The Devil and Tom Walker Questions Master
1.Tom and his wife are unhappy because they
a. / work too muchb. / fight about money
c. / have no children
d. / live in the woods
ANS:B
2.What is the author making a satire of in the following passage? "Tom was a hard-minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he had lived so long with a termagant wife that he did not even fear the devil."
a. / the devilb. / Tom
c. / wives
d. / fears
ANS:C
3.Tom begins praying and reading the Bible because he
a. / wants to escape the devilb. / feels bad about cheating people
c. / finds good friends who love him
d. / thinks God can give him more money
ANS:A
4.The author most likely uses the image of Tom's green spectacles to show that Tom is
a. / concerned about the afterlifeb. / afraid of the devil's appearance
c. / jealous of other people's wives
d. / greedy and obsessed with wealth
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5.What does the devil do to Tom at the end of the tale?
a. / hides Tom's wealth in the woodsb. / encourages Tom's faith in God
c. / meets Tom at the church
d. / carries Tom away on a horse
ANS:D
6.What does melancholy mean?
a. / lonelyb. / gloomy
c. / jealous
d. / frightening
ANS:B
7.What is avarice?
a. / hungerb. / hatred
c. / anger
d. / greed
ANS:D
8.Propitious means
a. / delightfulb. / adventurous
c. / favorable
d. / supporting
ANS:C
9.Ostentations is a
a. / wish to have others' thingsb. / display to impress others
c. / refusal to help other people
d. / need to show faith to others
ANS:B
10.A censurer is someone who
a. / criticizes harshlyb. / prays loudly
c. / makes bad deals
d. / never shares
ANS:A
11.What is persecution?
a. / the desire to cause other people happiness in order to make yourself feel betterb. / the fear that people have of death due to a deal made with the devil
c. / the act of treating people badly because of race, religion, gender, or beliefs
d. / the remorse that someone feels after making a bad business deal
ANS:C
12.A is usurer a person who
a. / buys things from other peopleb. / convinces others to follow the devil
c. / employs people to help the devil
d. / lends money at very high rates
ANS:D
13.Speculating is
a. / entering into risky business deals for quick profitb. / refusing to sell any of your land to someone else
c. / engaging in a pact with the devil for profit
d. / thinking about past events in your family
ANS:A
14.What is ostentation?
a. / the wish to have other people's thingsb. / the refusal to give people what they need
c. / a display of wealth to impress others
d. / a need to show others your faith
ANS:C
15.What is a censurer?
a. / someone who prays loudlyb. / someone who criticizes harshly
c. / a person who bargains unjustly
d. / a person who guesses incorrectly
ANS:B
16.What convinces Tom that what the devil has told him in the swamp is true?
a. / the disappearance of Tom's wifeb. / the discovery of Kidd's treasure
c. / Absalom Crowninshield's death
d. / Tom's growing business
ANS:C
17.The narrator describes the devil's face as "begrimed with soot, as if he had been accustomed to toil among fires and forges." Irving most likely chose this imagery because
a. / he wanted to contrast Tom and the devilb. / it increases the dark mood of the scene
c. / people know this is what the devil looks like
d. / his readers can identify with a life of toil
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18.Reread the statement that Tom makes after he finds his wife's apron. What does Tom's comment reveal about him? "'Let us get hold of that property,' said he consolingly to himself, 'and we will endeavor to do without the woman.'"
a. / He hopes the apron will give clues about his wife's whereabouts.b. / He worries about his property more than about his wife.
c. / He thinks that his wife will come back to him if he finds the apron.
d. / He wants the devil to run off with his wife and return his property.
ANS:B
19.Tom is so successful at working for the devil because Tom
a. / is greedier than the devilb. / is the only moneylender in Boston
c. / knows a lot about lending money
d. / is known for his bargain with the devil
ANS:A
20.Who is Irving creating a satire of in the following passage from the end of the story? "The good people of Boston shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders, but had been so much accustomed to witches and goblins, and tricks of the devil, in all kinds of shapes, from the first settlement of the colony, that they were not so much horror-struck as might have been expected."
a. / people who pretend to be unimpressedb. / bankers who work for the devil with Tom
c. / writers who tell stories about the devil's tricks
d. / people who pretend to be good but are really bad
ANS:D
21.How does Tom encourage his own destruction? Use two details from the story to support your response.
