Questions for “The Boys’ Ambition” (excerpt from Life on the Mississippi) 
1.	In your own words, and based on how it’s used, define “transient” (2nd/3rd line from the top).
2.	In your own words, and based on how it’s used, define “husbanded” (9th line from the bottom).
3.	What is the one permanent ambition of Twain and his boyhood friends?
4.	How do the people of Hannibal respond to the daily arrival of the steamboat?
5.	(a) How do Twain and the other boys react when one of their friends becomes an apprentice engineer on a steamboat? (b) What does the apprentice do to make sure the other boys don’t forget that he works on a steamboat?
6.	(a) What happens to the young apprentice’s boat? (b) How do the other boys respond?
7.	What impression of the town of Hannibal, Missouri, is conveyed through Twain’s description of the town and its response to the steamboat’s arrival?
8.	(a) How would you describe the attitude of the boys toward the young apprentice engineer? (b) What details in the reading convey his attitude?
Narration is writing that tells a story. A narrative may be factual or fictional. Yet the distinction between factual narration and fictional narration is not always clear. For example, Life on the Mississippi is a factual narrative account of Twain’s experiences while growing up on the Mississippi River, but certain details and events in the book are fictionalized or exaggerated. 
1.	Which details in “The Boys’ Ambition” may be exaggerated? Support your answer.
2.	What do you think might have been Twain’s reasons for fictionalizing some of the details?