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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 the boys eat for breakfast after running away?

2. What does Tom do with the tonic?

3. What does Tom do when he sees the new girl?

4. Does Tom leave Aunt Polly his note?

5. What does Tom trade his tooth for?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the boys do after witnessing the murder?

2. What is Tom and Joe's plan to run away?

3. Describe Tom's high spirits at suppertime.

4. What does Huck caution Tom about when speaking of the dead?

5. What does the minister say about the boys at the funeral?

6. Describe what Tom draws on his slate for Becky.

7. What is Aunt Polly's reaction to Tom's disappearance?

8. Describe what Tom hears while he waits for Huck.

9. What do Tom and Becky talk about before their discussion turns to romance?

10. Why does Tom confess that he stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn on the way to school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As the author says, the story of Tom Sawyer is the story of a boy, and at the end of the story, he is on his way to manhood. Describe how The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a coming of age story. What are the qualities of boyhood in Tom during the story? What are the qualities that make a person adult in the story? What steps does Tom take toward adulthood? How much further does Tom have to go toward adulthood at the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is filled with stereotypes. Discuss stereotypes in the novel.

1) What are the racial stereotypes in the novel? How is Injun Joe a stereotype of the author, and how is he stereotyped by the town?

2) What are the gender stereotypes in the novel? Discuss Aunt Polly, Widow Douglas, Becky Thatcher, and Amy Lawrence as examples of female stereotypes.

3) How are Tom Sawyer and Huck Finns stereotypes of boys?

Essay Topic 3

The novel contains many examples of guilt and self-condemnation. For example, Muff Potter condemns himself for a crime he didn't commit, saying it's right that he should die for it, while Tom and Huck are overcome with guilt for not telling what they know.

1) Tom is always misbehaving and doesn't feel guilty at all. What types of circumstances will or won't make Tom feel guilty?

2) Muff Potter and Huck Finn both feel that they deserve condemnation, in part because of the society's condemnation of them. How does societal condemnation relate to self-condemnation?

3) In what ways is guilt a valuable feeling? How does it help or hinder the characters? Use examples from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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