Tom Sawyer Study Questions, Chapters 1-4 and Vocabulary 3/5-3/9
Author's Preface and Chapter 1. Bonus: Who/What is "Old Scratch"?
  1. What are Mark Twain's purposes in writing this book? (2)
  2. Is the character Tom Sawyer based on a real person?
  3. How does Tom avoid being whipped?
  4. After he gets away, how does Aunt Polly feel about not whipping him? Why?
  5. How does she figure out he cut school to go swimming?
  6. Why does Tom pick a fight with the new kid?
  7. When Tom gets in late and Aunt Polly sees how messed up his clothes are, what is his punishment?
  8. 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
  1. What supposedly happened to the boy who had won four or five Bible prizes?
  2. Why does Tm want the Bible so much? (Sort of a trick question.)
  3. (p28) "Tom...could not meet Amy Lawrence's eye, he could not brook (handle) her loving gaze."  WHY?
  4. What does the last line of chapter 4 mean?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Spelling List #15

  1. nationality
  2. hospitality
  3. agency
  4. society
  5. curiosity
  6. generosity
  7. familiarity
  8. majority
  9. privacy
  10. frequency
  11. accuracy
  12. minority
  13. urgency
  14. democracy
  15. emergency
  16. personality
  17. maturity
  18. anxiety
  19. humidity
  20. prosperity
  21. anonymity
  22. eccentricity
  23. spontaneity
  24. consistency

 

Vocabulary: blather, pariah, impudent, guile, ecstatic, vanquish, furtive, odious, loathe, condescending, adamant, contemplate

  1. He was so cocky, he talked in a _____________ tone  to everyone. POS:    Synonym:
  2. The homeless are sometimes, unfairly, the ___________(s) of today's society. POS:    Synonym:
  3. There used to be a brand of aspirin called __________; presumably because it would "defeat" your headache. POS:    Synonym:
  4. Tom is often whipped for his _________ behavior. POS:    Synonym:
  5. While he was in detention, he was supposed to ____________ upon what he had done wrong. POS:    Synonym:
  6. My mom was ____________ that I do my homework before anything else. No amount of begging was going to change her mind. POS:    Synonym:
  7. (2) Tom _________(ly) "hooked" a donut while Aunt Polly __________(ed) on and on. POS:    Synonym:                         POS:    Synonym:
  8. Tom was _________ when Becky liked him. POS:    Synonym:
  9. (2) Tom _____________(s) work; he finds it ____________. POS:    Synonym:                           POS:    Synonym:
  10. Aunt Polly was very ________(ful) as she questioned Tom, trying to trick him. POS:    Synonym: