Treasure Island (Stevenson) practice questions and exam guide

Silver receives the black spot from his own men while:

1. Holding Jim hostage in the stockade
2. Aboard the ship
3. On the beach
4. At his Bristol tavern

Answer: A — Holding Jim hostage in the stockade

B/C/D) Wrong. A) The mutineers, frustrated with Silver's hedging, deliver it; he produces Flint's map and turns the situation.

The chapter narrated by Dr. Livesey containing the truce with Silver is a craft choice that:

1. Solves the problem of how to dramatize events Jim cannot witness
2. Hides nothing
3. Is filler
4. Confuses chronology

Answer: A — Solves the problem of how to dramatize events Jim cannot witness

B/C/D) Wrong. A) Stevenson's narrator swap is a controlled solution to first-person coverage limits.

Stevenson's stepson, the boy for whom he first drew the map, was:

1. Henry James
2. Rudyard Kipling
3. J. M. Barrie
4. Lloyd Osbourne

Answer: D — Lloyd Osbourne

A/B/C) Wrong. D) Lloyd Osbourne later collaborated with Stevenson on several books.

The historical period of the novel's events is approximately:

1. Mid-1700s — the late stages of the pirate era
2. Early Victorian
3. The 1600s
4. The 1820s

Answer: A — Mid-1700s — the late stages of the pirate era

B/C/D) Wrong. A) The setting is roughly two generations before Stevenson's own time, in the closing pirate era.

The 'X marks the spot' convention on treasure maps is:

1. A medieval inheritance
2. Borrowed from Defoe
3. Largely a Treasure Island invention that became universal pirate iconography
4. From sea charts

Answer: C — Largely a Treasure Island invention that became universal pirate iconography

A/B/D) Wrong. C) Stevenson's vivid map fixed the trope; subsequent fiction has copied it for over a century.

Jim Hawkins's age at the start of the novel is implied to be roughly:

1. Late teens
2. Early teens — a boy
3. A young child
4. A young adult

Answer: B — Early teens — a boy

A) Slightly older than depicted. C) Too young to run an inn or sail. D) Wrong. B) He is old enough to work, fight, and reflect, but unmistakably a boy.

Jim's mother is characterized chiefly by:

1. Greed
2. Cowardice
3. Practical honesty — she insists on taking only what Bones owed her
4. Pious silence

Answer: C — Practical honesty — she insists on taking only what Bones owed her

A/B/D) Wrong. C) Her scrupulous accounting at the chest contrasts sharply with the pirates' lawlessness.

Black Dog's distinguishing feature is:

1. Two fingers missing from his left hand
2. A black coat
3. A peg leg
4. A scarred face

Answer: A — Two fingers missing from his left hand

B/C/D) Wrong. A) The missing fingers identify him to Jim and to readers as the same man who reappears at Silver's tavern.

Dr. Livesey's behavior toward Billy Bones at the inn sets up his characterization as:

1. Reckless
2. Vengeful
3. Naive
4. Calm, principled, willing to threaten a violent man without bluster

Answer: D — Calm, principled, willing to threaten a violent man without bluster

A/B/C) Wrong. D) The early scene where Livesey quietly faces down Bones establishes his composure for the rest of the book.

Stevenson's national background is:

1. Scottish — born in Edinburgh
2. Irish
3. Welsh
4. Cornish

Answer: A — Scottish — born in Edinburgh

B/C/D) Wrong. A) Stevenson is part of the major Scottish literary line that includes Scott and later Conan Doyle.

The theme of adventure in the novel includes the implication that:

1. Adventure is uniformly fun
2. Adventure is fake
3. Adventure brings real cost — death, fear, lasting nightmares
4. Adventure is only for adults

Answer: C — Adventure brings real cost — death, fear, lasting nightmares

A/B/D) Wrong. C) Jim's closing nightmares show that the thrill of the voyage and its damage are inseparable.

Treasure Island in the novel is located in:

1. The Mediterranean
2. The Caribbean
3. The South Pacific
4. The Indian Ocean

Answer: B — The Caribbean

A/C/D) Wrong. B) The Caribbean setting fits the historical pirate era and the novel's Spanish-American port call.

The stockade at the island?

The loyalists abandon the ship + occupy an old stockade. Multiple skirmishes follow. The Union Jack flies above; Silver's flag flies over the camp on the beach.

Final tally of treasure?

Coins of many nations + bars of gold + a small box of silver — all moved to Ben Gunn's cave + then loaded onto the Hispaniola for the voyage home.

Who is Captain Flint?

Dead pirate captain whose treasure they pursue. The map is from his cabin. Also the name of Silver's parrot.

Who is Captain Smollett?

Skipper of the Hispaniola. Disciplined, no-nonsense. Initially distrusted by Trelawney but proves indispensable.

Famous adaptations?

1934 MGM film (Wallace Beery); 1950 Disney (Robert Newton — defined modern movie-pirate speech); 1996 Muppet Treasure Island; 2002 Disney Treasure Planet (sci-fi reset).

Stevenson's narrative trick of the doctor's chapters?

Three middle chapters told by Dr. Livesey while Jim is offstage. Stevenson uses controlled point of view to cover events Jim cannot witness.