The Adventures of Tom sawyer

ACTIVITIES 1. What do you know about Mark Twain? Mark Twain was an American writer and humorist. Known for his novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), which has often been seen as "great American novel" and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Twain was a character well known in his time, and was a friend of presidents, artists, major employers, and members of European royalty. 2. Write a summary of each chapter. Add images/videos...


Chapter I:

During dinner, Aunt Polly tries to trick Tom into admitting that he played hooky from school that day to go swimming. But Tom, aware of Aunt Polly's motives, has sewn his shirt collar back in place after his afternoon swim. Aunt Polly apologizes to Tom for her suspicions, until Sidney - notorious for being "the Model Boy of the village" - points out that Tom's shirt is sewn together with black thread instead of the white thread that Aunt Polly had used that morning. Before she can punish him, Tom darts out the door and runs away from the house.

On the street, Tom runs into a well-dressed boy with a "citified air about him that ate into Tom's vitals." After a verbal fight, Tom and the nameless boy begin to throw fists at each other until Tom is finally victorious. Tom returns home late in the evening by climbing through the window... but Aunt Polly catches him in the act.

Chapter II:

On Saturday morning, Tom is forced to whitewash the fence outside the house as punishment for his behavior the night before. The day is beautiful, making the chore seem even more dreadful; in fact, Tom would rather do Jim's - the black servant's - chores than whitewash the fence.

Tom begins the job and imagines how all the "free boys" who come skipping by will make fun of him for having to do work on a Saturday. In perhaps one of the most famous scenes of the novel, Tom tricks the neighborhood boys into completing his entire chore. Tom pretends to love whitewashing, putting fake enthusiasm into his work. "Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" Tom asks. Soon, all the neighborhood boys beg Tom for the chance to whitewash in exchange for small trinkets. In conclusion, Tom contends "that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."

Chaper III:

For the time remaining of that Saturday, Tom is in good spirits, playing in a mock battle with his band of friends. Afterwards, he passes by Jeff Thatcher's house and notices a "lovely little blue-eyed creature with yellow hair" with whom he instantly falls in love, so much so that the girl he was in love with the week before - Amy Lawrence - is completely out of his heart. Until suppertime, Tom lingers in front of the Thatcher house, "showing off" by doing various gymnastic tricks, hoping that the little girl inside the house will see him.

During supper, however, Tom's moods are lowered when Aunt Polly raps his knuckles for attempting to steal sugar. When Sid reaches for the sugar-bowl behind Polly's back, he drops the bowl onto the floor. When Aunt Polly returns, she immediately begins to beat Tom. When she learns that it was Sid who was at fault, she doesn't apologize but instead justifies her beating, though inside she longs to say something loving to Tom. Tom, conscious of his Aunts ruefulness yet refusing to acknowledge it, wallows in self-pity. He imagines his own funeral, and begins to cry to himself, reflecting that he leaves the house when his cousin Mary enters the house, unable to withstand any ounce of happiness.

He proceeds to wander through the streets, contemplating who would miss him when he died. Would the lovely "Adored Unknown" from this afternoon miss him? Presently, he wanders to her house, and stares up at her window, imagining the little girl crying over his lifeless body. But his imagination is interrupted by the maidservant who dumps a bucket of water out the window, and the drenched Tom Sawyer returns home.

Chaper IV:

On Sunday morning, Tom has still not memorized his Sunday school assignment of five Biblical verses. As she washes and dresses him, his cousin Mary attempts to help him learn, but he still has nothing but a vague general idea of the lesson. In church, the recitation of two verses was rewarded with a blue ticket; 1000 blue tickets could be exchanged for a bound Bible, which only the brightest and most diligent students earned. Tom has been trading various trinkets for tickets, not because he wants a Bible but because he wants the glory that comes with it.

That day in church, the visiting family of Judge Thatcher is given the highest seat of honor. Tom immediately begins to "show off" by acting up because the Judge's daughter is none other than the little girl he is in love with. In an effort to gain even more glory and attention, Tom has finally traded for enough tickets to receive a Bible. But after receiving the Bible, the Judge asks Tom what the names of the first two disciples were, and he incorrectly answers "David and Goliath."

Chaper V:

Chapter five revolves around the remainder of Sunday morning following Tom's schooling, specifically with the morning sermon. The whole town is in attendance: Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, Tom; the widow Douglas; Mayor and Mrs. Ward; lawyer Riverson; and a variety of other characters that remain nameless, such as the town belle, matrons, and young clerks. The church is bustling with noise as the minister begins his hymn, and Twain remarks that there was never "a church choir that was not ill-bred."

After the hymn and notices of meetings and societies have been read, the minister begins a prayer that seems excessive, or as Twain puts it: "a good, generous, prayer." The prayer pleads for the church, for the "children of the church," for the state to the President, for the "poor sailors" to the "Oriental despotisms," and continues on in this manner until a final "Amen" concludes it. Much like the prayer, the remainder of church is barely endured by Tom Sawyer, who counts the pages of the sermon but fails to listen to any of it. Tom's attentions, instead, focus on the antics of a poodle playing with a beetle. The poodle, eventually, sits on the beetle and disrupts the sermon with its distressful howling and barking, bringing the entire congregation to stifled laughter. After the chaotic disruption, the sermon continues and Sunday services conclude.

Chaper VI:

On Monday morning, Tom finds himself in bed and wanting to avoid school that morning. Eagerly, he attempts to avoid school by "playing" sick, groaning and moaning enough to wake Sid, who is sleeping by his side. Once Aunt Polly comes to check on Tom's ailments, he tells her: "Oh Auntie, my sore toe's mortified." After Aunt Polly tells Tom to "shut up that nonsense," Tom then proceeds to tell her about his sore, loose tooth, hoping that maybe it will provide him with an excuse to skip school. Aunt Polly simply pulls out his tooth and sends Tom off to school without another word.

