The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which motif is most clearly supported by the Driscoll family’s names, Roxy’s rationalization about why it is acceptable to switch the babies, and the fascination the townspeople feel for Angelo and Luigi?

A) Respect for classical education

B) Admiration for sociopathic personalities

C) The fetishization of Europe

D) An obsession with false dichotomies

2. Whom does the narrative seem to point to as being most responsible for the way that Tom turns out?

A) Percy Driscoll

B) Judge Driscoll

C) Roxy

D) Colonel Essex

3. Which character is most able to stand up to Tom’s bullying?

A) Angelo

B) Luigi

C) Chambers

D) Wilson

4. For most of the novel, what is the best characterization of Judge Driscoll’s attitude toward Tom?

A) He neglects Tom and ignores his problems because Tom is only his nephew.

B) He creates unrealistic standards and is harshly critical of Tom.

C) He goes to great lengths to guide Tom and keep him out of trouble.

D) He vacillates between angry disappointment and willful ignorance.

5. Which is the best characterization of David Wilson?

A) He is intelligent, honest, and slightly naive.

B) He is clever, genial, and slightly manipulative.

C) He is brilliant, eccentric, and slightly misanthropic.

D) He is curious, open-minded, and slightly reckless.

6. What is the most reasonable interpretation of what the clash between Judge Driscoll’s perspective and Tom Driscoll’s perspective represents?

A) The clash between Black and white cultures

B) The clash between conservative and progressive values

C) The clash between and older generation and a younger one

D) The clash between Eastern and Western American values

7. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what the Mississippi River represents in this novel?

A) The lawlessness and chaos of Western life

B) The religious and moral dangers of Western life

C) The possibilities—both good and bad—of Western life

D) The greater freedom and opportunity of Western life

8. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what fingerprints represent in this novel?

A) The inescapability of fate

B) Individual self-determination

C) The role of genetics in shaping character

D) The infallibility of science

9. Which is a message conveyed by characterization in this novel?

A) Racial categories are essentially arbitrary

B) Skin color is irrelevant to a person’s destiny

C) There are valid reasons for the separation of races

D) Marginalization builds character

10. Which motif is developed by Roxy switching the babies, the story of the murder Luigi commits, and Tom’s invasions of his neighbors’ homes?

A) Free thinking

B) Hauntings

C) Theft

D) Twins

11. After Tom returns from Yale, what does he have in common with characters like Wilson, Luigi, and Angelo?

A) Education

B) Outsider status

C) Loss of religious faith

D) A gambling habit

12. What is most clearly being satirized by Judge Driscoll’s beliefs about dueling, the First Families of Virginia, and Roxy’s comments about John Smith?

A) Belief in racial stereotypes

B) Belief in democratic norms

C) Unquestioning religious faith

D) The construction of social status

13. Which statement most clearly supports the novel’s narrative tone?

A) Those marginalized by race or social standing have an obligation to resist in any way possible.

B) All people, regardless of race or social standing, should be held to the same moral standard of behavior.

C) It is inaccurate to characterize an offense committed by a marginalized person as “criminal.”

D) It is understandable when marginalized people commit minor offenses in an attempt to level the playing field.

14. Which character has the most accurate understanding of Pudd’nhead Wilson?

A) Roxy

B) Tom

C) Chambers

D) Patsy Cooper

15. Over the course of the novel, what is demonstrated by the reputations of Tom, Wilson, Luigi, and Angelo?

A) A good reputation can be easily lost forever.

B) Public opinion is fickle and somewhat arbitrary.

C) Social status is often based on personal appearance.

D) A clever person can rehabilitate a damaged reputation.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Given the events that set the story in motion, what is ironic about Tom’s betrayal of Roxy when he sells her into slavery?

2. What is the irony in Driscoll’s profession as a judge?