May, 2010

Reading Schedule and Questions for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

On this day...	You should read ...
May 5, 2010	Chapters 01-05
May 6, 2010	Chapters 06-08
May 7, 2010	Chapters 09-13
May 10, 2010	Chapters 14-15, and chapter 16, pages 106-107 through “…he could most always start a good plan when you wanted one.” Stop there, and resume reading on page 123 with “I didn’t wait to kiss good bye, but went overboard and broke for shore.” Continue to end of chapter.
May 12, 2010	Chapters 17-18
May 13, 2010	Chapters 19-21
May 14, 2010	Chapters 22-24
May 17, 2010	Chapters 25-27
May 18, 2010	Chapters 28-29
May 20, 2010	Chapters 30-31
May 21, 2010	Chapters 32-35
May 24, 2010	Chapters 36-38
May 25, 2010	Chapters 39-41
May 26, 2010	Chapters 42 & Chapter the Last

 

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHILE READING

 

 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapters 1-5

1. Does Huck understand how people feel about him?
2. What are the differences between the widow Douglass and Miss Watson? Which one earns Huck’s respect more and why?
3. What ideas govern Huck’s universe? Would you call him primitive?
4. Does Jim know the boys are there? Explain why you think he does or does not.
5. How does Huck view Jim and how do you know?
6. Why does Jim tell the story of the witches and wear the five cent piece?
7. Where does Tom get his ideas? What sorts of values do these ideas promote?
8. What do we learn about Huck’s background?
9. How does Tom use money? Is it admirable?
10. Is Pap sincere when he tells the judge he wants to turn over a new leaf?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapters 6-8

1. Why does Huck want to spite pap, even if it means pap will beat him?
2. Why does pap kidnap Huck?
3. Think carefully about what he tells us: he is kidnapped by his physically abusive, impoverished father and held captive in the woods across the river where he is beaten daily, and yet he tells us he gets "used to being where I was, and liked it" (30). What exactly does he like?
4. What are the reasons that finally drive Huck to seek escape?
5. Why do you suppose Twain includes pap's tirade about the "govment"? What do we learn about the responsibilities of government and citizen from it?
6. Why isn't Huck more deeply affected by pap's imprisonment of him and his efforts to murder him?
7. Would you characterize Huck as violent?
8. Why does Huck wish Tom were there?
9. When the ferry containing all of the people he's been connected to--good or bad--comes along, Huck is noticeably silent about the effect of his apparent murder on them, and the fact that to maintain the ploy, Huck can never talk to them again. Why is he seemingly indifferent to this?
10. Why is he terrified by the discovery of the campfire?
11. Why is Huck so happy to see Jim?
12. What hints do we have early on in the conversation Huck has with Jim that Jim does not trust him?
13. Why does Huck agree to keep Jim's secret?
14. Are Jim and Huck's escapes comparable in any way? If so, how?
15. Would you say Huck and Jim are smart? Qualify this a bit and explain what you mean.
16. The explanatory notes about Jim's unusual investments are helpful.
17. How is the final quote of chapter 8 a loaded one?

Aventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapters 9-13

 

Page 61: “I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him, but he needn’t done it; I didn’t want to see him.” [emphasis mine]

Page 63: “After breakfast I wanted to talk about the dead man and guess out how he come to be killed, but Jim didn’t want to.” [emphasis mine]

What accounts for the change? Why doesn’t Jim want to talk about the dead man?

Why doesn’t Huck tell Jim about his role in putting the snake on his bed?

Why does Judith Loftus want to help Huck?

Why does Jim agree to land on the boat? Why does he hesitate to do it?

What are some of the things Huck misses (i.e. remains unaware of) in last night’s reading?

Why is Huck concerned about the gang?

Why is Huck’s story to the ferry captain an effective one?

Why does Huck wish the widow knew what he did to save the men on the wreck?

