Newton South High School Mission Statement

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Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

READING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Reading #1: Chapters 1-5 (pages 1-22)

Chapter 1: “Discover Moses and the Bullrushers”

[OPTIONAL] Describe briefly how Huck’s story in Tom Sawyer ends up.

[OPTIONAL] Infer: What is the widow doing when she “grumbles” over the victuals (the food). What does Huck see that is worth grumbling about?

1. What does Huck say is the reason he is not interested in Moses? Describe Huck’s attitude towards Hell (“the bad place”).

1. On page 3, Huck there are several references to death. Write down two of them.

[OPTIONAL] Infer the reason for Huck’s trust in superstition (the meaning of the dead spider) over religion.

[OPTIONAL] Who is waiting for Huck at the end of the chapter?

Ch. 2: “Our Gang’s Dark Oath”

[OPTIONAL] Introducing Tom: What is his idea of fun in his treatment of the sleeping Jim? How does Huck respond to the suggestion?

1. Introducing Jim: How does he respond to Tom’s trick after he wakes up?

[OPTIONAL] Give several details of the oath that the boys are asked to swear to belong to Tom’s club.

1. What news is given about Huck’s father?

1. Tom wants the gang to follow the rules that are in “the books.” What does this tell the reader about Tom?

Ch. 3: “We Ambuscade the A-rabs”

1. How does Huck misunderstand prayer early in the chapter?

1. At the end of the chapter, Tom says to Huck, “You don’t seem to know anything, somehow—perfect saphead.” Give an example of the irony of this statement, where Huck seems to know more than Tom. What does Huck mean at the end of chapter 3, "It had all the marks of a Sunday school"?

Ch. 4: The Hair-ball Oracle”

[OPTIONAL] How much money does Judge Thatcher say that Huck has? What does Huck do with it in his discussion with the judge?

1. How does superstition play a role in the chapter? How does this relate to the reader’s first impression of Jim?

[OPTIONAL] Who does Huck see at the very end of the chapter?

Ch. 5: “Pap Starts in on a New Life“

1. Give some details of Pap, from Huck’s description of him on page 19.

1. What is at the heart of Pap’s anger toward Huck?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #2: Chapters 6-8 (pages 23-46)

Chapter 6: “Pap Struggles with the Death Angel.”

1. “It was pretty good times up in the woods there, take it all around.” What does Huck like about living in Pap’s cabin?

1. On the top of page 26, what is Huck’s plan for escape?

1. Why does Pap say he’ll “never vote ag’in”? (Hint: He’s angry about a “p’fessor in a college.”)

[OPTIONAL] Who does Pap mistake Huck for when he wakes up during his drunken dream?

Ch. 7: “I Fool Pap and Get Away”

1. When Huck sees the drifting empty canoe, first he thinks of Pap. Why? Then he “struck another idea” (31). What is it?

1. What does Huck drag down to the river and dump in? Why?

Ch. 8: “I Spare Miss Watson’s Jim”

1. What is the significance of the “Boom!” that Huck hears in the morning?

[Note: When Huck says he changes to the Illinois side of the island, he is saying that east shore of the Mississippi River is Illinois, a state where slaves are free, while the western shore is Missouri, where slavery is the law. Keep in mind that Illinois is just on the other side.]

1. At the bottom of page 37, “something struck” Huck. What does he have to say about prayer and the widow?

[OPTIONAL] Name three of the people on the ferryboat.

[OPTIONAL] What does Huck find to make his “heart jump up against [his] lungs”?

1. How does Jim explain his reason for running away?

1. Superstition. Give some examples of Jim’s superstitions (signs), which he explains to Huck.

1. Why does Jim think he’s rich at the end of the chapter?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #3: Chapters 9-12 (pages 47-70)

Chapter 9: “The House of Death Floats By”

1. What does Huck’s description of the thunderstorm on pages 48-49 tell the reader about Huck? Write down three positive words or phrases Huck uses in his description.

