Life on the Mississippi Review

1. Life on the Mississippi Review • Twain reacts to what when he says he doesn’t have enough brains to be a pilot? • Mr. Bixby’s insistence he must learn the shoal surroundings and marks

2. Why does Twain stay in the pilothouse of the boat? • He thinks Mr. W will need help • Twain learns how to water-read by • Steering the boat while Mr. Bixby helps • How do we know Twain is making progress as an apprentice? • Mr. Bixby lets him run the boat alone

3. What does Twain mean when he says the grace, beauty and poetry are gone from the river? • He means that knowledge has come at a cost • An example of hyperbole in the passage is: • Twain states that when he learns the shape of the river, he will be able to raise the dead

4. Twain compares Bixby to a gun. Why is that appropriate? • It suits Mr. B’s wit and temper • When Twains says he stays with Mr. W as a matter of convenience, he is using a: • Humorous understatement

5. Give an example of an extended metaphor in the passage • Comparing the river to a book • Comparing Bixby to a smoothbore gun • What does Twain imply by comparing the river to a book? • The river is ever-changing and readable

6. Inanimate Complacency Subside Interminable Serenely Benevolence Misgivings Blandly Void Somber Vocabulary to Know