Tom Sawyer Quiz

Tom Sawyer Quiz

Directions: Answer the following multiple choice and essay questions on your own paper

1. How does Tom trick his friends into helping him whitewash the fence?
§ He offers them marbles
§ He promises to go swimming with them when the job is done
§ He tells them Aunt Polly wants them to help
§ He convinces them that the job is fun
2. Why do Tom and Huck first go to the graveyard?
To dig up a body
To charm away warts
To dig for buried treasure
To kill a cat
3. What is Jackson's Island?
A small island in the middle of the Mississippi River
A tavern in town
An amusement park in St. Louis
The setting of Tom's favorite adventure book
4. Who is Sid?
Aunt Polly's boyfriend
Tom's cocker spaniel
Tom's younger half-brother
Tom's father
5. What does Injun Joe do after Tom testifies against him?
He denies his guilt
He flees out the window
He terrorizes the boys
He kills Muff Potter
6. What insect does Tom release in church?
A tick
A grasshopper
A ladybug
A pinch-bug
7. Who is blamed for the murder of Dr. Robinson?
Muff Potter
Injun Joe
Hoss Williams
Tom Sawyer
8. What does Tom do to win a Bible in Sunday school?
He memorizes 2000 Bible verses
He takes the blame for someone else's misdeed
He trades the other children for their tickets
He testifies at Muff Potter's trial
9. What does Huck do outside Tom's window to summon him to their midnight adventures?
He barks like a dog
He meows like a cat
§ He crows like a rooster
§ He hoots like an owl

10. Who is the first of the boys to suggest abandoning the pirating expedition?

§ Tom Sawyer
§ Huckleberry Finn
§ Ben Rogers
§ Joe Harper
11. Who is unaffected by the revival that sweeps through town?
Tom Sawyer, who is sick at the time
Huck Finn, who has no parents to supervise his religious education
Sid, who is always mean and selfish
Mary, who is too good to need reforming
12. What day is bad luck for hunting buried treasure?
Halloween
Examination Day
Friday
Tuesday
13. Why does Huck not go on the picnic?
Because he has promised to keep watch for Injun Joe
Because he has not been invited
Because he cannot stand girls
Because he is afraid of boats

14. What happens when Tom and Joe learn to smoke?
They win Huck's friendship
They get a whipping from Aunt Polly
They are expelled from Sunday school
They get sick
15. Who decides to have McDougal's Cave bolted shut?
Judge Thatcher
Mrs. Harper
Injun Joe
Tom Sawyer

16. What will become of the treasure Huck and Tom find?
It will be returned to the rightful owners
It will be spent on a memorial for Injun Joe
It will be invested for the boys
It will be donated to the Sunday school
17. Who is the only person to hug Huck when the three boys return for the funeral?
Tom Sawyer
Becky Thatcher
Muff Potter
Aunt Polly

18. Who adopts Huck Finn at the end of the novel?
§ Aunt Polly
§ Widow Douglas
§ Judge Thatcher
§ Muff Potter

19. Whom does Tom encounter in the cave?
§ Judge Thatcher
§ Injun Joe
§ Huck Finn
§ Muff Potter

20. What keeps Injun Joe from finding Tom and Huck hidden upstairs in the haunted house?
§ They jump out the window
§ A noise frightens Injun Joe away
§ The staircase begins to crumble
§ The treasure distracts him




21. Why does Injun Joe want revenge on the Widow Douglas?
§ Because her husband once punished and humiliated him
§ Because she never returned his affections when they were younger
§ Because she made a racist comment about Native Americans
§ Because she will not give him any ice cream

22. Whom does Tom suspect of spilling ink on his spelling book?
§ Becky Thatcher
§ Huck Finn
§ Alfred Temple
§ Himself




23. What is Huck most afraid of when he and Tom return to the cave to find the treasure?
§ Injun Joe's ghost
§ Being locked in
§ A band of robbers
§ Bats

24. Who doesn't believe Tom's claim that he dreamed about things that occurred at home while he was pirating on Jackson's Island?
§ Aunt Polly
§ Cousin Mary
§ Becky Thatcher
§ Sid

25. What does Tom find behind door No. 2 at the Temperance Tavern?
§ Milk and cookies
§ Whiskey and Injun Joe
§ Buried treasure
§ A dead cat


Short Answer Questions

1. How does Tom Sawyer change over the course of the story?
2. Analyze the character of Aunt Polly and her relationship to Tom.
3. What role do alcohol and images of drunkenness play in the novel?
4. Analyze the relationship between Tom and Huck Finn, paying close attention to their trip to the graveyard and their hunt for treasure.
5. Analyze Tom's relationship to the other boys his age, paying close attention to the whitewashing scene and the scenes at school.
6. Discuss how Twain uses satire in the Sunday school scene.
7. Trace Tom's courtship of Becky. In what ways is their romance adult like? In what ways is it childish?
8. Discuss Twain's portrayal of the town's authority figures, especially Judge Thatcher, Mr. Dobbins, and the minister.
9. Analyze Twain's portrayal of Injun Joe. Does Twain want us to feel sympathy for Injun Joe? How can you tell?
10. Analyze the relationship between the adults and children of St. Petersburg. Focus especially on the adult reaction to Tom Sawyer.

Essay Questions Answer each question as fully as possible. Some questions require more than one paragraph, so you may want to read through the questions in advance, in order to give yourself time to plan accordingly.

1. Compare and contrast the characters Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

2. Give 2 examples of superstitions in the book, and explain the superstitions. How do the superstitions affect our views of Tom and Huck?

3. Describe the relationship between Tom and Sid.

4. Describe the relationship between Becky and Tom.

5. Analyze the character Aunt Polly and discuss her relationship to Tom. Does she love him? Is she a good parent? Give evidence to support your answer.

6. List 4 different scenes from Tom’s adventures. Describe each adventure briefly and tell what we learn about Tom from each scene. Please number the scenes.