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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 do East and other boys think about Tom's relationship with Arthur?

2. What does Tom do when he sits in the same seat he sat in when he first comes to the school?

3. Why is anyone who dares to taunt Tom quickly silenced?

4. What has happened by the time Tom and Arthur have left the school?

5. From the perspective of the narrator, what is one long fight or series of fights?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tom get into a fight?

2. Two years have passed. How are Arthur, Martin, East, and Tom doing?

3. How does Arthur's body handle the trek to the kestrel's nest?

4. In what debate does Tom take part? With whom is the debate?

5. How does Tom react when we realizes he has broken the promise he had made to his mother?

6. Why does East not get confirmed?

7. Why is the farmer on the look-out for boys from Rugby?

8. How does Tom try to keep his promise to Arthur?

9. The narrator asks the reader to pardon Tom for being filled with more thoughts of the Doctor than of God. What is his explanation for Tom's behavior?

10. What does Tom's reaction during a debate over the Old Testament with East and Arthur show about his idea of compromise?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tom believes that the stagecoach ride to Rugby School is the greatest day in his life.

Part 1) Why?

Part 2) How does this foreshadow his experiences at Rugby School?

Part 3) Would he still consider this the greatest day of his life at the end of the book? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

At first, Tom is reluctant to be a mentor to Arthur.

Part 1) Why?

Part 2) What makes him change his mind?

Part 3) How does their relationship as mentor and protege change throughout the book?

Essay Topic 3

By the time Tom and East leave the school, most of the boys kneel and say prayers at bedtime.

Part 1) How does this ritual begin?

Part 2) Why are the other boys influenced by Tom and East?

Part 3) Why might the narrator believe this is a healthy ritual?

(see the answer keys)

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