You are assigned to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by ______. You will need to choose five (5) of the activities below to turn in on the due date. Your grade will be based on these activities and a test given on the due date. You must complete each choice completely.

Choice 1: Reading Comprehension Questions:

Answer the following questions with complete sentences.

Chapters 1 - 5

  1. How is Huck's father first introduced?
  2. Does Huck fear going to hell? Why or why not?
  3. Does Huck have more faith in superstition or religion? Why?
  4. In what way is Tom different than Huck?
  5. What do the "robbers" think ransoming is and what are some objections to it?
  6. How does Miss Watson confuse Huck about prayers?
  7. What difference do you notice between Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas?
  8. What does Huck mean at the end of chapter 3, "It had all the marks of a Sunday school"?
  9. What is a hairball? What does this tell us about slave culture?
  10. What happens as Huck just gets used to being civilized?
  11. Why does Huck go to see Judge Thatcher? How do Judge Thatcher and the Widow try to help Huck?

Chapters 6 - 9

  1. Where does Pap take Huck and what is it like?
  2. Explain Pap's behavior.
  3. How does Twain use irony to show Pap's ignorance of government?
  4. How does Huck escape the cabin? What does this tell the reader about Huck?
  5. Who appears on JacksonIsland?
  6. What is Huck doing when he finds out that someone else is on the island?
  7. Why did Jim run away?
  8. Why does Jim say, "I's rich now"? In what ways are people rich?
  9. Where do Huck and Jim get so many supplies?
  10. Who is the person in the cabin? Why is this significant?

Chapters 10 - 13

  1. How does superstition seem as logical as religion in Huck's mind?
  2. Why does Huck ignore Jim's warning? Why is this significant?
  3. Why does Huck go ashore? What disguise is he wearing?
  4. How does Judith Loftus figure out Huck's disguise?
  5. Why is there a reward for the return of Jim? For the return of Huck? (There may be different reasons for this.)
  6. How does Huck help Jim escape the man-hunt?
  7. Why doesn't Huck turn Jim in?
  8. What was life like on the raft?
  9. For what purpose does Huck go to the ferry boat watchman?
  10. What happens on the steamboat? Be specific.
  11. Why are states mentioned in connection to the boat?
  12. What do Jim and Huck do with the robbers' boat? Why is this important?

Chapters 14 - 16

  1. Specifically, what does Jim object to about King Solomon? How does this perpetuate stereotypes?
  2. Who shows more logic and wisdom in this argument, Jim or Huck? Explain why.
  3. What are Huck's and Jim's motivation for going to Cairo?
  4. How does the river's tranquility suddenly change?
  5. How does the theme of loneliness and isolation come out here?
  6. How does Huck's practical joke on Jim humanize Huck? What was Twain's purpose in this passage?
  7. What is Huck's moral dilemma in chapter 16?
  8. How does Huck's quick thinking save Jim?
  9. How does Huck feel about misleading the bounty hunters?
  10. What is Huck's relationship with the river? Is this normal behavior for someone his age?

Chapters 17 - 19

  1. Whose home does Huck come to?
  2. Who is George Jackson?
  3. Review p. 9
  4. Was their house in fact, "mighty nice" or in bad taste?
  5. How was Miss Emmeline different from the others?
  6. At what point does Huck become horrified by the feud?
  7. Why does Huck think the fight was his fault?
  8. Where was Jim while Huck was at the Grangerfords? How does Huck discover him?
  9. How does Huck feel about getting on the raft again? What are some of the attractions of raft life?
  10. How does the description of the river and the raft life differ from that just before and after Cairo?
  11. How does Huck meet the Duke and the Dauphin? How does he know the truth about them? 1
  12. Why does Huck go along with the two frauds who come aboard the raft?

Chapters 20 - 24

  1. How does Jim show concern for Huck?
  2. How does Twain satirize religious gullibility in the town of Pokeville?
  3. How do Huck and company travel without hiding Jim?
  4. What comment about human nature does Twain make in the "loafers" account in chapter 21?
  5. What ideas does Twain get across in the Boggs-Sherburn incident?
  6. Why does Huck decide the circus isn't funny?
  7. How do the Kind and Duke increase attendance at their second performance?
  8. What is Twain's purpose for including Jim's story of his 'Lizbeth?
  9. What new, potential scheme do the King and Duke learn about?

