Huckleberry Finn

1
Huckleberry Finn

• A Lesson in Language

2
Language

• When Huckleberry Finn was first published, it was
  banned for its rough, ignorant dialect,
  systematic use of bad grammar and an employment
  of ineloquent expressions, and flippant tone.
• Why would Twain, an educated, successful,
  well-read author, choose this colloquial language
  for his main character?

3
Language

• What can you tell about Huck Finn from his
  language?
• How old is he?
• Is he educated or not?
• Smart or dumb?
• Wise or naïve?
• Moral or immoral?
• A rebel or a conformist?
• Is he a good or a bad judge of people?
• How does he feel about nature?
• Does he sound like an contemporary characters?
• Look for specific examples from the text to
  support your opinions.

4
Language / Stereotypes

• What stereotypes does Mark Twain play on to
  create the characters in his novel?

5
Language

• Open your books to Chapter 31. Describe the
  features of Hucks speech.
• Look for slang, poor grammar and colorful phrases.

6
Language

• Poor grammar-
• Double negative We couldnt seem to do nothing
  right.
• Misplaced pronoun The duke he fretted and
  sweated around.
• Wrong pronoun case So me and the duke
• Wrong verb tense I was good and glad when midday
  come.
• S/V agreement We judged they was studying up
  some kind of worse devilry than ever.
• Mispronunciations Another time they tried to go
  at yellocution.

7
Language

• Descriptive language I lit out and shook the
  reef out of my hind legs and spun down the river
  road like a deer.
• Colloquialism I might as well go the whole hog.
• Humorous observations First they done a lecture
  on temperance but they didnt make enough for
  them both to get drunk on.
• Unexpected eloquence It was the first I ever see
  it growing, and it made the woods look solemn and
  dismal.

8
Language

• What effect does this language have?
• Would Huck sound different if he spoke proper
  English?

9
Language

• Rewrite the following sentence into grammatically
  correct, contemporary English.
• She run off in de night some time- nobody dont
  know jis when run off to get married to dat
  young Harney Sheperdson, you know leastways, so
  dey spec.

10
Language

• Your sentence might look something like this
• She ran off in the middle of the night, but no
  one knows exactly when. She went to marry young
  Harney Shepherdson. At least, thats what
  everyone is saying.

11
Language

• Change the following sentences to Huck
  language.
• Four score and seven year ago, our fathers
  brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
  conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the
  proposition that all men are created equal.

12
Language

• Your sentence might look something like this
• I reckon twas a long time ago, our paps come
  over yonder and made themselves a nation, deed
  they has, so white men could be free.

13
Your assignment

• In telling the story, Huck proves himself a
  talented actor who mimics others speech
  patterns. Examine the speech of the characters
  below, noting the differences in this characters
  speech and social station and Hucks own dialect
  and social standing.
• Judith Loftus, Missouri housewife, pp. 65-67
• Colonel Sherburn, Arkansas gentry, pp. 145-146
• Jim, runaway slave, p. 154
• Arkansas loafers, p. 139