Tom Sawyer Study Questions, Chapters 1-8.
Chapter 1
  1. How does Tom avoid being whipped?
  2. After he gets away, how does Aunt Poolly feel about not whipping him? Why?
  3. How does she figure out he cut school to go swimming?
  4. Why does Tom pick a fight with the new kid?
  5. When Tom gets in late and Aunt Polly sees how messed up his clothes are, she decides that his punishment will be...
  6. Who/What is "Old Scratch"?
  7. Translate slang: truck, lick, dander up, powerful warm, lam, suck eggs.
Chapter 2
  1. Where does this book take place?
  2. What was Ben Rogers pretending to be when he saw Tom whitewashing?
  3. According to MT, what is the difference between work and play?
  4. Who is the "great and wise philosopher" MT refers to at the end of the chapter?
  5. Translate slang: bully, taw, gay, up a stump, honest injun, shucks.
Chapter 3
  1. What was Tom's reward for doing such a good job on the fence? What did Aunt Polly give him a lecture on?
  2. What does Mark Twain mean when he says on (p17), "The fresh-crowned hero fell without firing a shot"? Why is he a "fresh-crowned hero"?
  3. Why does Aunt Polly say she hits Tom for stealing sugar, but not Sid? (p19)
  4. Why did Tom climb the fence instead of using the gate? (p16)
  5. "Umf! Well, you didn't get a lick amiss, I reckon. You been into some other audacious mischief when I wasn't around, like enough." (p19)
  6. How did Tom get back at the maid who dumped water on him outside "The Adored Unknown's" window?
  7. What does Tom fantasize about twice in Chapter 3? (Hint: After Aunt Polly hits him for the sugar, and outside of "The Adored Unknown's" window.)
Chapter 4-8
  1. Why does Tom want the Bible so much?
  2. What does the last line of chapter 4 mean?
  3. What happens in Chapter 5?
  4. What happens to Tom's pulled tooth?
  5. What are the various methods of wart removal Tom and Huck discuss?
  6. What does Tom say/do that makes the schoolmaster so mad? Tom knows this will anger the teacher, but he does it anyway. Why?
  7. "He had contemplated a good part of the performance before he contributed his bit of variety to it." (p52) What does "his bit of variety" mean?
  8. Tom's mistake with Becky was... 
  9. Why does Tom envy Jimmy Hodges?
  10. When Tom's superstition about his marbles fails, he blames it on...? 
  11. What are the various careers Tom contemplates after the problems with Becky?
  12. Who is the "Black Avenger of the Spanish Main"?
  13. Why won't Tom "fall" (die) when he and Joe are "sword-fighting"?
blather, pariah, impudent, guile, ecstatic, vanquish, furtive, odious, loathe, condescending, adamant
  1. He was so cocky, he talked in a _____________ tone  to everyone.
  2. The homeless are sometimes, unfairly, the ___________(s) of today's society.
  3. There used to be a brand of aspirin called __________; presumably because it would "defeat" your headache.
  4. Tom is often whipped for his _________ behavior.
  5. My mom was ____________ that I do my homework before anything else. No amount of begging was going to change her mind.
  6. (2) Tom _________(ly) "hooked" a donut while Aunt Polly __________(ed) on and on.
  7. Tom was _________ when Becky liked him.
  8. (2) Tom __________(s) work; he finds it ____________.
  9. Aunt Polly was very ________(ful) as she questioned Tom, trying to trick him.