Huck and Tom and the Mighty Mississippi STUDY GUIDE H U C K A N D T O M A N D T H E M I G H T Y M I S S I S S I P P I B A S E D O N T H E C L A S S I C B O O K S B Y M A R K T W A I N A D A P T A T I O N B Y P E T E R H O W A R D M U S I C B Y R O N B A R N E T T Huck and Tom and the Mighty Mississippi and this study guide are produced in support of the teaching of the Virginia Standards of Learning in English, History and Social Sciences, and Science. Additional Resources: LIBRARY by Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Life on the Mississippi About Mark Twain: Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi by Cheryl Harness Who Was Mark Twain? By April Jones Prince ON THE WEB The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, CT has interactive activities just for kids, as well as teacher resources: www.marktwainhouse.org Who is Mark Twain? Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal, located on the Mississippi River, would serve as a fictional town in his most famous books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. When Samuel turned 18, he left Missouri and worked as a printer in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Cincinnati. Four years later, he returned to Hannibal and worked as a riverboat pilot. Eventually he earned his first writing job at a newspaper in Virginia City. It was here, in 1863, that Samuel adopted the pen name we know him by: Mark Twain. Mark Twain would become one of the greatest authors in American history. In 1876, he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a story about the adventures of a young boy and his friend, Huckleberry Finn in St. Petersburg, Missouri. In 1889, Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which is considered by many to be a sequel of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Many consider The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Twain s greatest literary accomplishment, as it magically depicts life along the Mississippi River in the 1800 s. It was one of the first published novels that featured colloquial speech, or words, expressions, and statements used only by residents of a particular geographic location. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are the two most well-known characters among American readers. You could even say that they are the most famous pair in all of American literature! YOU Have an Important Part to Play How to Play Your Part A play is different than television or a movie. The actors are right in front of you and can see your reactions, feel your attention, and hear your laughter and applause. Watch and listen carefully to understand the story. The story is told by actors and comes to life through your imagination.
Page 2 10 Fascinating Facts Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place. -Mark Twain 1. Mark Twain s name was not even Mark! His real name was Samuel Clemens. Samuel grew up along the Mississippi River, and even piloted steamboats. There is even a term named for him! Mark Twain is a navigational term meaning 12 feet of safe water. 2. Mark Twain was considered by many to be the father of American literature. He used many happy boyhood memories from his life along the Mississippi to write is wonderful stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. 3. The famous American writer Ernest Hemingway said, All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. 4. At age 11, Samuel Clemens quit school and began delivering papers and working as an errand boy for the Hannibal Gazette. 5. The Mississippi is the largest river system in North America, and the third longest in the world. It stretches more than 2,000 miles from Minnesota all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. 6. The word Mississippi is derived from two Indian words, misi sipi, meaning great water or father of the waters. 7. In the mid-1800s, the steamboat dominated commerce in the central U.S. Travel by steamboat increased quickly. 8. Clemens held many jobs in his lifetime: printer, writer, satirist, lecturer, soldier, steamboat pilot, and silver miner 9. The Mississippi River is home to such important cities as Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. 10. One can visit Mark Twain s childhood home in Hannibal, MO. It has been memorialized as a museum. Twain s favorite destinations in New York have also been turned into a walking tour. And, each May, Calaveras County in California holds a fair and a jumping frog jubilee. Frogs actual compete to see who can jump the farthest. Every winner is memorialized with a sidewalk plate in downtown Angels Camp on the Hop of Fame.
Page 3 HUCK AND TOM: COMPARING CHARACTERS Use the Venn Diagram to compare the two friends, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. In what ways are they alike? How are they different? Use the second Venn Diagram to compare yourself and one of your friends. TRY THIS! Merriam-Webster s website, www.wordcentral.com is the place to go for fun with words! Having trouble coming up with good adjectives to describe your characters? Their Online Student Thesaurus can help. Build your own dictionary, play word games, find rhyming words, and check out their word of the day!
Page 4 TODAY S TOM AND HUCK: Dialect for a Different World Definition: Dialect: spoken language that is different because of how it is pronounced and the type of vocabulary that is used. Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. -Mark Twain Update the following phrases from the play so that they sound like a kid today, rather than a kid from the 19 th century! You re a stump, ain t you! Ben There s no getting round it; you can work when you re a mind to, Tom. But it s powerful seldom you re a mind to, I m bound to say. Aunt Polly Afeared! Tain t likely. Tom No, I won t. Deed and deed and double deed I won t. -Becky A body can t be too partic lar how they talk bout these-here people, Tom. Huck I hauled out of there mighty quick. Huck Writing in Dialect One thing that made Mark Twain an important American writer was the fact that he wrote in dialect, or common everyday language that people who lived along the Mississippi used during the time that his stories took place. If you were going to write a story in the dialect you and your friends use, what words would you include? What words would you spell differently to let your reader know how they are spoken?
Page 5 M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I: The Father of the Waters Use the following Mississippi River facts and map to answer the questions below. Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. Mark Twain Why do you think the term river system is used to describe the Mississippi? What other rivers are part of the Mississippi River system? Into what body of water does the river flow? At its headwaters, the Mississippi is less than 3 feet deep. The river s deepest section is between Governor Nicholls Wharf and Algiers Point in New Orleans where it is 200 feet deep. Would it be useful to calculate the river s average depth? Would that information help boaters? Swimmers? Why or why not? Color the Mississippi River s watershed green. Why should everyone living in that area be aware of the river s pollution, water quality, and health of its fish and wildlife? TRY IT! Use some of the following supplies to make a log raft to sail the Mississippi: Toothpicks Pipe cleaners Styrofoam String Popsicle sticks Glue
Page 6 Virginia Repertory Theatre 114 West Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23220 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Phone 804 783 1688 E-mail contact@virginiarep.org Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi by Cheryl Harness Who Was Mark Twain? By April Jones Prince Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain presents HUCK AND TOM & THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI Adapted by Peter Howard Music by Ron Barnett Virginia Repertory Theatre Nathaniel Shaw Artistic Director Phil Whiteway Managing Director Eric Williams Director of Tour Operations Formerly Theatre IV Virginia Rep s Children s Theatre is a nonprofit, professional theatre in Richmond, Virginia. Since 1975 we've created exciting and innovative theatrical productions for young audiences. Each year we stage six shows at our intimate Children s Theatre in Richmond, and we tour national-caliber, educational plays to schools and public venues in Virginia and across the country. Gordon Bass Tour Manager Amber Martinez Arts in Education Manager What We Provide: Professional productions of literary classics, holiday shows, and historical biographies connected to the school curriculum Meet and Greet the cast at your request 40 years of experience of touring professional theatre for young audiences Reliable and talented company of actors who load-in and load-out the entire production, including attractive sets, costumes, and sound systems Competitive pricing structure Question and Answer sessions between our cast and your audience This study guide is property of Virginia Repertory Theatre. Photocopying of the study guide is permitted. Virginia Repertory Theatre 2018