Chapters 25 - 28

  1. Who do the King and Duke claim to be?
  2. Why do they give all six thousand dollars to Wilks girl?
  3. What was it about the King that made Dr. Robinson suspect he was a fraud?
  4. Where does Huck hide the inheritance money?
  5. What makes the Wilks girls saddest about having their property sold?
  6. Why does Huck want Mary Jane to leave the house after he tells her the truth?
  7. Why doesn't Huck just blow the whistle on the frauds?
  8. About whom does Huck say, "She had more sand in her than any girl I ever seen; in my opinion she was just full of sand"? What does Huck mean by this?
  9. Where does Huck tell Joanna and Susan that Mary Jane has gone?
  10. How is Huck's increasing maturity shown in these chapters?

Chapters 29 - 31

  1. How does Huck escape the Wilks investigation?
  2. What do the Duke and King get in a fight about?
  3. How does Huck feel about having them back on the raft?
  4. Why does Huck think he ought to let Miss Watson know about Jim?
  5. Why does he change his mind?

Chapters 32 - 35

  1. What satire on values does Twain make in Huck's first conversation with Aunt Sally?
  2. Who do the Phelpses mistake Huck for?
  3. Why does Tom drop in Huck's estimation?
  4. Why do Huck and Tom sneak out of the Phelps' and go to town? What is Huck's opinion of what he sees?
  5. How does Huck feel about his conscience?
  6. What is the value, according to Huck, of Tom's plan for stealing Jim?
  7. How do Tom and Huck fool the "nigger" who is watching Jim?
  8. What are the major differences between Huck and Tom?
  9. Why does Huck go along with Tom's wild ideas?

Chapters 37 - 39

  1. How do Huck and Tom keep Aunt Sally from knowing what's missing?
  2. How does Tom show a lack of sensitivity to peoples' feelings?
  3. What's worse to Tom and Huck than the licking they get for letting loose the rats and snakes?
  4. Why do Tom and Huck write the "nonamous" letters to Aunt Sally?

Chapters 40 - 43

  1. What does Huck mean when he says of Jim, "I knowed he was white inside. . ."?
  2. How does Twain help us feel sympathetic toward Aunt Sally?
  3. In what way do the people show gratitude to Jim at first?
  4. How does Jim get rich again?
  5. What happened to Pap?

Choice 2: Runaway

Write a 2 page letter where You are Huck. Write this letter to your father explaining the reasons you ranaway. Use examples from the novel to support your reasons for running away.

Choice 3: Faking it

Write a 1-2 page essay explaining Huck Finn's motivation for faking his own death in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. What motivated him to take such drastic actions for his freedom? Why did he feel like he had to convince people he was dead? Make sure to use support from the novel.

Choice 4: Voice and Letter Writing

Mark Twain wrote this book with several dialects. In most novels, characters have their own voice. In this novel, they have their own voice and their own dialect. Pick a character from the novel and write a letter (1-2 pages) in a certain character’s voice.Make sure to demonstrate what voice is and how it is different than dialect.

Choice 5: Theme Tracking

Throughout the novel you will be responsible for keeping track of examples of the various themes that appear in the novel. Use the themes below and keep a chart that helps you show at least 2 examples of 5of the themes [document the page number on the chart and the specific example].

  • Conflict between civilization and "natural life"
  • Honor
  • Food
  • Mockery of Religion
  • Superstition
  • Slavery
  • Money
  • Mississippi River

Choice 6: Short Essays

Complete the following short essays. Each should be at least a 4 sentence paragraph. Use support from the novel.

  • Describe Huck's feelings about living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Which one of the ladies does he like more? Why? What does he feel about their attempts to "civilize" him?
  • What kind of man was Huck's father? Use examples from the story to support your answer. How did Huck feel when his father returned to the village?
  • Why does Pap forbid Huck to go to school? How would you react to pap's demand if you were Huck? Explain.
  • Why did Huck stage his own death?
  • When Huck finds Jim, he promises that he will not turn Jim in, even though Jim is a runaway slave. What does this tell you about Huck's character?
  • What did the river mean to Huck? Explain.
  • Huck quickly realizes that the Duke and Dauphin are con men. What is a con man? What does his ability to see these men for what they really are tell you about Huck? What does his decision not to confront them about their fraud tell you?
  • How was Jim betrayed? How did Huck react when he learned that Jim had been captured as a runaway slave? What did he decide to do?
  • The story contains several ironic episodes. Identify three and describe them. Explain why they are ironic.
  • Throughout the story, Huck rebels against civilization. At the end of the novel, has he become more "civilized"? Explain.

