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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 do when he sees the new girl?

2. What do Tom and Joe use to play with the tick?

3. What is Tom's recent accomplishment?

4. Does Sid believe Tom is sick?

5. What does Tom "die" of during the game?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Tom find his lost marble?

3. When Tom talks and is restless in his sleep, how is his behavior explained?

4. What is Tom dissatisfied with by the end of the Sunday service?

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

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

7. What grievance does Injun Joe have against the doctor?

8. What about Tom's behavior at school strikes Sid as strange?

9. What do the villagers want to do to Injun Joe?

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

Discuss what creates value and desire in the novel.

1) How does Tom manipulate value and desire to get the other boys to whitewash the fence for him? Why does this work? Is it realistic?

2) Why are Tom and Huck willing to put in hard labor to search for imagined treasure? Why does Tom decide he will stay overnight at the Widow Douglas' house instead of waiting for Huck's signal, when the possible treasure is more immediate and real?

3) Why does Tom feel an intense desire to swear, smoke, chew, and do other forbidden acts while he's a member of the temperance group but loses his desire as soon as he leaves the group?

Essay Topic 2

Tom Sawyer is a dramatic person. He creates melodrama out of the events of his life.

1) Why does Tom Sawyer take on a melodramatic attitude of pining for Becky and then depression when Becky rejects him? Who is this attitude aimed at?

2) How and why does Tom dramatize the things that he does, such as running away to become a pirate? Why does Tom choose to let his family suffer, thinking he's dead, so that he can make his reemergence more dramatic?

3) What is the origin of Tom's desire for drama?

Essay Topic 3

Bravery is an important issue in the novel. For example, when Tom Sawyer bravely takes on Becky's punishment, he wins her love.

1) In what ways is Tom Sawyer brave and in what ways is he not brave? What leads to Tom's brave acts?

2) What other characters exhibit bravery, and what is their motivation?

3) Does bravery have any disadvantages or negative aspects in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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