situation at Hendon Hall? How does Miles mess up Edward's plan?

3. Describe Tom's appearance during the recognition procession. What custom does he follow?

4. What happens when Edith comes into the room to see Miles?

5. Whom does Edward meet the morning after he escapes from Canty and the gang? What do they do with him?

6. For how long is Miles sentenced after being taken from Hendon Hall? How does Edward compound the problem?

7. What happens to Miles when he first arrives at the palace and asks to see Sir Humphrey?

8. What does Miles do when he and Edward get separated?

9. What does the hermit tell Edward and what does he do with Edward?

10. How does Tom feel when he sees his mother in the crowd? What does he do? What does she do?

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

Twain depicts the gang terrorizing the countryside, although they do confine their misdeeds to nothing worse than theft and bullying. Some of them even beg rather than steal, but Edward's noble upbringing prevents him from participating in any way. The author is making a subtle point here about the influence of education and training on our behavior. He is suggesting that good breeding instills a horror of bad behavior, but he also is pointing out that extreme poverty, which often derives from oppression of the poor and the powerless by the rich and the powerful, can leave people with no choice but to behave badly if they are to survive.

1. Do you believe extreme poverty which threatens the people in this gang justifies what they are doing around the countryside? Consider the fact that it is mostly lower class people and poor people that this gang is terrorizing. Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your ideas.

2. Do you believe education and training is the most important factor in a person's behavior? Why or why not?

3. Discuss the behavior of many animals, such as horses, wolves, etc. who appear to have strict codes of conduct within the herd or the pack without the education that humans have. How does this relate to the implication that the influence of education and training on behavior is pivotal?

Essay Topic 3

For his first royal dinner, Tom is conducted to an ornate room where a table is set for one. He is surrounded by courtiers who stand in his presence as he eats.

1. If Edward often ate alone with simply his courtiers around him, how do you think that may have affected his emotions and his perceptions of the world? Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your ideas.

2. Discuss, in depth, how you would feel if you had to eat every night like Tom did for his first royal dinner.

3. What are the kinds of false thinking that might be engendered by this type of dining? Could one gain an inflated sense of self? Use examples from The Prince and the Pauper to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,367 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample