Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Transcription

1 Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2 Unit Focus Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a satire, as an allegory, as an epic, and as a bildungsroman. Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a product of its time through the analysis of historical documents and literary criticism.

3 Mark Twain He was born in 1835 and he died in 1910 In his lifetime he witnessed: The Civil War ( ) Emancipation and the resulting segregation eventually formalized by the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

4 Mark Twain He wrote many novels, short stories, and essays. He is known as both a humorist and a satirist.

5 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884 and set in the 1840s. This book is referred to as the great American novel. In literary terms this book is also a(n) Satire Allegory Epic (with Huck representing with an epic hero or an anti- hero depending on your perspective) Bildungsroman

6 Literary Terms Satire: a discourse the intent of which is to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Often utilizes verbal irony, hyperbole, litotes, and incongruities.

7 Literary Terms Two primary divisions of satire: Juvenalian: (named after the Roman satirist Juvenal) Formal satire in which the speaker attacks vice and error with contempt and indignation. Horatian: (named after the Roman satirist Horace) Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings through humor.

8 Literary Terms Irony: the use of language to manipulate meaning from what one expects to something quite different Dramatic irony: Irony that results when the audience or reader is aware of action within the plot that the characters themselves are not privy to. (Think horror movies) Situational irony: Irony that results when an anticipated resolution based on a series of events does not actually occur, and what does occur is quite unexpected. (Even if you saw it coming. ) Verbal irony: Irony that results when a character says something, and although it may have meaning within that particular context, it also has meaning outside of this context as well, and this meaning is often more important. (Sarcasm is a type of verbal irony.)

9 Literary Terms Hyperbole: Statements and claims that are exaggerated to an extreme which are intended for effect and not meant to be taken literally. Litotes: An understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (as in she s not a bad singer meaning she is a bad singer)

10 Literary Terms Incongruity: items or people that are not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something. (In literature this could be the wealthy, attractive protagonist choosing to drive an old beat- up Chevelle. It just doesn t seem to fit. )

11 Literary Terms Allegory: A work that has symbolic meaning as well as literal meaning. An allegory may be difficult to interpret if you are unaware of the symbols within a work and how all of those symbols work together to create one work that is symbolic in and of itself or allegorical, if you will. (Think Animal Farm. It could be a story about animals taking over a farm OR it could be a allegory of the Russian Revolution. One interpretation is literal and one is figuative.)

12 Literary Terms Symbol: An item or character that is complete in itself, but can also stand for something greater than itself. For example, in Animal Farm Napoleon could be seen simply as a power- hungry boar OR he could be seen as a power- hungry boar and as a symbol for Stalin who was a power- hungry leader in Russia. Most books have symbols. For a book to be an allegory though all of these symbols must work together to create one larger symbol.

13 Literary Terms Epic/Epic Adventure/Epic Hero/Anti- Hero Huck Finn is a much more complex character than what you see on the surface. His journey down the river becomes as much an internal spiritual journey as it does a physically adventure, but accordingly Huck bucks the ideals of his society as a result of this adventure, causing him to be somewhat of an anti- hero as well.

14 Literary Terms Bildungsroman: A literary genre that focuses on the moral and psychological journey of a person, typically from childhood to adulthood. This growing up, however, does not necessarily refer to chronological age, but rather to emotional growth as a result of overcoming certain trials.

15 Literary Criticism The word criticism tends to have a negative connotation, but in reality a criticism is simply the result of a critic taking a critical look at a piece of literature. It s the act of judging the faults AND the merits of a work. Most literary critics tend to view a work through a particular literary lens.

16 Literary Criticism Historical / Biographical Approach Historical / Biographical critics see works as the reflection of an author's life and times (or of the characters' life and times). They believe it is necessary to know about the author and the political, economical, and sociological context of his times in order to truly understand his works.

17 Literary Criticism Moral / Philosophical Approach Moral / philosophical critics believe that the larger purpose of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues.

18 Literary Criticism Multicultural Approach Multicultural criticism begins with the belief that most literary works that claim to be great literature must have a multicultural focus. If they do not, then they are the opposite: they are an expression of one culture's dominance and perhaps even prejudice against other cultures.