Per+7+Lit+Groups

Here are questions discussed within each literary group on the following dates. You will need to be able to answer these questions, in addition to what we discuss in class, in order to prepare for the Huck Finn quizzes.

Tuesday, 11/25/08 (Chapters 9-12):


 * 1) Will Huck ever return to Judith Loftus for help? Why or why not?
 * 2) Is Huck afraid of anything?
 * 3) Why was Huck's disguise unconvincing?
 * 4) Is Huck instinctively bad, or did he learn it from watching his dad?
 * 5) What is the relationship like between Huck and Jim?
 * 6) What are some advantages/disadvantages to having Huck as the narrator?
 * 7) Who are the biggest influences in Huck's life at the moment?
 * 8) How do all children, and Huck in particular, learn right from wrong?
 * 9) What could the dead men on the boat be foreshadowing?
 * 10) Why does Huck go into towns, while Jim stays in the boat?

Monday, 12/1/08 (Chapters 13-17):


 * 1) What is Jim's opinion of Huck?
 * 2) Why doesn't Huck reveal Jim's identity? Will he eventually? Why or why not?
 * 3) How does Huck feel about Jim?
 * 4) Why did Huck send help for the robbers?
 * 5) Why are the 2 families involved in the feud?
 * 6) How do people find personal freedom? How does Huck? Jim?
 * 7) Describe Jim's character. Does he seem believable?
 * 8) Why doesn't Jim seem to enjoy their adventures?
 * 9) What story does Huck tell to save Jim?
 * 10) What is the role of nature in the story?

Monday, 12/8/08: (Group responses-posted by the Recorder): Opening Questions: 1. Huck is surprised at how different the "king" looks when he dresses nicely at the beginning of chapter 24. He says, "I never knowed how clothes could change a body before" (57). Huck himself alters his appearance many times as he ventures ashore to get information. Use your book and notes to name as many examples as possible of people or things //seeming// different than they actually are. Why are disguises, and lying, necessary? 2. Huck claims "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race" (p. 162) and that he "never see anything so disgusting" before as what he witnesses on page 164. To what is he referring? 3. What is the significance of the following exchange? "How is servants treated in England? Do they treat 'em better 'n we treat our n*s?... Don't they give 'em holidays, the way we do...?" (p. 173). 4. What is significant about what Huck tells Mary Jane on page 186?

Post responses below (with member names & dates): Lana Recorder: Lauren, Tim, Charlie 1. Some examples would be: Huck going ashore dressed as a girl to find info. about the missing people. The Duke and King that aren't real. Jim being covered as a slave and making up the story of the dad with small pox. 2. He is referring to the women crying over a very touching speech that was given by the king. 3. Huck was talking to one of the sisters and he said that the servants in England were treated worse than they are there. 4. The significance is Huck is telling her the truth about what is going on and how he is going to try to fool the town and leave the king and duke there.

Discussion questions for chapters 29-32 (12/11/08); (# 1 is posted under the discussion tab):
2. Huck has to make a crucial decision in chapter 31. He has conflicting emotions about making this decision, and he weighs his options. Make a Pro/Con list for Huck, according to how he feels (see page 213). What is his final decision? Why was it so hard for him to make?

Huck decides not to turn Jim in, and it's hard because he thinks he'll get in trouble. (Pros and Cons on the board.)

3. We’ve seen Huck lie throughout the novel so far. However, he tells the truth to Mary Jane, and is about to tell the truth to Sally Phelps when he’s interrupted. He comments that he’s “got to resk the truth” again (p. 222). Why is the truth so risky for Huck? Does Mark Twain feel the same way?

The truth is risky because society is trying to tell him to turn his friend in and he doesn't want to. Mark Twain agrees, because he is speaking through the narrator, Huck.

4. Do you think Huck realizes the irony in the fact that a “sivilized,” religious society has slaves? If so, when does he come to this realization?

Yes--he doesn't turn Jim in, even though he "should," according to society. So it seems like he sees the irony.

Opening Personal Response: 12/15/08
Read and think about the following ideas, and then click on the discussion tab at the top of this page and answer the question posted there for today ("Who are the heroes of //Huck Finn//? Are they heroes or anti-heroes, and what makes them so?")

In many popular adventure stories, the hero is held captive by evil enemies or forces yet manages to escape. Think about books and movies in which a hero overcomes seemingly impossible odds to find freedom. Who or what holds the hero captive? What miseries does the hero endure while being held? How does the hero escape? Do friends help?

or more unwilling to sacrifice their principles than we. **Antiheroes**, on the other hand, are very human. Like us, they have faults, make mistakes, and puzzle over difficult decisions. In the end, however, antiheroes usu- ally do the “right thing”—what we, ourselves, hope we would do in similar circumstances.
 * Traditional heroes** are often superhuman.We look up to them because they are braver, stronger, more clever,

Huck Finn Lit. Group Discussion Questions (Chapters 33-38)

As you saw at the beginning of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer is fond of romantic adventure stories and enjoys pretending that he is taking part in one. As a group, record the major events in Tom’s adventurous “rescue” of Jim.

1. How are the duke and the king punished? What is Huck’s reaction to their punishment?

They are tarred and humiliated, and Huck feels sorry for them.

2. How does Huck expect Tom to react when he explains the plan to free Jim? Why does Tom’s response surprise Huck? At first Tom agrees with him, but then Tom decides to make an elaborate plan to free Jim.

3. What does Tom’s elaborate plan to free Jim tell you about Tom? What does it tell you about his attitude toward Jim? He doesn't care about Jim, and likes to have fun.

4. Many critics of Huckleberry Finn have pointed out that the Phelps’ farm episode differs in tone and seriousness from the first two-thirds of the novel. Do you agree? Explain your answer, supporting it with evidence from the text. Yes, the ending is silly and ironic, because Jim is already free.

5. The novel can be divided into 3 parts. What are they? How would you briefly describe each? The first part is Huck and his dad; the second is Huck and Jim on the river (= freedom); the third is the farm when Huck and Tom try to rescue Jim.

The Controversial Conclusion (Think about now, and we’ll come back to on Thursday): As Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, he pondered over the plot. He thought especially long and hard about how to end the novel and effectively resolve the conflicts that he had presented. Though some critics feel that the conclusion of Huckleberry Finn is logical and effective, other critics have severely criticized it. As you read the last chapters of Huckleberry Finn, think about the events that came before and the way that the characters in the novel usually behave. Then judge the conclusion for yourself. Is it consistent with the characters we have come to know? Does it resolve the major conflicts in the novel in a satisfactory way?