Today we are going to look at chapters 13 an14 of Huckleberry Finn and work on the study questions below.
HW: Study vocabulary words for the upcoming test on Friday.
Chapters 11-14
1.
Compare and contrast the lies Huck gives to Mrs. Judith Lotus to the
lies he tells the watchman? (chap 11 and 13). Think about purpose and
results. Remember lies and inventing (or reinventing) personas is a
motif. What theme do you think these lies reinforce?
2. Make a list of names Huck uses or invent.
3.
Contrast the gang on the Walter Scott to Tom’s Gang (you might even
look at some of the rules of Tom’s Gang). What is the significance of
these two gangs? What idea is Twain trying to reinforce?
4. Look up
Walter Scott on the internet. Why would Twain name the sinking boat
Walter Scott? What is he making fun of? (Hint: Research the name and
read about who Walter Scott was).
5. Look up the dimensions of the
Mississippi. Write them down. Look up the Mississippi in Illinois and
Missouri. What does the internet say about the river in these two
states? Find a picture of the Mississippi. Why do you think Twain used
the Mississippi as a symbol?
6. What are Huck’s descriptions of the
river when he and Jim first leave Jackson Island (before the storm)?
What theme does this reinforce?
7. Why does Huck want to save the gang of murders? What is funny about this? What does it say about Huck?
8.
What is the significance of the following quote: “Do you reckon Tom
Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn’t. He’d
call it an adventure—that’s what he’d call it; and he’d land on that
wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn’t he throw style into
it?—wouldn’t he spread himself, nor nothing? Why you’d think it was
Christopher Columbus discovering Kingdom-Come.”
9. What is funny about the discussion between borrowing and stealing? Discuss what you think the significance of this is.
10. Make a list of references to death so far in the novel.
11. List the allusions so far.
What was your favorite event that happened in chapters 11-13? Why?
Huck Discussion Questions: XV - XX
1. Discuss the
significance of the fog incident and Jim's interpretation of it. "The
lot of towheads was troubles we was going to get into with quarrelsome
people and all kinds of mean folks, but if we minded our business and
didn't talk back and aggravate them, we would pull through and get out
of the fog and into the big clear river, which was the free states, and
wouldn't have no more trouble" (64). Consider the major themes as well
as foreshadowing.
2. How does Huck feel about playing the trick
on Jim? Comment: "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up
and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't sorry for it
afterwards, neither" (65). How does this statement contribute to the
overall meaning of the novel?
3. Discuss the significance of the following quotes from Chapter XVI:
"Jim
said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to
freedom. Well, it made me all trembly and feverish, too, to hear him
because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free -- and
who was to blame for it? Why me. I couldn't get it out of my conscience,
no how nor no way." (66).
"Here was this nigger which I as good
as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would
steal his children -- children that belonged to a man I didn't even
know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm." (67). Explain the irony
in this quote as well as the significance.
"Well, then, says I,
what's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do
right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?"
(69).
"Doan' less' talk about it, Huck. Po' niggers can't have
no luck. I awluz 'spected dat rattle-snake skin warn't done wid its
work." (70).
4. Why do the bounty hunters give Huck money? What is ironic about their reaction to Huck's story?
5. What does the destruction of the "naturally" created raft by the "industrially" created steamboat symbolize?
6. Speculate on why Twain put Huckleberry Finn aside for a few years at the end of XVI?
7.
Describe the Grangerford house. What is satirical about the
furnishings, art, and poetry? What does this description say about the
Grangerfords?
8. The first part of Chapter XVII reveals an
example of the theme of Huck playing on Buck's gullibility. Discuss this
example as well as other examples of the novel's major themes evident
in
Chapters XVI & XVII.
9. What does Huck's reaction to "Moses and the candle" indicate? Discuss the meaning of "Moses" as a motif in the novel.
10. What does Twain satirize in his description of the church service and the hogs that sleep under the floor?
11.
What does the feud symbolize? Does this remind you of another famous
piece of literature? Explain. Through the feud incident, Twain satirizes
human traits and behaviors. Discuss.
12. "I was powerful glad
to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp.
We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do
seem so clamped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free
and easy and comfortable on a raft"(88). Discuss the paradox.
Furthermore, this excerpt from the final paragraph of Chapter XVIII is
significant in that it pertains to the major themes of the novel.
Explain.
13. Huck and Jim's manner of dress on the raft is symbolic. What do clothes represent?
14. Why doesn't Huck expose the Duke and the King (Dauphin) as frauds?
15. Who is the most shrewd, the King and the Duke or Huck? Why? Give some examples.
16. What does Twain satirize in the plan to present Romeo and Juliet? Discuss Romeo and Juliet as a motif.
17. Discuss the significance of the pirate and the revival meeting. What is Twain satirizing?
18. Is Twain making a statement about society through the antics of the King and Duke? Explain.
Unit Learning Goal: Students
will demonstrate knowledge of nineteenth century foundation works of American
Literature by analyzing satire in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and relating one of its main
themes to another text and issue of the time.
