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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. Where do the narrator and a companion take their vacation?

2. What is interesting about Carson Lake?

3. Who is the referee in the court case between Hyde and Morgan?

4. What state in particular is the backdrop for the mining adventures described in the story?

5. What aspects of nature will be discussed in Roughing It?

Short Essay Questions

1. What warning is the narrator and his party given as they approach the Honey Lake Smith's Inn, and what is their response?

2. How does the narrator's party claim their mining areas along the mountains in Unionville, and what happens as they try to work in them?

3. How is the breakfast that the narrator is served in Nebraska described, and what future traveling accommodations does he compare his situation to?

4. How does Slade die and what point does the narrator make about it?

5. What is the writing style of Mark Twain that is established in the Prefatory?

6. What causes the narrator to marvel at the sight of the Rocky Mountains?

7. How does the narrator describe the coyotes he sees?

8. Why does the story of Hank Monk and Horace Greeley irritate the narrator so much?

9. What is Roughing It about, according to the author?

10. What causes the narrator to work for a Quartz mill and how does his employment there end?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The situations of Jack Williams and Captain Ned Blakely are used to depict the value placed on reputations in the West during the 1800s.

1) Explain Jack Williams' professions, how they contradict each other, and why the narrator includes his story to describe how retaliation was used in building reputations.

2) Describe the actions of Ned Blakely, the events leading up to the trial, how he influences the verdict, and the way his outlook on retaliation reinforces the point the narrator is making.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the author's descriptions of the Goshoot Indians and the Chinese people that live in the West during the late 1800s.

1) Describe the Goshoot Indians and provide specific examples of why the narrator objects to their way of life.

2) Describe the Chinese people and how the author depicts their way of life in California.

3) Analyze the difference between the narrator's views of the Goshoots and the Chinese people, including how his descriptions of them add validity to his views.

Essay Topic 3

One of the major lessons in Roughing It is the contradiction in the notion of becoming rich with little effort. This theme is returned to a number of different times throughout the book.

1) Explain what the goal of the narrator is in Nevada and why he believes it is possible.

2) Describe 3 ways that the narrator attempts to achieve his goal and the results of them.

3) Analyze the concept of becoming rich with little work, including what the author's message about it is in the book, and how the narrator's opinion of it changes.

(see the answer keys)

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