Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Persuasive Letter: Details of the assignment are in the document attached at the bottom of this page.
Reading Schedule:
Chapters Due Date
ch. 1-7 1/26
ch. 8-15 1/30 (period 3); 1/31 (period 5W)
ch. 16-22 2/6 (period 3 and period 5W)
ch. 23-32 2/14 (period 3 and period 5W)
ch. 33-end 2/16 (period 3 and period 5W)
Basic Question
Should this novel be read in high school?
Other Questions
Reader Response
How does Huck's narration affect us?
Where do we learn morality?
Is morality relative?
How does society affect the individual?
Does Huck become a person of higher morals?
Close Reading
What are the qualities and tone of Huck's narration?
What hypocrisies does Huck observe?
How does Twain use satire? What is its effect?
How is this novel structured?
How is the setting related to the novel's themes?
What allusions are used in the novel and how are they used?
Literary Concepts & Terms
Level 1: Character, Plot, Narration, Conflict, Theme, Protagonist, Foil
Level 2: Unreliable Narration, Dialect, Diction, Satire, Allusion, Episodic Novel, Picaresque Novel, Regionalism, Romanticism, Realism, Verisimilitude
Elements of Satire & Humor: Hyperbole, Verbal Irony, Farce, Burlesque, Parody
Biography/History
When was this novel written? When is it set?
Who was Mark Twain?
What were his beliefs?
What are the Romantic qualities of this text?
What are the Realist qualities?
What are the controversies surrounding this text?
What superstitions exist in the novel? Do they hold truth?
Topics to Consider:
superstition
slavery/racism
wealth/money/greed
child rearing/parenting
friendship/loyalty
hypocrisy
humor/satire
values/morality
truth
shore vs. water
education
civilization’s effect on the individual
attacks on Romanticism
views of religion
freedom
intelligence vs. education
EBook of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Audio Book of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Reading Guide Questions Chapters 1-7
1. Give 2-3 adjectives to describe Jim. Support your claim with an episode from the novel.
2. Give 2-3 adjectives to describe Tom. Support your claim with an episode from the novel.
3. Describe some of Huck’s experiences with religion and prayer while living with the widow.
4. What are Huck’s complaints with the gang of robbers?
5. What does Huck do when he realizes Pap is in town? Why does he do this?
6. Pap fails in deceiving Judge Thatcher. How?
7. What does Pap do with Huck? Describe the circumstances and living conditions.
8. What examples does Pap give of the “govment” not being fair and just?
9. Describe Pap’s behavior after his drinking bout.
10. What does Huck find? What does he plan to do with it?
11. From where does Huck escape and why does he do it? Who does he wish for and why?
12. Give 2-3 adjectives to describe Huck Finn. Support your claim with an episode from the novel.
Reading Guide Questions Chapters 8-15
1. What is Huck’s attitude towards being on the island?
2. What is Jim’s reaction when Huck reveals himself?
3. What does Huck promise?
4. Why did Jim run away?
5. What are some of Jim’s superstitions?
6. Give 2-3 adjectives to describe the relationship between Jim and Huck. Support your claim with an episode from the novel.
7. What trick does Huck play on Jim and what is Jim’s reaction?
8. What does Huck learn from Judith Loftus and what does it prompt him to do?
9. What has Pap taught Huck about stealing?
10. What do they happen upon on the river? What is happening there?
11. Describe Jim’s misunderstanding about the French language.
12. What second trick does Huck play on Jim?
Reading Guide Questions Chapters 16-22
1. Describe Huck’s moral crisis.
2. How does Huck make $40?
3. Huck and Jim blame the snake skin for their bad luck—what bad luck are they referring to?
4. Describe Huck’s first encounter with the Grangerfords
5. Who is Emmaline Grangerford? What kind of poetry does she write?
6. Describe the Grangerfords' house.
7. What is the definition of a feud according to Buck?
8. What errand does Huck run for Sophia?
9. Describe the shoot out.
10. Describe Huck and Jim on the raft after they escape from the Grangerfords.
11. Who are the two men Huck and Jim pick up and who do they claim to be?
12. Why doesn’t Huck expose them?
13. Describe the scene at the camp meeting.
14. How does the duke earn some money?
15. How do they figure out to travel during the day?
16. Give two or three details to describe the next town they land in.
17. Who are Sherburn and Boggs and what is going on between them?
18. What are Sherburn’s main accusations to the mob?
19. What is Huck’s impression of the circus?
Reading Guide Questions Chapters 23-32
1. Describe the Royal Nonesuch.
2. What is Jim’s opinion of the duke and the king?
3. What does Jim reveal about his daughter?
4. What is the next scheme that Huck and Jim get pulled into?
5. When the doctor tells the truth about the king, why doesn’t anyone believe him?
6. Describe the conversation between Joanna (the Harelip) and Huck. What does Huck resolve?
7. Where does Huck hide the $6000?
8. Describe the undertaker.
9. When the duke and king discover the money gone, what does Huck do to play it off?
10. Describe the “trial”. What is the main evidence?
11. Why does Jim disappear from the raft?
12. What is the letter that Huck writes? Why does he tear it up? What does he think of himself?
13. What trick does Huck play on the duke?
14. Who is Huck mistaken for? What do you think of this?
Reading Guide Questions Chapter 33-end
1.How are the duke and the king punished? What is Huck’s reaction to their punishment?
2.How does Huck expect Tom to react when he explains the plan to free Jim? Why does Tom’s response surprise Huck?
3.What does Tom’s elaborate plan to free Jim tell you about Tom? What does it tell you about his attitude toward Jim?
4. What happens to Tom in the course of the evasion?
5. What surprising news does Tom tell? How do you feel about this?
6.What does Huck decide to do at the end of the novel? Why doesn’t he stay with Aunt Sally?
7.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.