1. Why does Jim tell Huck not to look at the face of the dead man in the house-raft that floats by?

Ch. 10: “What Comes of Handlin’ Snake-skin”

1. Describe the “fun” that Huck has at Jim’s expense.

1. Why does Huck dress up like a girl at the end of the chapter?

Ch. 11: “They’re After Us!”

[OPTIONAL] Who is “Sarah Williams”?

[OPTIONAL] Name two people the woman tells Huck people are thinking may have killed Huck Finn.

[OPTIONAL] Where has the woman’s husband gone?

1. Who does the woman suspect Huck “really” is?

1. How does Huck describe George Peters, his new lie?

Ch. 12: “Better Let Blame Well Alone”

1. Huck says, “So I didn’t care what was the reason they didn’t get us as long as they didn’t.” What is the significance of Huck’s use of the word us in this sentence?

1. Infer: What’s the importance of the wigwam on the raft?

[OPTIONAL] Why does Huck want to board the wrecked steamboat?

[OPTIONAL] What is Jake Packard’s plan for killing Jim Turner?

1. What’s Jim’s news at the end of the chapter?

1. How does Tom Sawyer play a role in this chapter?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #4: Chapters 13-16 (pages 71-94)

Chapter 13: “Honest Loot from the ‘Walter Scott’”

[OPTIONAL] On page 71, what is the trouble that the “rascals” are in, now that Huck and Jim have taken their boat?

1. Briefly summarize Huck’s story to the ferryman that he uses to get him to help the sinking Walter Scott.

1. What is the significance of “but there wasn’t any answer; all dead still” (75)?

Ch. 14: “Was Solomon Wise?”

1. What is Jim’s reasoning about wanting “no more adventures”?

[OPTIONAL] How does Jim argue that King Solomon is not wise (from the famous story of King Solomon and the two mothers [the Judgment of Solomon])?

1. When Huck says, “I never see such a nigger,” how is the reader meant to see Jim from this? And likewise, explain the dramatic irony of Huck’s final line of the chapter, “You can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit.”

Ch. 15: “Fooling Poor Old Jim”

1. What’s the plan for getting to Cairo? (You might find value in looking on the website’s “map of Huck’s adventures” to visualize their traveling.)

1. While Huck is in the canoe, looking for a “towhead” (a branch that he can tie the raft to), he gets separated from Jim and the raft in the fog. Explain the trick that Huck plays on Jim when they are reunited on the raft and Huck wakes up Jim, who has fallen asleep.

1. What does Jim say trash is? And why does Huck “humble himself” at the end of the chapter?

Ch. 16: “The Rattlesnake Skin Does Its Work”

1. Describe their concern about missing Cairo. Why do they think they might not notice the two rivers—the Mississippi and the Ohio—merging? And what is their plan?

1. Explain the significance of the passage that begins with the following: “…and who was to blame for it? Why, me. I couldn’t get that out of my conscience, no how, nor now way.”

[OPTIONAL] What is Huck’s new plan when he begins to paddle off to shore? And what does Jim say to make him change his mind?

[OPTIONAL] How does Huck’s quick thinking save Jim from the two men looking for runaway slaves?

1. Describe Huck’s reasoning on page 91 for deciding to no longer try to do the right thing.

[OPTIONAL] What is the meaning of “So it was all up with Cairo”?

[OPTIONAL] What final event of the chapter leads Huck to the shore?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #5: Chapters 17-19 (pages 95-125)

Chapter 17: “The Grangerfords Take Me In”

1. What should a good reader infer right away about the Shepherdson family, or the relationship between the family Huck initially meets and the Shepherdsons?

1. How old is Buck? Why is this likely significant to Huck and to the reader?

[OPTIONAL] After Huck tells his story (as George Jackson), what do the Grandersons offer him (at the bottom of 98)?

1. What does Huck’s description of the Granderson home suggest about the family?

[OPTIONAL] Care to comment on Evangeline Grangerford’s “Ode to Stephen Dowling Bots, Dec’d”?

Ch. 18: “Why Harney Rode Away For His Hat”

[OPTIONAL] Give at least three features of Colonel Grangerford’s appearance. What do these features suggest about his character?