ANS:
Responses will vary. Students may say that Tom encourages his own destruction by avoiding a virtuous life, conversing with the devil, and outdoing the devil. Students may describe two of the following details to support their responses:
a. When Tom first meets the devil, he stays and talks with him for a long time (lines 78-141). If he had left immediately, he might have avoided making a deal with the devil.
b. Tom seeks the devil after his wife dies instead of trying to live a more virtuous life (lines 209-218).
c. Tom agrees to be a moneylender and promises to drive even harder bargains than the devil suggests (lines 231-243).
d. Tom pretends to be virtuous but is really still working for the devil (lines 276-297). This makes Tom a hypocrite as well as a crooked moneylender.
22.What do the devil's trees in the swamp represent? Use one detail from the story to support your response.
ANS:
Responses will vary. Students should say that the devil's trees in the swamp represent people who appear to be good citizens but do not live virtuously. When the devil finally cuts a tree down, the person whose name is on the tree dies. Students may use one of the following details to support their responses:
a. Deacon Peabody's name is on one tree that is nearly cut through; he is a wealthy man who gained his wealth at the expense of the Native Americans (lines 96-100). The devil says that soon Peabody will be "deviled" (lines 93-95) or taken by the devil.
b. There are many trees that have been hit with the ax (lines 100-102). This most likely means that most "great men" are not completely virtuous.
c. A tree with Crowninshield's name on it has been cut down. He gained his wealth from robbing ships and was vulgar about his wealth (lines 103-105). Tom later discovers that Crowninshield has died (lines 144-145).
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23.Explain one way that Irving shows Tom's pride and stinginess after gaining his wealth.
ANS:
Responses will vary. Students may say that Irving shows Tom's pride and stinginess in either of the following ways:
a. Tom has a large house that is mostly unfurnished (lines 270-272).
b. Tom has a large carriage, but he will not take care of it or the horses that pull it (lines 272-275).
24.What is Irving warning people about in his story? Use specific details from the story to support your response.
ANS:
Responses will vary. Students may say that Irving warns people not to be stingy and greedy or to do bad things while pretending to be virtuous. Students may use the following details to support their responses:
a. Tom and his wife make each other's lives unbearable because they are greedy and refuse to share (lines 17-37).
b. Deacon Peabody, Crowninshield, and other "great men" from the colony are in the devil's hands despite their appearance of virtue (lines 96-105).
c. Tom's wife disappears in the forest because she greedily goes to make a bargain with the devil (lines 158-170).
d. The country experiences periods during which people are too eager to make money, which ends up causing those people a lot of pain (lines 250-258).
e. Tom acts as though he is virtuous and complains of others' faults, but he continues to treat people badly and take all their money (lines 276-310).
f. Tom knows that his soul is in danger but he continues to be greedy (lines 291-317), resulting in his downfall.
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25.Explain how Irving uses color imagery to reveal aspects of his characters in this story. Use specific details from the story to support your response.
ANS:
Responses will vary. Students may say that Irving uses color imagery in any of the following ways to reveal aspects of his characters:
a. The devil is described as black, as though covered in soot, and red, like blood (lines 79-88, 319-320, and 329). These colors are associated with the fires of Hell and danger, and they reveal the identity of the strange man and emphasize his danger.
b. Tom has a black mark on his forehead where the devil touches him (lines 138-143). This color indicates that Tom has been tainted by the devil and is considering becoming more similar to the devil.
c. Tom has green spectacles (line 296). The spectacles are the same color as money, which may indicate that Tom looks at the world in terms of money.
d. Tom is wearing a white cap when he tries to foreclose on someone's mortgage (lines 305-307 and 327). Tom may have on white, often associated with virtue, but he still commits bad acts and ends up riding away with the devil.
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