Regionalism and Naturalism
Why does Koskoosh drop the piece of burning wood?
He decides to let go
Paraphrase the hyperbole in the following excerpt. "I planned a siege against my pilot, and at the end of three hard days he surrendered."
I repeatedly asked Bixby to teach me.
An enterprising person has
Imagination and initiative
Something unassailable is
Impossible to disprove
Nettled
Irritated
Expatriated means
Banished
Richards rushes to tell Mrs. Mallard the news because he wants to
Be the first to tell her
The narrator's attempt to leave when Wheeler is out of the room suggests that he
Believes that Wheeler will never stop talking
Querulous means
Complaining
Rapt means
Delighted
One result of Twain's action with the mesmerizer is that Twain
Develops a disbelief in mesmerism
Mrs. Mallard spreads her arms out to welcome
The years ahead
Attest means to
affirm to be true
Maudlin means
excessively sentimental
Amicable means characterized by
goodwill
To conjecture means to
guess
What does infamous mean?
having a bad reputation
What does Andrew Jackson, the bull-pup, do to win his dog fights?
holds the other dog's hind leg
Implacable means
impossible to satisfy
What does dilapidated mean?
in a state of disrepair
How does the serious tone in Twain's voice create humor when he says, "I resolved to be a downstream pilot and leave the upstreaming to people dead to prudence?"
it is impossible for a pilot to travel only one way
What does prescience mean?
knowledge of events before they occur
What did Bixby want Twain to write in a little book?
landmarks Twain needed to know
What is the task of every living thing in Nature?
make children
What does tranquil mean?
peaceful
What does cavorting mean?
prancing in a playful manner
How does Mrs. Mallard feel right after she accepts that she will be free?
relaxed
what does minutest mean?
smallest
Which event is the story's climax?
the arrival of Mr. Mallard, becayse it is the turning point
Why does Piney suggest that the group tell stories?
to distract them from the lack of food
An example of hyperbole in this tall tale is Wheeler saying that Smiley
will follow a bug to Mexico
Replenish means to
Fill up again
Which is the best paraphrase for the underlined hyperbole in the following excerpt? "I either came near chipping off the edge of a sugar plantaion, or i yawed too far from shore, and so dropped back into disgrace again and got abused"
He almost hit the shore of a sugar plantation
What does Twain's humorous tone in the voice of this excerpt suggest about his opinion of himself?
He does not take himself too seriously
How do Mr. and Mrs. Masllard feel about each other?
He loves her, and she loves him at times
Why did Bixby shout and swear at the crew of the trading scow?
He was furious at Twain and needed to shout.
What event from Koskoosh's memories expresses the law of life?
His mother dies in a famine
What external conflict does Mrs. Mallard face after hearing of her husband's death?
Josephine wants her to open the door.
The way pilots see the river changes because the pilots
Learn to see everything as information
What can you conclude when the Duchess finds a stack of firewood?
Mr. Oakhurst knew he would never see her again.
Why is Koskoosh surprised that his son comes back to talk to him?
Not all old-men's sons came back.
Why does Tom have to retell the Iliad when Piney suggests that they tell stories?
Oakhurst and the outcast women do not wish to tell their own stories.
How is Simmon's comment that he could have stopped Twain from attacking the school bully dramatic irony?
Simmons was not in control of Twain's actions
What action was Twain sure would convince his mother that his confession is true?
Sticking himself with a pin
An anathema is a
Strong denunciation
Someone who is garrulous is
Talkative
What did Bixby agree to do for Twain?
Teach him to steer the steamboat.
Wheeler's claim that Smiley would bet "on anything that turned up you ever see" is best supported by Smiley's bet on
The Parson's wife not getting well
Paraphrase the following excerpt. "The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful book-a book that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger..."
The educated can read the river
How does Koskoosh's fire symbolize the theme of an individual's fight against nature?
The fire goes out at the end.
Why does Harte's descritpion of the setting in this reghion most likely include so many details about snow?