Choice 7: A Book of Slavery
Slavery has such emotional connotations that one good way to think about it is to collect and create impressions that can help people understand the subject. Invite your students to create a book about slavery—a compendium of thoughts, artistic impressions, and reminiscences about one of the most painful experiences in our nation's collective memory. Another option is to make the book primarily visual, recording students' drawings, etc., in response to the topic.The one requirement about this book is that it should have something based upon/from Jim’s point-of-view.

Choice 8: Biopoem

Directions: Students will choose a 2characters from the book and will write 2 poems in the following format, showing an indepthanalysis of the character. (You may not use Huck as one of those people)

Line 1. First name

Line 2. Four traits that describe character

Line 3. Relative (brother, sister, daughter, etc.) of ______

Line 4. Lover of ______(list three things or people)

Line 5. Who feels _____ (three items)

Line 6. Who needs _____ (three items)

Line 7. Who fears _____ (three items)

Line 8. Who gives _____ (three items)

Line 9. Who would like to see _____ (three items)

Line 10. Resident of _____

Line 11. Last Name

EXAMPLE: HUCKLEBERRY

His own person, independent, an adventurer, uncivilized.

Son of the Wild Frontier, Oh and Pap too.

Lover of his friends, adventure, freedom

Who feels free-thinking, ambiguous, torn between right and wrong

Who needs a friend, guidance, and to be left alone.

Who fears nuthin', society, and Pap

Who gives friendship, loyalty, sacrifice

Who would like to set off on his own, do the right thing, and do what he feels right

Liberty for himself, for Jim, for adventure

Resident of the wilderness

Finn.

Choice 9: Research Question Ideas

Choose from one of the questions below and complete a 2-4 page research paper on the topic. Include a works cited and in-text citations

A.Why is this considered the Great American Novel?

B."Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attemptingto find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

-Mark Twain, Introductory Note to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

C.If this is what Mark Twain believed about his book, why do we read so deeply into it?

D. Should Huckleberry Finn be Banned or Praised?

Choice 10: Racism

Read the short passage from chapter 31 of Huckleberry Finn, in which, Huck is trying to determine if he

should turn Jim in or not. Explain that sometimes first impressions and society's pressure can influence us in the wrongway. Sometimes moral decisions are not always clear-cut.

“I felt good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt so in my life, and I knowed I could pray now. ButI didn't do it straight off, but laid the paper down and set there thinking- thinking how good it was all this happened so,and how near I come to being lost and going to hell. And went on thinking. And got to thinking over our trip down theriver; and I see Jim before me, all the time; in the day, and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, andwe a floating along, talking, and singing, and laughing. But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden meagainst him, but only the other kind. I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, stead of calling me, so I could go onsleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him agin in the swamp, upthere where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he couldthink of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpoxaboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now;and then I happened to look around, and see that paper” (Twain, ch. 31).

Differences in people sometimes make us nervous or annoy us but realizing there are differences. Consider all the questions below and discuss racism/race in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and also discuss it as it pertains to your life.

  • How do the differences between Jim and Huck make Huck uncomfortable?
  • In previous chapters, how does Huck react to those differences?
  • As the story goes on, what is it that changes Huck's mind about Jim?
  • What is racism? Is it a belief? Is it an action?
  • What causes racism? What beliefs do people invoke to try to justify racism? In what kinds of situations dowe see or find racism?
  • When did you first recognize your own racial, ethnic, religious (or other) identity? What does it mean to youto identify yourself in this way? What do you like most and least about being a member of your group?
  • How has racism affected you or people you know?*
  • Do you think most minorities have a positive or negative image of whites? Do you think most whites have apositive or negative image of other races?*
  • What's the biggest misconception blacks have about whites? Whites about blacks?
  • Why is the teaching and reading of Huck Finn so controversial?
  • How have the criticisms about the book changed over the years?
  • How do these various criticisms reflect a changing America?
  • How does knowing about the history of the controversy make you feel about reading the book?
  • Under what circumstances, if any, do you think a book should be taken off a school's reading list and/or outof its library?

Choice 11: Unsent Letters: A Letter to a Character

Write a one-page letter to Huck from Jim and then from Jim to Huck or vice versa.

Try to convince the reader to make a different choice at a crucial point in thenovel. Huck Finn provides many points where the choice between right and wrong is not extremely clear. As the reader, students have the advantage of knowingwhat impact the different action will have on the plot.Although the audience is not authentic, students should consider whatwill persuade/dissuade a character from choosing that option and plan accordingly.