The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Unit Overview

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1 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Unit Overview Read-by Date Chapters Pages Study Questions (all online) 2/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /19 41 end Chapters 1-7: due 2/10 2. Chapters 8-12: due 2/14 3. Chapters 13-15: due 2/18 4. Chapters 16-19: due 2/21 5. Chapters 22-26: due 2/28 6. Chapters 29-31: due 3/10 7. Chapters 35-37: due 3/14 NOTE: All sets of questions must be completed on Juno by the due date. Late work will receive no more than 50% of the earned grade. You may begin working on any of the questions at any time. Work that shows signs of being plagiarized will receive an automatic zero, so don t cut-and-paste. These questions are your study guide for the exam. You are permitted to skip three set of questions, but an additional ten participation points will be given to students who complete all of them. Assignment Schedule Formative (Practice) Assessments 1. Review Questions: Ch.1-10 (in-class 2/12) - handout 2. Character Chart: Ch.1-10 (due 2/12) - handout 3. Dialogue Translation (in-class 2/18, due 2/19) 4. Thesis Statement Assignment (due 2/24) - online 5. Impromptu Essay (in-class 2/25) - using ACT-style prompts 6. Grading Impromptu (due 2/26) - using ACT-style rubric 7. Quotation Analysis: Ch (in-class 3/14, due 3/17) Summative (Final) Assessments 8. Unit Exam (3/21) 9. Unit Essay (guidelines 3/17, due 3/24) Essay Topic At times, Huck functions from a simple need for self-preservation. In other instances, he displays a developing conscience that shows thought and integrity. Determine what you believe the level of Huck's moral development to be. Who or what has influenced him over the course of his journey? Have the influences been good, bad, or a combination of both?

2 Huck s Name Huckster - jokester, prankster Huckleberry - slang for a person of little consequence or a person of low esteem Finn - Jimmy Finn was the town drunk in Hannibal; an Irish name implied lower-class, unruly drunks Huck was based on Tom Blankenship, son of another town drunk (in addition to Jimmy Finn) in Hannibal. Tom was mostly ignored and went barefoot all the time, fishing and hunting instead of going to school. He barely bathed, and he didn t read. All of the Hannibal boys were jealous of Tom for his freedom and wildness; but Tom had an instinctive good streak in him. Tom s dad was the model for Pap. Key Issue Huck s moral development throughout the book What does he think is right / wrong, and what does he do as a result? Structure of the Book Episodic novel Each adventure is more or less self-contained, but woven together into the whole Life on the River vs. Life on Land Ideal vs. real Transcendentalism vs. Realism Themes & Motifs Birth and rebirth Loneliness and isolation Adaptability Society s restrictions on individual freedoms Encountering death Huck s inability to acknowledge gray areas Prayer Going with the flow Superstitions Pranks As You Read (AYR) Our daily discussions will focus primarily on these key ideas. Be ready to discuss why they are significant, and to cite specific examples and quotations from the reading. In addition to the periodic reading quizzes, I will call on every member of the class at least once before the end of the book to discuss a specific AYR. You will not know in advance the day on which you will be called to speak. If you are unable to respond fully, I will deduct participation points; and if you are unable to respond at all, I will deduct a total of five participation points. 1-4 Superstitions Compare/contrast characteristics of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson Tom s influences on Huck

3 5-7 Pap: characteristics, values, motives Compare/contrast life with Pap & life with the Widow Douglas Huck: his motives and actions regarding Pap 8-10 Jim: characteristics, values, motives Loneliness Superstitions river vs. land pranks and their effects Huck s adaptability & his mistakes Raft vs. land Tom s continuing influence on Huck Id/Ego/Superego Huck s conscience and how it affects his actions Huck & Jim s views on wealth Jim s values Huck s final prank & why it was his last Cairo? Huck s values and conscience Huck s quick thinking/adaptability Life with the Grangerfords Huck compared/contrasted with Buck Emmeline Grangerford compared/contrasted with...? Grangerford s values and their contradictory actions Huck s life-changing event Raft vs. land The Duke & the Dauphin (a.k.a. the King ) - How they come in to the book, Huck s reactions vs. Jim s reactions to them The Duke s values, priorities, and methods The Dauphin s values, priorities, and methods Characteristics, values, and practices of the Arkansaw townspeople Sherburn vs. mob mentality Huck s and Jim s feelings towards the Duke & the Dauphin Jim as a father vs. Pap as a father The creation and evolution of the Wilks plan Huck s moral conscience throughout all these chapters - (e.g. concerning the circus, Royal Nonesuch, D&D, Jim, Wilks plan)

4 25-26 The continuing evolution and effects of the Wilks plan Huck s blunders Huck s moral conscience The harsh realities of the Wilks plan Huck s moral conscience The real brothers arrive The evil evolution of the D&D Huck s moral conscience vs. his actions Huck s adaptability Tom s shenanigans throughout all these chapters The fate of the D&D Huck s moral conscience The plan to free Jim How the plan evolves Tom s shenanigans & principles Jim s reaction to the plan The effects of the plan on the household How the plan becomes utterly ridiculous Tom s inspirations Jim s reactions The escape and its effects on everyone 41-End The irony of the plan Huck s fate?

5 1. Slang Terminology 2. Idiom 3. Dialect 4. Style 5. Id 6. Ego 7. Superego

6 8. Irony 9. Satire 10. Juxtaposition 11. Theme 12. Motif 13. Imagery 14. Symbolism

7 Background Information 1.Mark Twain s real name was 2.He was born, and died on 3.His life was bookended by the passing by Earth of 4.After moving there at the age of four, Twain spent his childhood in, on the banks of the 5.What was the extent of Twain's familial connection to slavery? 6.Twain was years old when his father died. 7.His first job after completing the fifth grade was 8.In which two cities did work after heading east at the age of eighteen? I. II. 9.Why was the position of riverboat pilot more prestigious than that of captain? 10.Twain used the pen name before settling on Mark Twain, a term which means 11.What effect did the outbreak of the Civil War have on Mark Twain?

8 12.Twain s first successful story was 13.After spending time out West, Twain moved back East to be near his publisher. Under what circumstances did he then complete some of his most famous works? 14.What was the subject The Gilded Age, Twain s collaboration with Charles Dudley Warner? What does the term gilded age signify? 15.What caused the increased demand for improved transportation seen during this period? 16.Who were the so-called robber barons, and what is the significance of that name? 17.Twain took years to finish The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 18.Why was Twain so pleased that a library in Concord, Massachusetts had banned his book? 19.In what sense is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn an autobiographical book? 20.Twain s writing was often satirical in that it

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn STUDY-GUIDE Name PART ONE: Huck and Jim River and Shore CHAPTER 1 1. Who is Huck Finn? Give his history (summary of the end of the novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)