TEXTS:
“Historical and Context of the transition from Romanticism
to Realism”; selected poetry by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson; excerpts from
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglas; “The Gettysburg Address”, “The Emancipation Proclamation”,
“Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address”; The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By the end of the novel students will be able to
1)
Define realism, satire, dialect, antihero,
unreliable narrator, irony (situational, dramatic, and verbal), episodic plot,
romanticism, dramatic foils, hyperbole, motif, picaresque novel, parable,
sarcasm, simile, metaphor, oxymoron, allegory, euphemism, bildungroman
2)
Pick out examples of symbols, irony and dialect
3)
Example the meaning of at least one major symbol
4)
Discuss how Huck is both an unreliable narrator
and an antihero
5)
Discuss how Huckleberry Finn, the novel, fits
both a bildungsroman and picaresque novel
6)
Give examples of and discuss the following
motifs in the book: superstition, parodies of previous literature (romantic
novels and Shakespeare), the adopting of personas (or reinventing self),
childhood games, religion, lies and cons, death, and perhaps one or two others
that I will bring up in class
7)
Be out to pick out and example five – ten
allusions
8)
Outline the plot according to the six elements
9)
Break up the book into three sections or three
movements (and briefly explain each movement)
10)
Break up the book into 9 episodes
11)
Give a list of characters in the book with a
brief description of each and their general purpose in the novel
12)
Compare and Contrast Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer
13)
Discuss the idea of and the historical reference
of Family Feuds
14)
Discuss the different types of conflict found in
Huckleberry Finn
15)
Discuss how Mark Twain uses allusions to back up
his major themes and develop his characters
16)
Keep a
list of Huckleberry Finns stories and pranks
17)
Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is honest in
dishonest world
18)
Briefly explain the following themes: Racism and
Slavery, Intellectual and Moral Education, The hypocrisy of society (appearance
vs. reality), conflict between the individual and society, the quest for freedom
(both freedom away from society and freedom within society), superstition vs
religion, death and rebirth, coming of age and the hero’s journey, the concept
of family, the role of the outsider, the nature and the significance of the
following traits: gullibility, ignorance, and naivety, tolerance vs.
prejudice.
19)
Define and use various vocabulary words that
appear in the book
20)
Develop a project based on some aspect of the
novel.
21)
Answer study questions as you read.
THEMES:
Major Themes: Mark Twain described the major theme of The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn as an irony: "A sound heart and a deformed conscience
come into collision and conscience suffers defeat." We can define the
"deformed conscience" as a conscience influenced by the laws of society
and a sense of duty toward those laws. The laws of society at the time
of Huck's journey considered people of African descent as property and,
therefore, less than human. Huck's struggle with his "deformed
conscience" represents a major conflict in the novel. Furthermore, the
novel is rich in common themes, themes that we will discover in many
other pieces of literature.
1. The conflict between the individual and society - Huck's struggle with his "deformed conscience"
2. The conflict between the emotional and the rational
3. Appearance vs. reality - hypocrisy and "phoniness"
4. Superstition - as a method of explaining and understanding
5. Tolerance vs. prejudice
6. Dehumanization - dehumanizing human beings to oppress them
7. Death and rebirth
8. Coming of age - the hero's journey
9. The role of the outsider
10. The nature and significance of the following human traits: gullibility, ignorance and naivete
Other
significant themes include: the feeling of loneliness and isolation;
the quest for freedom; romantic vs. real; implied vs. literal; the role
of women; the concept of family.
NOTES:
Picarsque
Novel: Usually a satirical novel which depicts in realistic detail the
adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who survives by his or
her wits in a corrupt society.
Bildungsroman: A novel whose
principal subject is the moral, psychological and intellectual
development of a youthful main character.
Episodic Plot: A
structure that features distinct episodes or a series of stories linked
together by the same character. Huck Finn can be broken up into 8 or 9
episodes.
Romanticism:
Work of literature that deal with
imagination, that represent ideals of life, these works often include
fantastic adventure stories, spiritual connections with nature, gothic
stories of the fantastic. Authors include: Sir Walter Scott, Fenimore
Cooper, Poe.
Realism:
Works of literature that depict life and people as they really appear. Hence Realistic.
Themes include corruption of society as a whole, racism.
Anithero:
A protagonist who doesn't fit the traditional description of a hero.
Persona:
An assumed identity or character.
Satire:
A work of literature that uses irony and hyperbole to attack and mock some aspect of society as a way to promote social change.
