Questions from Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain - The Boy's Ambition
Critical Reading
1. Respond: Would working on a riverboat appeal to you? Explain.
2. (a) What is the one permanent ambition of the narrator and his boyhood friends?
(b) Connect: How does this childhood ambition reflect the American spirit that gave rise to the settlement of
the new frontiers?
3. (a) How do the people of Hannibal respond to the arrival of the steamboat?
(b) Interpret: What impression does Twain convey of the town by his response?
4. (a) Hypothesize: Do you think Twain could have written so well about riverboat life had he not become a
pilot himself? Explain.
(b) Apply: In what ways do you think Twain's love for the Mississippi River contributed to his success as a
writer?