Novel Insights Guide To

The Prince And The Pauper

by Mark Twain


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


Author Biography ..................................... 1
Chapter 01 - 04 ..................................... 4
Chapter 05 - 09 ................................... 10
Chapter 10 - 11 ................................... 15
Chapter 12 - 13 ................................... 19
Chapter 14 - 16 ................................... 24
Chapter 17 - 19 ................................... 31
Chapter 20 - 22 ................................... 37
Chapter 23 - 26 ................................... 41
Chapter 27 - 29 ................................... 45
Chapter 30 - 31 ................................... 51
Test Questions ................................... 58
Vocabulary Tests .................................. 67
Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle .................................. 75


Chapters 01 - 04

The first four chapters introduce the two main characters, Edward, Prince of Wales and Tom Canty, beggar of Offal Court, who are born on the same day. Twain immediately begins to contrast their circumstances, while developing background material that will set the scene when the two boys become switched.


Suggested Activities - Chapters 01 - 04

  1. Divide students into groups and assign research into the main historical characters in the book: Edward VI, Henry VIII, Mary, Elizabeth I, Lady Jane Grey, the Duke of Norfolk, etc. Ask each group to present their findings to the rest of the students.
  2. Ask students to draw a map of London, locating Westminster Palace, the Tower of London, London Bridge, and other locations pertinent to the story.

Review Questions - Chapters 01 - 04

  1. Compare and contrast the births of Tom Canty and Edward Tudor.
  2. Describe Tom's family and the circumstances in which they lived.
  3. Who taught Tom to read?
  4. What language did he learn as well?
  5. How did Tom feel about his life?
  6. Because of the books he read, how was he different from those around him?
  7. How did the people around him come to think of Tom?
  8. Read Proverbs 8:14-17, and explain how, even in Tom's mock kingdom, the truth of these verses is evident.
  9. What was Tom's greatest desire? What does Isaiah 26:9 say our greatest desire should be?
  10. What led to his desire being fulfilled?
  11. As the two boys compare their families, what surprises Edward about Tom's sisters?
  12. What causes the two boys to trade clothing?
  13. How does this relate to Philippians 4:11?
  14. What do the two boys discover about themselves?
  15. The Prince and the Pauper is a "plot driven" novel. As the prince notices the bruise on Tom's hand, the inciting incident of the plot is set in motion. This is the event which changes the plot structure from the introductory material (exposition) to the rising action, which leads to the climax of the plot. In this case, the Prince makes one very small, but very important action as he rushes out of the room. What is it?
  16. What does Edward discover as soon as he approaches the guard at the gate? How would I Samuel 16:7 apply to this situation?
  17. Why does Edward think that he will find help at Christ's Church?
  18. How is he treated?
  19. What does Edward believe is his only resource for help after his failure at Christ's Church?
  20. What is ironic about his reception by John Canty?

Review Question Answers - Chapters 01 - 04

  1. Tom Canty

    Poor
    Not Wanted
    Dressed In Rags
    No one knew about him
    Beaten and abused
     Both

    Born on the same day
    Born in London
     Edward Tudor

    Rich
    Wanted
    Dressed in silks & satins
    Everyone celebrated him
    Loved and coddled







  2. Tom lived with his mother, father, grandmother, and fifteen year old twin sisters in one room in a building that was "small, decayed, rickety." The mother and father slept on a "sort of bedstead" in the corner, while Tom, the grandmother, Nan and Bet slept on straw and rags. There was no other furniture in the room. The father and grandmother were cruel, and continually drunk. They made their living by stealing and begging. They forced the children to beg, but were not able to force them to steal. Both the grandmother and father beat Tom, especially if he did not deliver a sufficient amount from begging. However, his mother was kindly and tried to protect him, and Nan and Bet were like her.
  3. Father Andrew, a former Catholic priest who had been turned out of his monastery when Henry VIII formed the Church of England and closed the monasteries.
  4. Latin
  5. Although the neighborhood where he lived on Offal Court was an area of constant brawling, drunkenness, poverty and hunger, Tom was content because he did not believe that his life was any different than any other. He simply believed that his life was normal.
  6. He had a desire to be clean, both in mind and body. He no longer wanted to swim in the Thames only for recreation - he wanted to bathe for cleanliness. He also wanted to live in a way that was right, and he began to develop courtly airs and positive character traits.
  7. People began to believe that he had wisdom beyond his years, and they came to him with their problems, seeking his counsel and making him something of a judge over them.
  8. Answers will vary, but, although Tom was not officially a "judge" or a "king," he was giving advice, which was giving him power over those who were living around him, even though they were older than he was. Through his wisdom, he was unofficially being placed in a position of power over them.
  9. His greatest desire was to see a real live prince. Our greatest desire should be for the Lord.
  10. His daydreaming led to him wandering further outside of the city than he had ever been before, eventually leading him to the gates of Westminster Palace.
  11. Edward is surprised first that Nan and Bet have no servants to dress and undress them; then he is further surprised at the novel concept of a person having only one item of clothing, while Tom can see no reason why anyone would need more than one.
  12. Each feels that the other's life is more exciting than his is. In his own way, each feels that the other has more freedom, and that his life is more restricted. Edward even says that he thinks he would give up the crown to be able to play in the mud!
  13. Philippians 4:11 says that we should be content in whatever circumstances we are in, yet each of these boys finds the other's life to be more fascinating than his own. To desire someone else's life is to covet that which is not one's own, and that is sin!
  14. After they exchange clothing, they discover their similarity is uncanny - it is as if they had not changed clothing at all!
  15. He grabs an article "of national importance" and puts it away.
  16. Dressed in Tom Canty's rags, the guard does not recognize him as the Prince of Wales. I Sam. 16:7 says that "Man looks on the outward appearance." Mark Twain did not believe that "Clothes make the man," but he is showing here that people often treat others that way. The guard does not take the time to look into the boy's claim to be the Prince - he simply looks at his "outward appearance" - that of the small beggar who had accompanied Edward into the palace earlier - and humiliates him by kicking him out.
  17. Because the King has given these homeless boys food and shelter, Edward concludes that they will surely be grateful and will desire to help him to be restored to the rest of his family.
  18. The boys mock and humiliate him, just as the other crowds have done. This time, though, the boys add injury to insult by turning their dogs loose on him.
  19. He believes that if he finds Tom Canty's family, they will recognize that he is not Tom, and return him to the palace.
  20. John Canty not only does not recognize that the boy is not Tom and promises him a beating when he gets home, but he decides that he must just be mad.