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