1a. Why did Sam (Mark Twain) and his pals 1b. Explain why the job of cub engineer might
despise the cub engineer so much?
not have been as glorious as the boys
imagined
2a. Describe Hannibal, Missouri, in the riverboat 2b. Life on the Mississippi was written after
the Civil War, in a time of great expansion
and industrial change. Why might Twain's
description of Hannibal have appealed to
readers?
days.
3a. State the tasks involved in the job steam-
boatman. Which task was the most desir-
able? Why?
3b. What seems to be the main reason the boys
wanted to work on a steamboat?
4a. What parts of the story are exaggerations?
4b. Which lines or parts from Twain's memoir
do you find humorous?
5a. Trace how Twain's experience as a riverboat
pilot is evident in this selection.
5b. If you were to write your memoirs, what
special knowledge could you share with
your readers?

Read the excerpt from "home front diary." jimmy simmons stopped by today to tell me that he had enlisted in the army. he asked me if i would write to him, and i said i would. i told him that i've been writing to my uncle arthur and susan's cousin john for about a year, and as an experienced correspondent i had some advice about all the censorship. "don't write down any information about your location or the number of soldiers in your unit because the censors will cut all of that away," i said. "in my experience, loose lips not only sink ships, they make letters look like snowflake decorations! ” well, he belly laughed over that one. how is the author's perspective different from jimmy's? the author has been to war and she can give jimmy advice. jimmy has become a soldier and does not believe the author’s advice. the author has experience writing to soldiers but jimmy does not. jimmy has more experience at letter writing than the author.