Chapter 12
  1. Why did Aunt Polly think Tom had been taking the Painkiller all that time? What was he really doing with it?
  2. "Because if he'd 'a had one, she'd 'a burnt him one herself!" Who's he? One what?
  3. What does Tom do when Becky finally comes back to school? What's her reaction?
Chapter 13
  1. Give an example from Chapter 13 of Tom insisting on doing things "the hard way" or "by the book." (Like he did when he climbed the fence instead of going through the gate.)
  2. "The other pirates envied him this majestic vice, and secretly resolved to acquire it shortly." (p93) Explain. (A vice is a bad habit.)
  3. How does Tom convince Joe that a pirate's life is better than a hermit's?
  4. Why are the boys' consciences bothering them at the end of chapter 13?
  5. Why does Mark Twain call the boys "curiously inconsistent pirates"? (Last line of Chapter 13.)
Chapters 14-15
  1. What was the "boom" the "pirates" kept hearing and why did it make them feel happy ?
  2. What did Tom do before he left camp? What do you think he wrote?
  3. What do the villagers think happened to the boys?
  4. "Well the things is ours anyway, ain't they ?" Who's talking? What's going on ? Name two of the things.
Chapter 16
  1. How does Tom keep the other boys from leaving the island? What three things does he first try, that don't work, to keep them on the island?
  2. "I've lost my knife. I reckon I better go and find it." (p112) Who's talking? What' going on? Why is this funny?
  3. The boys had two reasons to be thankful after the big storm. What were they?
  4. "Two of the savages almost wished they had remained pirates." (116) Why? what's going on?
Vocabulary. Definitions (with POS) in notebook and blanks filled in by Wednesday.
alacrity, prone (2), covet, lugubrious, palpable, smote, frivolity, incantation, eloquent, fickle
  1. (2) His short temper makes him _______ to fighting, and he often ends up ______ on the floor.
  2. The speech was short but ___________, and people were moved to tears.
  3. A ghost, by definition, is not ___________.
  4. A person who is _________ is probably not going to be a good friend, since he/she probably won't be very reliable.
  5. The birthday party was full of __________ and good times.
  6. One of Tom's superstitions says that, if you do the proper things, and say the proper ____________(s), your lost possession will be found.
  7. When the teacher said I had only 5 minutes left, I finished the test with ___________.
  8. The lonely wolf's howl was long and _____________.
  9. Godzilla easily __________ the pathetic tanks the Japanese army sent at him.
  10. Tom __________(ed) the attention and glory, not the bible prize.