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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 dump onto the table?

2. What day of the week is a bad day to visit a haunted house?

3. Why do Tom and Huck think it's useless to break Muff out of prison?

4. Where does Joe tell his partner he plans on running after the "dangerous" job?

5. What dampens Tom's expectations of a night at Widow Douglas'?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Tom's approach to finding buried treasure?

2. What happens during Tom's speech on examination day?

3. What is kept in the mysterious room at the tavern?

4. What happens at the Fourth of July celebration?

5. What happens to Tom and Huck's treasure?

6. How does Becky react when she first realizes she and Tom are lost?

7. How does Tom feel when Injun Joe is found dead?

8. How does Tom treat Amy Lawrence when he comes back to school?

9. How does Mrs. Thatcher react as Tuesday comes and Becky is still missing?

10. Where does Tom think he's found No. 2?

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

Discuss love and jealousy in the novel by examining the relationship between Becky and Tom.

1) Is Tom really in love with Becky? Is his love for Becky different from his "love" for Amy Lawrence, whom he so easily dismisses? How is his love of Becky different from his love for Aunt Polly?

2) Describe Becky's feelings for Tom. What attracts Becky to Tom? How deep are her emotions for him? How does the experience in the caves change their relationship?

3) How do the characters experience and use jealousy in their relationship?

Essay Topic 3

Tom Sawyer lives in a world of fantasy. Not only does he play Robin Hood, but he imagines that adventure stories about pirates and robbers are true, as well as stories of witches, ghosts, and magic. Discuss fantasy and reality in the novel.

1) In what ways does Tom's experience of fiction change the way he views the world?

2) How do Tom's fantasy games become reality?

3) How does Tom twist reality to make it more fantastical?

(see the answer keys)

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