Y-o-u-u Tom!

Chapter 1 of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" has already made me giggle. It was intriguing and had me re-reading certain sentences. In this chapter, I was introduced to Tom. Tom is a mischievous young boy. He is quick-witted and always weasels himself out of consequences. Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly as his parents died when he was young. Aunt Polly tries to discipline him but he never listens. Jim, Aunt Polly's slave, teaches Tom to whistle. As Tom is practicing his whistling, he runs into a 'new kid in town'. Tom immediately starts to taunt the boy, and this leads to a wrestle. When the boys mother sees that Tom has beat her son up, she yells at Tom. When Tom arrives home rather late, Aunt Polly is none too impressed.

I wonder where this 'new kid' fits into the story. I think that Tom and the boy are going to end up being good friends. I think that they will realize that they have a lot in common. But will the boy's mother ever forgive Tom? I don't think that Aunt Polly will ever be able to control Tom. She will continue to attempt to discipline him throughout the story, and he will continue to ignore the consequences.

The story is set in a small town called St. Petersburg. Mark Twain was living in Hannibal, Missouri while he was writing this book. He based St. Petersburg on the town he lived in at the time, Hannibal.

When Aunt Polly is talking to herself, she uses the word 'dander'. Dander means temper or anger. Aunt Polly uses this word to describe how Tom always torments her for as long as possible until she's about to ''get her dander up''.

At one point in the first chapter, Aunt Polly is attempting to outwit Tom. The author uses the word 'sagacity' to describe her wittiness. Sagacious, by definition, means: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment. Aunt Polly was being sagacious or showing sagacity when she was attempting to outwit Tom.