Friday

 We need to discuss chapter 28 and look at the next two chapters.

 

Huck Questions XXVII - XXX

1. Twain was heavily criticized for bad taste due to his description of the funeral toward the end of Chapter XXVII. Why do you think he was criticized, and do you think the criticism justified?

2. Huck says, ". . . here's a case where I'm blest if it don't look to me like the truth is better, and actuly safer, than a lie." Explain.

3. In these three chapters Huck finds himself having to lie for various reasons. How do his motives differ?

4. Why doesn't Twain involve Jim more in these chapters?

5. Does Huck's escape from Hines say anything about Hines' character?

6. How does Huck feel about Mary Jane? Why does Huck tell her to go away? Significance?

7. Discuss the significance of Huck's statement, ". . . anybody but a lot of prejudiced chuckleheads would a seen that the old gentlemen was spinning truth and t'other one lies."

8. What does the doctor represent?

9. By the end of Chapter XXX, do you think Twain vindicates the characters of the duke and king or does he have them remain as villains? Explain.

 

Huck Finn Geography

HUCKLEBERRY FINN

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.

Thursday

 Today we need to discuss chapter 26 and how it is a turning point for Huck and we need to read chapters 27 and 28.

2/2 chapters 27-28

 Huck Discussion Questions XXIV - XXVII

1. As we have discussed, clothes can play a symbolic or thematic role in the novel. Huck even says that he "never knowed how clothes could change a body before." Discuss the thematic role of clothes in these chapters.

2. Comment on the last paragraph of Chapter XXIV. Make a connection to Twain's description of the Arkansas town. Why is Huck's response to the Peter Wilks incident so strong? Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained morally neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?

3. What qualities do the Wilks girls have that allow them to be fooled so easily?

4. Why is it significant that Joanna eats in the kitchen? What is the significance of her nickname? What themes are revealed?

5. What statement about the behavior of people does Twain make through the Dr. Robinson incident?

6. Previously Huck has refused to hinder the antics of the king and duke. Now he attempts to foil their scheme. Why? What theme(s) from the novel can you apply to Huck's change in attitude?

Wednesday

 Today we need to finish our discussion of Lincoln and move back to Huckleberry Finn.

2/1 chapters 25-26 

 

Huck Discussion Questions XXIV - XXVII

1. As we have discussed, clothes can play a symbolic or thematic role in the novel. Huck even says that he "never knowed how clothes could change a body before." Discuss the thematic role of clothes in these chapters.

2. Comment on the last paragraph of Chapter XXIV. Make a connection to Twain's description of the Arkansas town. Why is Huck's response to the Peter Wilks incident so strong? Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained morally neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?

3. What qualities do the Wilks girls have that allow them to be fooled so easily?

4. Why is it significant that Joanna eats in the kitchen? What is the significance of her nickname? What themes are revealed?

5. What statement about the behavior of people does Twain make through the Dr. Robinson incident?

6. Previously Huck has refused to hinder the antics of the king and duke. Now he attempts to foil their scheme. Why? What theme(s) from the novel can you apply to Huck's change in attitude?

Lincoln

 

1/31 chapters 24 and Abraham Lincoln

2/1 chapters 25-26

2/2 chapters27-28

2/3 29-30

2/6 Emily Dickinson

2/7 Emily Dickinson

2/8 Walt Whitman

2/9 Walt Whitman

2/1031-32

2/13 33-34

2/14 35-36

  Today and tonight we will read Abraham Lincoln. 

He is a question from a future exam:

4) Discuss Lincoln's purpose in "The Gettysburg Address" and his "Second Inaugural Address".  Give a summary of the "Emancipation Proclamation" and how its form reinforces it idea.

So as we read today you need to figure out Lincoln's purpose in his two speeches, "The Gettysburg Address" and his "Second Inaugural Address" and write these purposes out with examples from that text on your blog.  (Each of these should be a paragraph). 

Example - Abraham Lincoln's purpose in "The Gettysburg Address" is to......  This can be scene by his.... and ....  He uses these examples to reinforce the idea that .....

Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address 

"The Gettysburg Address" and "The Emancipation Proclamation" can be found on pages 584-590.

Huckleberry Finn

 We need to read chapter 24 today and discuss where we are and what has happened in the book.