On his way to school, Tom stops to talk to Huckleberry Finn, the "juvenile pariah" of the town admired by all children for his aloofness and hated by all mothers for his bad manners. He comes and goes as he pleases, an orphan of-sorts who doesn't have the duty of going to school or completing chores. Huckleberry is dressed in cast-off clothes: a wide-brimmed hat, trousers with only one-suspender, baggy pants, and a worn coat. Tom, who was forbidden to play with Huck, begins to discuss the correct way to cure warts; Huck, who holds a dead cat in a burlap sack, is planning on entering a cemetery at midnight to perform a witch's ritual to cure warts. Both boys discuss the merits of various superstitions and strange chants before they agree to meet later that night to go to the cemetery together.

After trading his tooth for a tick and saying goodbye to Huck, Tom races to school. Knowing that his punishment for tardiness will be to sit on the girls' section of the schoolhouse, Tom explains his lateness by saying he stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn, for the only vacant girls seat was next to the blonde, pig-tailed girl that Tom has fallen in love with: Becky Thatcher. After a period of flirtatious exhibition, Tom writes "I love you" on his slate, which is returned with Becky's pleasure. The two agree to stay at school for dinner so that Tom can teach Becky how to draw. The remaining time spent in class is futile, for Tom has not studied and makes errors in every area of his studies: geography, spelling, and reading.

Chaper VII:

Until dinner, Tom is restless and school and amuses himself by playing with the tick Huckleberry traded him. After a short time, Tom and "bosom friend" Joe Haper begin to fight over who is allowed to play with the tick, disrupting the classroom with a fistfight and attracting the attention of the schoolmaster. Finally noon comes, and Tom meets Becky in the empty schoolhouse after all the other pupils have gone home for dinner.

After discussing rats, chewing gum, and circuses, Tom asks Becky if she would like to be engaged to him; his definition of engagement is simply telling "a boy you won't ever have anybody but him" and then sealing it with a kiss. After whispering, "I love you" in each other's ears, the bashful Becky and Tom kiss. Inadvertently in his giddiness, Tom blunders that he was previously "engaged" to Amy Lawrence. After learning this, Becky rejects Tom and breaks into tears despite Tom's pleading. Tom attempts to win her over again by giving her his most prized possession ­ brass drawer-knob ­ but she throws it at the ground in anger. Heartbroken and enraged, Tom marches out of the schoolhouse. After realizing that Tom has left, Becky calls after him but is too late.

Resum the book:

Tom Sawyer is a boy who lives in St. Petersburg next to the Mississippi River with his younger brother Sid, his cousin Mary and her Aunt Polly. The latter is very severe with him, a sign of what he wants. Tom is a very mischievous child and a liar. Because some of these pranks, Aunt Polly punishes him by making him paint the fence. He very cleverly convinces his friends to paint the fence is art, and therefore, paint them and he remains a good and obedient boy.
Later, Tom meets a girl named Becky and falls for her. In his innocence of kids he asks her to marry him, and that adults do, and to seal this proposition you have to kiss, as is the custom (and kiss).
He and a couple of friends wanting to get away from the village decided to go to a nearby islet, to become a good pirate and / or bandits as adults, but because of what all the people believed to have drowned and creates a clutter. The village does a symbolic funeral for the children drowned and disappeared. Tom, realizing what had happened to his colleagues decided to show up right on the day of her funeral.
One day, his friend Huck, an orphan of a lifetime, says if you want to go with him to the cemetery because it has a dead cat and attracts ghosts. Tom agrees, and he likes the adventure. In the cemetery are a murder which is blamed for the town drunk but it was another person, Injun Joe. The trial was held against the drunk, finding him guilty of all witnesses, but the attorney called to testify at the end of Tom Sawyer. The whole town is stunned and surprised by the remarks, accusing the real culprit. They decided to tell the truth because they felt guilty, having a guilty conscience die since the penalty was hanging. Obviously the Indian John who was in the audience escaped without a trace.
Time after Tom goes to a cave with Becky and lost for three days. The people are mobilized to rescue them but in vain. Managed to escape thanks to the perseverance of Tom. Huck watches the malechores because they wanted to know where to hide the treasure (Indian John and his friends, but listen who wanted revenge on the widow of Justice Douglas (who had condemned him), cutting off ears and nose (revenge tradition India) .
Huck, hearing such horrible statements amounts to asking for help, and saved his life, but the murderers escape, hiding in a cave. In the end, Tom and Huck back to the cave, as Injun Joe hid a treasure there, they find it and become rich. Injun Joe and his cohorts are killed inside the cave because the sheriff sends the close of the entry, and also die the deaths of Tom and Huck fears as they rest in peace thinking that might take revenge.
The widow of Judge Douglas, home to Huck to give a good education and that was a good man, but the child can not take much time to live like a spoiled child, and went to live again as an orphan, on the banks of the Mississippi River.
This story ends at that time as the author says is a story of boys and in those times and become more adult.










3. Write a description of the main characters.

Tom Sawyer, hero of the book
Ben Rogers, mocking boy gang
Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard, a friend of Tom
The Indian Joe, Indian vindictiveness, kills Dr. Robinson
Dr. Robinson, a resident doctor in town
Muff Potter, a man who helped Dr. Robinson
Aunt Polly, a woman of simple soul and aunt of Tom Sawyer
Jim, lad color Aunty Polly
Becky, daughter of the county judge (and Tom's girlfriend)

4. SPEAKING:Podcastin:
Option A : Reading the summaries.
Option B: Find your favourite scene and podcast it in pairs.

5. Write your group summary in Tom Sawyer's wiki TOM SAWYER exam: 20th December