Huck Finn Geography

HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Introduction:

            Huckleberry Finn, published in 1885, is considered not only a great book, but according to Ernest Hemingway (and many critics), it is the foundation of American literature.  It is the first novel to address uniquely American problems such as slavery and the hypocrisy of American Society (particularly of the Southern Gentile Tradition).  It is the first novel to have as its narrator a true American: an uneducated homeless boy of the lower class who has been raised for most of his life by no one and who owns nothing but his own ingenuity.  In fact it is the naivety of the narrator that allows Mark Twain to condemn society.  Huck Finn, while a liar, a thief, a minor conman (or con-boy), a rapscallion, a dirty waif, and a prankster, is ironically the most honest and good person in the book.  Fortunately Huck’s lack of sophistication limits his ability to be anything but true to heart.  It is his redemption.  The novel, a biting satire, employs all three types of irony we’ve discuss to create humor, plus it employs devices such as the use of allusion as a way to mock past literature for Huckleberry Finn is a novel in the school of realism. Twain believed that literature had to have characters and situations that could be found in the real world and to address real world problems (and Twain does entertain scenes with events that mimic and mock real events that happened in his day).  This idea of realism is one of the reasons the novel contains four types of dialect and discusses ideas such as slavery and freedom.  Twain opposed and absolutely hated romantic literature: literature where unlikely things happened such a fantastic escapes, magic, and Robin Hood-like heroes.  He pokes fun at these types of novels, perhaps too much fun.  Twain also uses his mockery of Romanticism to address the absurd nature of American idealism.  Huck Finn has been called vulgar and has been banned in high schools and in libraries since its publication.  Beware you will encounter the “N” word regularly.  Twain used it for a reason.  It should shock you and it should make you think.

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

Standards:

RL1 – Cite Strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain

RL2 – Determine two of more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of a text, including how they interact and build upon one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text

RL3 – Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story (e.g. where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed)

RL 4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrase as they are used in text, including figurative and connotative meaning; analyze specific word choices on tone

RL 5 – Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall meaning

RL 6 – Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really mean (i.e. satire, sarcasm, irony)

RL 9 – Demonstrate knowledge of nineteenth century foundational works of American Literature

RI 1 – Cite strong textual evidence to support of analysis of what a text says

RI 8 – Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts (e.g. Presidential Addresses)

RI9 – Analyze nineteenth century foundation U.S. documents of history and literary significance for themes, purposes and rhetorical features (e.g. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, The Gettysburg Address). 

Learning OBJECTIVES:

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.

DATES:

12/2 Overview of Realism and issues of the day

12/3 – 12/4 Walt Whitman

12/5 -12/6 Emily Dickinson

12/9- 12/11 Lincoln: “The Emancipation Proclamation”; “The Gettysburg Address”; “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address”

12/12 – 12/13

from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

12/16 – Huckleberry Finn: Structures, background, literary devices

12/17-12/20 Huck Finn chapters 1-11

We will finish the book in January!