Episode 5: (The Feud) Huck and Jim are separated and Huck finds refuge with a rich Grangerford family. The family is in a bitter feud with the rival Shepardsons and Huck attempts to stay in the background and not get involved with any of the violence and hatred. After some people die from both sides of the family in a few battles, Huck and Jim become reunited and set out to continue their journey on the raft.
~CHARACTERS~
- George Jackson (Huck's Persona), Bob Grangerford, Tom Grangerford, Betsy Grangerford (Slave), Buck Grangerford, Saul Grangerford, Rachel Grangerford, Mary Ann Jackson (fake sister), Emmeline Grangerford (The Dead One), Colonel Grangerford, Miss Charlotte, Miss Sophia, Harney Shepardson, Bud Grangerford, Baldy Shepardson, Joe Grangerford.
MAJOR THEME: Romanticism vs. Reality. Death vs. Rebirth, Meaning of Family.

 

Episode 6: (Naked On A Raft) Jim and Huck realize how free they are, out of the society where no one has the power to tell them what to do or where to go or how to live. They don't wear clothes because no one is around to judge them or say otherwise. They are at peace, yet they still use caution when they roam around closeby a town, since Jim is a runaway, he doesn't want him to get caught so they make their way by slowly until nightfall hides them. Soon after docking at one point, they run into two men who claim they are long-lost descendants of European royalty.
~CHARACTERS~
- King and Duke.
MAJOR THEME: Meaning of Freedom, Gullibility, Romanticism vs. Reality!

 

Episode 7: (A Bunch Of Scams) The two men, the King and the Duke, are obviously scammers/con-artists and Huck knows it, but doesn't state it out loud to Jim. He avoids any trouble and keeps to himself while him and Jim follow the two men around as they try to fool people out of their money. They start by playing a show at a circus that flops. Then they make a silly show that does amazingly well, but angers the townsfolk at the same time. Angry people start telling other angry people to go, just so the whole town can be fooled and share the rage everyone else has. The four guys get away before any real harm is done to them. They continue to float down the river, trying different schemes on each new town to see which one is the most successful.
~CHARACTERS~
- Old Boggs, Ringmaster, Colonel Sherburn, Buck Harkness, David Garrick, Edward Kean (both personas of the king and duke.),
MAJOR THEME: Gullibility, Human Cruelty, Appearance vs. Reality, Dehumanization.

 

Friday

 Read chapter 23 of Huck Finn. You should start the questions below and watch the Hatfield/McCoy video below:

Discussion Questions: XXI - XXIII

1. Through the Grangerford episode, Twain was able to criticize the myth of Southern honor. What myth of Southern life does Twain satirize in the Sherburn / Boggs incident (which, by the way, was based on a true incident)? What aspect of human nature does Twain satirize through the scene in the drugstore?
   
2. Compare the circus with the entertainment supplied by the duke and king?
   
3. What does Huck's reaction to the circus incident tell us about him? Whom does he think was most deceived?
   
4. What is Twain implying about human nature through the advertising for the "Royal Nonesuch"?
   
5. "What was the use to tell Jim these warn't real kings and dukes? It wouldn't a done no good; and besides, it was just as I said; you couldn't tell them from the real kind." (117). What does Twain imply?
   
6. What is significant about the story of 'Lizabeth?
   
7. Be ready to tell Huck's story so far. Develop a chronology of events - the more detailed the better!
   
   
   Huck Discussion Questions XXIV - XXVII
   
   1. As we have discussed, clothes can play a symbolic or thematic role in the novel. Huck even says that he "never knowed how clothes could change a body before." Discuss the thematic role of clothes in these chapters.
   
   2. Comment on the last paragraph of Chapter XXIV. Make a connection to Twain's description of the Arkansas town. Why is Huck's response to the Peter Wilks incident so strong? Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained morally neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?
   
   3. What qualities do the Wilks girls have that allow them to be fooled so easily?
   
   4. Why is it significant that Joanna eats in the kitchen? What is the significance of her nickname? What themes are revealed?
   
   5. What statement about the behavior of people does Twain make through the Dr. Robinson incident?
   
   6. Previously Huck has refused to hinder the antics of the king and duke. Now he attempts to foil their scheme. Why? What theme(s) from the novel can you apply to Huck's change in attitude?

 

Thursday

 Today read chapter 22 and work on finishing study questions through chapter 20.