- description
- # CHAPTER XXI
## Overview
This entity is [CHAPTER XXI](arke:01KG176GWM9E7EZGGTBJW7ZNT5), a chapter in the novel [The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete](arke:01KG17620ND2Q83R02B18E9MJZ). It spans lines 5501 to 5729 of the source text file [tom_sawyer.txt](arke:01KG0K71QZ8KK7RGEGSNTB5534) and was extracted as part of the structural analysis of the novel. The chapter is one of 35 chapters in the work and is positioned between [CHAPTER XX](arke:01KG176GX4Q9QGN0DR46GD1W75) and [CHAPTER XXII](arke:01KG176GWT1QZ94C295GSPVBQN). It is included in the [More Classics](arke:01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS) digital collection.
## Context
This chapter is part of Mark Twain’s classic 1876 novel *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*, a foundational work of American literature that explores childhood, social norms, and moral growth in a fictional Mississippi River town. The text originates from a plain-text file processed through an automated extraction pipeline, with structural elements like chapters identified and segmented for digital archival and analytical purposes. The chapter was extracted by a system user identified as "Structure Extraction" and is preserved within a broader collection of canonical Western literary works.
## Contents
Chapter XXI centers on the school’s “Examination” day, a public event marking the end of the academic term. As the strict schoolmaster intensifies his discipline in preparation, students—particularly the younger boys—endure increasing punishment and plot revenge. Their opportunity comes when the schoolmaster, known for drinking before major events, is targeted in a prank orchestrated with the help of the signpainter’s boy. During the evening’s exercises, students recite poems and deliver original compositions filled with exaggerated sentimentality and moralizing sermons, which Twain satirizes with irony. The chapter culminates in a comedic climax when a cat, lowered from the attic on a string, snatches the master’s wig to reveal his comically gilded bald head—exposing the prank and dissolving the formal event into chaos. The chapter ends with the boys’ successful vengeance and the arrival of vacation. The text includes a note clarifying that the quoted student compositions are authentic excerpts from a 19th-century volume of schoolgirl writing, underscoring Twain’s satirical realism.
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- 2026-01-28T02:39:19.481Z
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- Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
- description_title
- CHAPTER XXI
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- 5729
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-28T02:33:53.603Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
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- 5501
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- title
- CHAPTER XXI