Q. Why did Aunt Polly turn quickly?

Tom was caught escaping from Aunt Polly and he was about to hit him with a
cane.
Tom played a trick on Aunt Polly. He startled Aunt Polly by exclaiming that
there was something behind her back. This made Aunt Polly turn quickly
around.

Q. Where did she find Tom?

Aunt Polly could not locate Tom initially. She discovered him eventually when
he had come out of the closet where he was hiding and trying to escape.

Q.Why cant Aunt Polly handle Tom easily?

Tom is a young man who is strong willed who is always disobeying orders and
playing pranks on Aunt Polly. She is always in a dilemma whether she is raising
Tom the proper way.If she punishes him too much, it causes her pain, if she
does not punish him, she knows that he will not grow up to be a fine
gentleman.This is the reason she cant handle Tom easily.

Q.Why did Tom’s aunt love him?

Tom is the son of Aunt Polly’s deceased sister. She is very attached to him.

Q.Why did she have to punish Tom?

Aunt Polly wanted to raise Tom as a fine well-mannered gentleman. As Tom
was very mischievous and always disobeying her orders, she had to punish Tom
to correct his behavior.
 1.  Why is Aunt Polly taking care of Tom?
Tom is the son of Aunt Polly’s deceased sister.
She is very much attached to him and loves him a lot.

2. Who is Sid?
Sid or Sidney is the younger half brother of Tom.He also stays with Aunt
Polly.

3. Based on chapter 1, write a character sketch of Tom and Aunt Polly.

Tom: An young, strong willed mischievous, fun loving boy who always
disobeys his Aunt Polly’s orders.

Aunt Polly: An elderly lady, who is caring and loving.

Sid or Sidney: Younger, half-brother of Tom, a quiet young boy who is obedient
and does lot like to get into mischievous activities like his brother .He is also
described as a tattletale and has sibling rivalry with Tom.

4. How does Aunt Polly find out that Tom did go swimming?

When the family was having supper, Aunt Polly asked Tom whether he
was feeling hot. When Tom replied that he was feeling hot.,she checked
his shirt whether it was moist and also asked him directly whether he had
gone swimming.Tom denied that he had gone swimming but admitted that
his hair was damp because he and some of his schoolmates had poured
water on their heads to keep themselves cool.Aunt Polly told her to open
his shirt and show his shirt collar so that she could make out whether his
shirt collar was torn. If his shirt collar would have been torn it would mean
that he had opened his shirt to swim.
 Though his shirt collar was stitched, Sidney , the half brother of Tom
revealed that Tom had sewn the collar back with black thread whereas
Aunt Polly has sewn the collar with white thread.In this way , Aunt Polly
found out that Tom had gone swimming.

5. What is it about the new boy that bugs Tom so much?

Everything about the new boy was different and better from Tom. He had
a city look, he wore a dainty cap, a close buttoned blue turnabout and a
flashy necktie.He was even wearing shoes on a weekday.
His appearance made Tom very jealous as he himself was shabbily
dressed.

6. Why does Tom fight at the end of chapter 1?

Tom was jealous of the new boy as the new boy represented everything what
Tom was not.

Tom wanted to get even with the new boy and that is the reason why he picked a
fight.

 7.What does "spare the rod and spoil the child" mean?

If a child disobeys orders and does not follow rules , he should be

punished .This is done to set an example so that in future the child becomes a
proper law abiding well-mannered gentleman.

9.Does Tom understand his aunt? How does he deal with her?

Tom understand his Aunt very well. He knows that he can trick her very easily
and avoid punishment. He does not repeat the same trick again and again. Also
he knows how she is going to question him and is ready with an excuse.
10.Why does the aunt’s conscience hurt her?
Aunt Polly loves Tom too much. She knows that if she does not punish him for
his wrongdoings, he would
Not become a good person when he grows up.On the other hand it causes her lot
of grief to punish Tom as he is the son of her dead sister.

11.What does Sid do to annoy Tom?

During supper, Sid reveals the fact that Tom’s shirt collar is stitched with black
thread .This proves that Tom was lying. He had opened his shirt , gone for
swimming and stitched it himself .Aunt Polly was now
aware of this and would surely punish him. This is the reason Tom is annoyed
with Sid.

12.How does Tom forget his troubles?

Tom escapes from Aunt Polly and loiters on the roads of the village of Saint
Petersburg. Within two minutes of his escaping from the house, he has forgotten
his troubles and was engrossed in practicing how to whistle a particular tune.
13.What does Tom feel when he has mastered the art of whistling?
When he had mastered the art of whistling, Tom felt very proud of himself. He
felt that he had accomplished something, similar to an astronomer discovering a
planet.

14.Briefly describe Toms fight with the new boy,how does it develop?
Tom met the new boy on the street of the village of Saint Petersburg.He disliked
the new boy and wanted to get even. They stood in front of each other and
threatened each other without talking, by looking eye to eye , face to face and
going around in circles. Finally Tom told the new boy that he would beat him.r
Gradually the tempo of the fight went up as they argued among themselves.
Finally Tom challenged the new boy that of the new boy would produce two
cents, Tom would start the actual fight. When the new boy took out two cents
from his pocket, Tom jumped on the new boys and they started fighting like
cats.

15.How did the fight end.

The two boys were fighting like cats. Tom was winning the fight and sat on top
of the new boy
and pounding him with his fist and at the same time ordering him to surrender
by shouting’’Nuf’’.
After further fighting, the new boy started crying and also shouted’’Nuf’’ to
indicate that he was defeated and wanted to surrender.
Tom released him and helped him get up. This is how the fight ended.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

I AINT DOING MY DUTY BY THAT BOY, AND THAT’S THE LORD’S

TRUTH , GOODNESS KNOWS
Q.What does the speaker go on to say about the boy?
Aunt Polly, the speaker does not want to punish Tom ,as he is very close to her
being the son of her dead sister.At the same time, she is worried that without
punishment she maybe spoiling Tom.

Q.What punishment has she planned for Tom?

Aunt Polly has planned to make Tom work on Saturday to punish him for
playing hookey.
Saturday is holiday for the boys and they usually play on that day.

Q.What does the speaker say about duty?

Aunt Polly knows that is her duty as Tom’s guardian to take care of him and
also raise him properly. This includes punishing him for his wrongdoings.

Q.WELL NOW , IF I DIDN’T THINK YOU SEWED HIS COLLAR WITH

WHITE THREAD , BUT IT’S BLACK

1.What do the people, who hear this statement do or say immediately

afterwards.
Aunt Polly says that she remember sewing the collar with white thread.
Tom immediately starts to escape and also warns Sid that he will beat Sid for
being a tattletale.