Do Now or Warm Up Questions: With a partner discuss the following questions for five minutes.
1) How would you describe Huck's mindset at this time? Is he free and easy or is this a very serious time in his life? Feel free to qualify this question, but do look at and analyze some of the things he's seen and done since the start of the novel.
2) Now that they are together, how is Huck and Jim's relationship evolving? Are they growing closer or not? How might you compare or contrast their situations?
Close Reading/Writing Activity: Read the questions below and find the text that will help you answer them. We'll read these aloud and discuss the questions.
1) In these chapters, we meet Mrs. Loftus. Compare her attitudes toward Huck, whom she thinks is a runaway, and Jim, whom her husband is looking for. How does Huck feel about her? Do her views make her a sympathetic character or not? How might she represent society as a whole?
2) By this point in the novel, you may have noticed that Huck can be quite childish and Jim can be quite mature. How do these qualities reveal themselves in these chapters and how might race affect the way they interact with each other? (Two questions I’ve been pondering are why doesn’t Huck tell Jim he put a snake in his bed, and why does Jim agree to go on the broken down ship with Huck?)
Directions: Write the words, "Dear Diary" and have Huck reflect upon his adventures up to this point. Try to do more than simply summarize what has happened. Allow him to think about what has happened since he escaped from Pap's cabin and some of the BIG IDEAS that are being explored in the novel. (So...what has happened and what are these BIG IDEAS?)
Extension Question: Examine Huck and Jim’s rationalization for stealing. How logical is their argument? What do you imagine was Twain’s purpose with this moment?