Reflect and Review

1. Reflect and Review • Why would Twain use colloquial rather than formal language? • How do colloquialisms/regional dialects make the reading “down to earth” and “like water,” meant for everyone? • Based on what you know about Twain so far, what kind of person might he have been?

2. Mark Twain’s Language EQ-What is colloquial language and why does Twain use it?

3. Twain’s Language Technique • Colloquial Language: The everyday language we use in conversation. It is sometimes ungrammatical, and it may contain slang words and phrases. It varies from place to place and among ethnic groups. • Dialect: the way of speaking and writing that is particular to a specific region of the country. Every dialect differs from every other dialect in the details of its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Writers often use dialect to make their characters seem realistic. • Regionalism: Words or phrases peculiar to a particular region. In literature regionalism is the tendency among certain authors to write about specific geographical areas. Regional writers present the distinct culture of an area, including its speech, customs, beliefs and history.

4. The “incorrectness” is actually correct. • You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told to truth (Twain 3). You do not know about me if you have not read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that does not matter. That book was written by Mark Twain, and most of it was true, even though there may have been a few made up parts as well.

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Why the Controversy?

6. A FEW QUICK FACTS* ABOUT HUCK: • Huck Finn is on the pacing guide of required reading for eleventh graders in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system. • Huck Finn is the most taught novel and most taught work of American literature in American schools from junior high to graduate school. • After over one hundred years of publication, worldwide sales of the novel surpass twenty million copies, in at least twenty-five different languages. • Huck is called the “great American novel” as early as 1891. • A 1900 review dubs it the “most admirable work of literary art as yet produced on this continent.” *Information for this handout was obtained from the following sources: Brown, Robert B. “One Hundred Years of HUCK FINN.” American Heritage Magazine. 35.4 (June/ July 1984). AmericanHeritage.com. (20 Jan. 2008). “Exploring the Controversy: The ‘N’ Word.” Huck Finn in Context: The Curriculum. Public Broadcasting Service Teacher’s Guide. <www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/section1_2.html> 19 Jan. 2008. Fishkin, Shelley Fisher. “Teaching Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Lecture. Summer Teacher’s Institute, Mark Twain House, Hartford, CT. July 1995.

7. Despite the accolades… • Initial reviews of the book are either nonexistent or negative. • What Robert Brown calls “one of the great ironies of our literary history” occurs in March of 1885: the book is banned by the public library system of Concord, Massachusetts, “the town of Emerson and Thoreau…the brightest center of intellect the country ha[s] ever known.”

8. Major Themes in the Novel • an emphasis on realism • a basic contempt for organized society • a belief in the superiority of the individual, particularly during youth

9. 4 Major Points of Emphasis • reflection on the frontier (Huck escapes society) • the importance of the river (symbolizes 2 things) • byway for the hero to travel (not a road, a river) • a security device (provides a haven from the trouble they face in the towns) • the theme of rebirth • Huck fakes his own death and makes the first step toward being born again on the river. • His own father dies and he accepts his new father, Jim. • Jim is a guide/protector/teacher • Continually searching for his identity with the theme of freedom • Aunt Polly must reveal Huck’s “true self” before the plot can be resolved • Huck is reborn in the end and looking toward the west for more freedom • Twain’s realistic appraisal of man

10. So, what’s wrong with Huck? • Initial criticisms center on gentility. Public libraries in Denver and Omaha ban the “immoral and sacrilegious” book in 1902 lest it “put wrong ideas in youngsters’ heads.” • More recent anti-Huck movements focus on racial issues: the treatment of Jim in the novel, the presence of the word “nigger” (213 times, to be exact), and the perceived ambiguity in both Huck’s and Twain’s attitudes toward African-Americans.

11. Literary Critics And their responses to Huck Finn

12. How do we handle these hot topics? • Read the novel with an understanding that “Twain’s consciousness and awareness is larger than that of any of the characters in the novel, including Huck.” In other words, analyze Huck’s words carefully in order to hear Twain’s own perspective peeking through. Do not make the age-old mistake of confusing author and narrator! • How does this change our perception?

13. How do we handle these hot topics? • Consider the fact that in 1885—the year of Huck’s American debut—Twain writes a letter to Yale Law School, requesting to pay the tuition of one of the first black students. Twain claims, “We have ground the manhood out of them, and the shame is ours, not theirs, & we should pay for it.” • What does this tell us?

14. How do we handle these hot topics? • Remember that Twain is a Realist. He wants to get away from the genteel, Romantic, British-style novel. He wants his story to be distinctly American, rugged, earthy, bold, and even messy. He could use the elision “n—” instead of the word “nigger,” but he doesn’t. WHY? • On one hand, Twain wants the speech of his characters to sound as realistic as possible. That means having them say some unsavory—and downright offensive things. Mississippi River culture of the time was far from polished an “PC.” • Contrary to popular belief, however, Twain knows the power and the connotation of the “N-word.” He wants to put the issue of prejudice boldly on the table.

15. Respond to the following questions in light of our discussion • “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Respond to this statement. • How does censoring the novel change the overall purpose of the author?

16. Literature Circles Expectations