1. What does Colonel Grangerford mean when he tells Buck, “I don’t like that shooting from behind a bush. Why didn’t you step into the road, my boy?”?

[OPTIONAL] Infer: “Miss Sophia she turned pale, but the color come back when she found the man warn’t hurt.”

1. How does Buck describe the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shephersons? How does Buck perceive the Shepherdsons?

1. What is the task that Miss Sophia asks of Huck? What’s written on the note?

1. How does Huck reunite with Jim? Give brief details of Jim’s account to Huck. What has he been “a-patchin’ up”?

[OPTIONAL] Briefly describe what happens to Buck and his cousin Joe.

1. Briefly discuss the significance of the final paragraph of the chapter--Huck’s comments about a raft and the river—as it relates to his experience with the Grangerfords.

Ch. 19: “The Duke and Dauphin Come Aboard”

[OPTIONAL] What does Huck have to say about clothes on page 118?

[OPTIONAL] How do Huck and Jim disagree about how the stars came about?

1. What can be inferred about the two men who “hadn’t been doing nothing, and was being chased for it”?

1. How did the two men get into to trouble—the younger man first and then the bald-headed man of seventy?

[OPTIONAL] What does the younger man say is the “secret of his birth”? Then, what is the secret of the old baldheaded man’s birth?

[OPTIONAL] What does Huck say “you want, above all things, on a raft”?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #6: Chapters 20-22 (pages 125-150)

Chapter 20: ”What Royalty Did to Parkville”

1. How does Huck respond to the duke and king’s question about whether Jim is a runaway slave?

1. What does the duke plan to “cipher out a way” to do?

[OPTIONAL] Where does Huck stay during the storm, while the duke and king are sleeping in the wigwam?

1. Describe the plan for the scam the duke suggests when they decide to “lay out a campaign.”

1. Briefly describe the scene where “the king got a-going”? What is his purpose?—and what happens?

[OPTIONAL] Meanwhile, describe what the duke has been up to.

1. What is the duke’s plan for being able to “run in the daytime”?

Ch. 21: “An Arkansaw Difficulty”

[OPTIONAL] The famous “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy from Hamlet is given a humorous treatment with the duke’s version. Can you spot where Macbeth appears or other changes?

1. Give some details of the “gardens” around the little houses. On the next page, what makes a loafer “happy all over”?

1. Briefly describe the event of the town drunk Boggs and Colonel Sherburn. (What’s the ultimatum that Sherburn gives to Boggs? How does it play out?)

1. Where are the townfolk going, “mad and yelling,” at the end of the chapter?

Ch. 22: “Why the Lynching Bee Failed”

1. Paraphrase Sherburn’s speech to the mob as he speaks to it from his rooftop. (What does he say about the average man? About a mob? What happens at the end?)

[OPTIONAL] Give some details of Huck’s time at the circus. What’s ironic about his line, “It could have all of my custom (money) every time”?

1. What’s the “biggest line of all” that will get a big crowd for the king and the duke’s Royal Nonesuch scam?

Passage of Interest

Look back at the questions and choose ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Explain your reasoning.

OR choose ONE phrase or sentence from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a line that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

Reading #7: Chapters 23-25 (pages 151-170)

Chapter 23: ”The Orneriness of Kings”

1. Briefly describe the “Royal Nonesuch” scam by the king and the duke.

1. How does Huck explain to Jim the reason for their king and duke being “rapscallions” or dishonest rascals? (Can you find several mistakes in his history discussion?)

1. What does Huck mean on page 155, when he says, “It doesn’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so.” What does this say about Huck’s development in the story?

1. What makes Jim moan, “Po’ little “Lizabeth! Po’ little Johnny!”? Briefly retell his painful memory.

Ch. 24: “The King Turns Parson”

1. What is the duke’s solution to Jim spending the days bound by a rope?

[OPTIONAL] What does Huck have to say about clothes at the bottom of page 157?

1. Try to figure out the Peter Wilks story that begins with on page 158 and 159. Who are Harvey and William? Why is the king interested in the details of the story?

[OPTIONAL] What is the young man’s response to “Was Peter Wilks well off?”?