The snow plays an important part in what happens to outcasts
What scared Twain the first time he steered the steamboat?
The steamboat was very close to other boats
Why do steamboat pilots stop seeing the beauty of the river?
They only see what affects their steering.
What does Mrs. Mallard come to believe about imposing one's will on another person?
To do so is wrong, even if kindly intended.
How does Twain's proud statement "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly" illustrate the numerous voice of this memoir?
Twain is about to admit that he has no answer.
You can tell that the people in the region of Poker Flat believe in their own sort of justice by the
Two men who have been hanged
Indifferent
Uninterested
You can tell that Mr. Mallard is unaware of what has happened because he
Uses his latchkey
Twain pretends to be hypnotized because he
Wants the audience's attention
What wonderful memory does the narrator have from his first days on a steamboat?
a beautiful sunset
What does Bixby want Twain to write in a little book?
a list of landmarks to help him steer safely
Mr. Oakhurst is calm when he becomes an outcast from Poker Flat because he
accepts fate as a gambler does
The narrator says that Mrs. Mallard is different from most other new widows because she
accepts the news instantly
What does Twain lose that he can "never be restored"?
an innocent idea of the river
A pariah is
an outcast
The steamboat must stay close to the riverbank when it travels upstream to
avoid the river's current
How does the dialect of the following excerpt describe the bullpup? "his underjaw'd begin to stick out like the fo'castle of a steamboat and his teeth would uncover and shine like the furnaces"
eager to win the fight and money
To Twain, the best thing about being a subject was
having everyone's attention
How does Smiley's mare make him "uncommonly lucky"?
he excited mare wins in spite of her illnesses
The author's perspective is reflected in Koskoosh's memories of the famine because the author
heard hard-luck stories in person
What does multifariously mean?
in various ways
Mrs. Mallard's conclusion about love is that it
is far less important than freedom
What does wheeler say that Dan'l Webster can do better than any other frog
jump distances
Paraphrase the following excerpt. "A day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river's face..."
one day, i stopped seeing the river's beauty
Twain soon disliked hearing people talk about his feats in the show because
remembering his lie made him ashamed
Dilapidated means
rundown
The wolves at the end of the story contribute to the theme by symbolizing
the relentlessness of nature
To harry is to
torment, often by constant attack
A gullible person is easily
tricked
A slovenly person is
untidy in appreance
The steamboat crew implies that Twain is a baby because he
wants to sleep through night watch
An ironic detail that helps you predict Mrs. Mallard's sudden end is her
wish for a very long life
Which description of Dan'l Webster uses the tall tale technique of understandment?
A frog needs only an education to do anything
The narrator suspects that Leonidas W. Smiley is
A made-up person
A vituperative remark is
Abusively critical
Credulity is
An inclination to believe to readily.
The outcasts ignore Mr. Oakhurst's urging to continue toward Sandy Bar because they
Are all tired from traveling
Use the context clues to choose the best meaning of "bannanner" in the dialect of the following excerpt: "Well, thish-yer Smiley had a taller one-eyed cow that didn't have no tale , only just a short stump like a bannanner. . ."
Banana
Which detail helps you clarify the outcasts' opinion of Tom and Piney as innocent?
Billy's theft being kept secret
Why does Twain say that Bixby is grateful to the trading scow crew?
Bixby needs a convenient target for his rage.
Why is the fact that Simmons calls Twain a wonderful subject an example of verbal irony
Both Simmons and Twain know Twain is faking
Her husband's death makes Mrs. Mallard free because she
Can now live her own life
A garrulous person is
Extremely talkative
Richard's reason for rushing to the Mallard house with the sad news is to
Prevent any shock to Mrs. Mallard
Inexorable means
Relentless
What does inexorable mean?
Relentless
Bixby got very angry with Twain because Twain
Remembered nothing Bixby told him
Richards tries to hide Mr. Mallard from Mrs. Mallard because
Richards fears the sight of Mr. Mallard will shock her.
Koskoosh most likely says "It is well" because Koskoosh wants to
Send his son away without guilt