diff --git a/parser_test.go b/parser_test.go
index 710a922..bbcbcee 100644
--- a/parser_test.go
+++ b/parser_test.go
@@ -2,26 +2,34 @@
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
 )
 
-func assertTree(t *testing.T, tree *TomlTree, err error, ref map[string]interface{}) {
+func assertSubTree(t *testing.T, path []string, tree *TomlTree, err error, ref map[string]interface{}) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Non-nil error:", err.Error())
 		return
 	}
 	for k, v := range ref {
+		nextPath := append(path, k)
+		t.Log("asserting path", nextPath)
 		// NOTE: directly access key instead of resolve by path
 		// NOTE: see TestSpecialKV
 		switch node := tree.GetPath([]string{k}).(type) {
 		case []*TomlTree:
+			t.Log("\tcomparing key", nextPath, "by array iteration")
 			for idx, item := range node {
-				assertTree(t, item, err, v.([]map[string]interface{})[idx])
+				assertSubTree(t, nextPath, item, err, v.([]map[string]interface{})[idx])
 			}
 		case *TomlTree:
-			assertTree(t, node, err, v.(map[string]interface{}))
+			t.Log("\tcomparing key", nextPath, "by subtree assestion")
+			assertSubTree(t, nextPath, node, err, v.(map[string]interface{}))
 		default:
+			t.Log("\tcomparing key", nextPath, "by string representation because it's of type", reflect.TypeOf(node))
 			if fmt.Sprintf("%v", node) != fmt.Sprintf("%v", v) {
 				t.Errorf("was expecting %v at %v but got %v", v, k, node)
 			}
@@ -29,6 +37,12 @@
 	}
 }
 
+func assertTree(t *testing.T, tree *TomlTree, err error, ref map[string]interface{}) {
+	t.Log("Asserting tree:\n", spew.Sdump(tree))
+	assertSubTree(t, []string{}, tree, err, ref)
+	t.Log("Finished tree assertion.")
+}
+
 func TestCreateSubTree(t *testing.T) {
 	tree := newTomlTree()
 	tree.createSubTree([]string{"a", "b", "c"}, Position{})
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
index 0a426e0..33ae6df 100755
--- a/test.sh
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 }
 
 go get github.com/pelletier/go-buffruneio
+go get github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew
 
 # get code for BurntSushi TOML validation
 # pinning all to 'HEAD' for version 0.3.x work (TODO: pin to commit hash when tests stabilize)