The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain

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The Adventures ofHuckleberry FinnMark Twain

• Elements of a Novel
• Ideas, Concepts, and Vocabulary
• The N word within the novel

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Elements of a Novel

• Basic Structure of a Novel
• Introduction
• Plot
• Conflict
• Conclusion/resolution

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Elements of a Novel

• Contributing Elements
• Theme
• Narrator/point of view
• Characters/names
• Dialogue/dialect
• Symbolism, imagery, and metaphor

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Ideas and Concepts of Huck Finn

• Story is told in first person, with Huck as the
  narrator.
• Twain used dialects of the times and wrote as if
  Huck were actually speaking.
• The story takes place in the South PRIOR to the
  Civil War. The country was divided into slave and
  free states.
• Novel is episodic. The plot consists of numerous
  events, each of which is very short by itself.

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Ideas and Concepts of Huck Finn

• There are powerful contrasts found throughout the
  novel. The most important being between Huck and
  Tom and slavery and freedom.
• Note Hucks basic goodness. He is willing to go
  against society to help Jim.
• Irony is widely used within novel. Twain gives
  the reader his opinion of peoples behavior using
  irony.

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Vocabularydefine on your own time. Later you
will check your definitions for accuracy via a
Powerpoint presentation.

• Aversion
• Cynicism
• Determinism
• Ingenious
• Parable
• Transformation

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Vocabulary

• Regionalism- A feature, such as expression, a
  pronunciation, or a custom that is characterisic
  of a geographic area. Example Yallused in
  Texas.
• Dialect- A regional variety of a language,
  differing somewhat in pronunciation, grammar, or
  vocabulary from other forms of the same language.
  Example Huck Finntold in the dialect of the
  Mississippi valley before the Civil War.

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Vocabulary

• Realism- The representation in literature or art
  of objects, actions, or social conditions as they
  actually are.
• Satire- A literary work in which human vice or
  folly is attacked through irony, sarcasm, or wit.
• Narrative Voice- A narrated account a story.
• Analogies- Similarity in some respects between
  thing that are otherwise dissimilar. A comparison
  based on such similarity.

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The N word within the novel

• I have decided that we, as a class, will omit
  reading this word out loud when we are reading.
  Even so, we must understand the implications of
  the word and where it came from.
• Nigger derives from the French negre, the Spanish
  and Portuguese negro, and from the Latin niger
  (black). In the U.S., nigger was first regarded
  as a disparaging (belittling) term in the 19th
  century.

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The N word within the novel

• Used rightly or wrongly, ironically or seriously,
  of necessity for the sake of realism, or impishly
  for the sake of comedy, it doesnt matter. Most
  people do not like the word. Therefore, we will
  omit it from the classroom.
• Huck Finn uses the term for the sake of realism.

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Your Jobs

• Keep up with the reading!
• Define your vocabulary!
• Understand all elements of a novel!
• Study these notes!

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Reading Time Line My idea is to read at least
10-15 pages daily. This may change so please be
flexible.

• You will be responsible for answering questions
  for certain chapters and for discussing EACH
  chapter.
• We will read chapters 1-13 as a class and
  individually chapters 14 - 31 in small groups
  and then complete the novel as a class and
  individually.

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Reading Time Line Continued

• There will be a review-- this novel will also be
  tested on your semester exam.
• A folder will be provided under each desk that
  contains chapter questions and chapter summaries.
  Your folder will help to fill in any gaps you
  might have.

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Reading Time Line

• We will try to stay on this course as much as
  possible. Time line is subject to change!!
• You should be prepared for pop quizzes based on
  content and vocabulary at ANY time!!!
• You may choose to buy your own copy of the
  novelthis would be ideal!
• All HF questions will be completed in your
  composition books. Write all questions in comp.
  book and then answer them there too.

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Author Bio

• Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, was born in
  Missouri in 1835
• Lived in an affluent family that owned several
  slaves
• In 1847, Clemens father died and the family
  entered into financial hard times
• Clemens left school, worked for a printer, and
  began typesetting for The Hannibal Journal in
  1851. He eventually worked as a printer in
  several cities before leaving the printing field
  to become a riverboat pilot.

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• His pen name, Mark Twain, is a reminder of his
  riverboat life By the mark, twain was a
  riverboat leadsmans signal that the water was
  deep enough for safe passage.
• His life on the river became the backdrop for
  several of his books including The Adventures of
  Huckleberry Finn.

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• In 1861, Clemens joined a cavalry division in the
  Confederate army, but he wasnt a committed
  Confederate and he joined the rest of his
  division in a mass desertion within a year.
• He went West and became a silver miner. He
  finally became a journalist and began signing his
  articles Mark Twain in 1863.

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• He wrote several popular books and became
  wealthy. Over the years he married and raised a
  family.
• He completed writing and publishing The
  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884 which
  became popular immediately.
• His fortunes changed and by 1891 he was buried in
  debt. His wife and two of his daughters died over
  the next few years.

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• Scholars of Clemens writing suggest that the
  pessimism and darker tone of the books he wrote
  during the last few years prior to his death were
  influenced by his personal tragedies and his
  financial hardships.