“I felt a little bit heavy-hearted about the gang, but not much, for I reckoned if they could stand it, I could” (91). What does this mean?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Class Journal: Chapters 14-16 (do not read 107-122)

1. What do Jim and Huck try to teach one another in their conversation about Solomon and language? (93-98)
2. “I reckoned Jim had fetched up on a snag, maybe, and it was all up with him. I was good and tired, so I laid down in the canoe and said I wouldn’t bother no more” (101-2). Why isn’t Huck troubled by this thought?
3. Why does Huck play a trick on Jim?
4. Why does Jim use the word “boss” when addressing Huck?
5. Does Jim really think he was dreaming?
6. Consider what happens to Huck and Jim in these chapters: Huck tries to find out where Cairo is but is unsuccessful. (123); Huck thinks about turning Jim in. (123-124); Huck convinces the slave catchers that there is smallpox aboard the raft so they don’t find Jim. (125-126); A steamboat hits the raft and Huck is unaware if Jim survived. (130-131). Consider/Review all of these events, and then carefully consider your answer to the following question: On the whole, is Huck loyal to Jim?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapters 17-18

Huck arrives at the Grangerford home. SEE EXPLANATORY NOTES 415-422

1. What does Huck notice about the Grangerfords’ behavior?
2. What are some of the descriptive details of the family (character)?
3. By what is Huck impressed at the Grangerfords’ (setting)? Create a list.
4. On the whole, why is Huck impressed by the family? Should he be?

THE GRANGERFORDS

1. How does Col. Grangerford compare to pap? (142-143)
2. Why doesn’t Harney try to shoot Buck? (144-145)
3. Do the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons respect one another? (146-147)
4. Why is the feud continuing? (146-147)
5. What contradiction does Twain expose in Huck’s description of the Sunday sermon? (147)
6. What clues does Twain give us about the elopement before it happens?

REUNITING WITH JIM

1. Why does Jack use the excuse of going to see water moccasins? Why not tell the truth? (149-151)
2. Is Huck glad to see Jim again? (149-151)

THE FEUD

1. Why doesn’t Huck want “to talk about the next day” (151)? What are other indications that this has been a traumatic event for him?
2. Think about the Social Worker activity you went through for chapters 6-8. How is Huck’s mental health?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Class Journal: Chapters 19-21

 

LEAVING THE GRANGERFORDS

1. Huck begins this chapter with a long description of quiet, lazy days and nights on the river. Why? What mood do his descriptions establish? Why make such a contrast with what came before?

THE DUKE AND KING

1. Why does Huck rescue the duke and king?
2. Why do the duke and king claim to be descended from aristocracy?
3. Does Huck believe them? Does Jim?
4. What principles guide the duke and kings actions? Huck’s? Jim’s?
5. Why do the duke and king stay with Huck and Jim?
6. Are the duke and king an asset or liability to Huck and Jim’s journey?

HOW JIM AND HUCK CHANGE AROUND THE KING AND DUKE

1. What signs do we have that Jim and Huck are still building a solid relationship, even with the interlopers on board?
2. Up until now, Huck “used to slip ashore towards ten o‘clock at some little village and buy ten or fifteen cents worth of meal or bacon or other stuff to eat” (79). This ad hoc approach has worked just fine until now, but something changes. Why does Jim send Huck with the duke and king into the one-horse town under the pretense that they need coffee (170)?
3. Why does Jim laugh on the night of the storm?

HOW POOR, RURAL SOCIETY BEHAVES

1. What do we learn about people and religion in the town meeting?
2. Why are they eager to help the king?

SHERBURN-BOGGS

1. Is Sherburn justified in his response to Boggs?
2. What do we learn about mob mentality from this episode?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Class Journal: Chapters 22-24

1. Why does the lynching attempt fail?
2. How does the circus fool Huck several times over? What is Twain reminding us about Huck and why is it necessary for him to do so?

BRIEF PLOT REVIEW

1. What is “The Royal Nonesuch”? Why does it run for three nights if it is so awful?
2. What conclusions do Huck and Jim reach about kings and dukes?
3. What story does Jim tell about his daughter (201-202)?
4. How do the king and duke find out about the Wilks family? (204-206)
5. What is the Wilks’ family tree? (206)

INTERPRETIVE QUESTIONS

1. Based on everything we have seen so far, how would you judge the quality of the king and duke’s acting abilities? Why do people fall for them?
2. Who’s more pathetic in “The Royal Nonesuch”? The audience or the actors? Why is the name of the production significant?
3. Why does Twain put the story about Jim’s daughter here? What effect does it have on you and how you think about Jim? About the people around him? About what happens to him at the beginning of chapter 24?
4. Why doesn’t Jim just leave when Huck, the duke and the king are gone?
5. If the king and duke aren’t so great at acting, why do people believe them as the Wilks brothers?
6. How are the duke and king contributing to Huck’s moral growth?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Class Journal: Chapters 25-27

1. What is buried in the Wilks’ basement (214)?’
2. What’s the “deffisit” (215)?
3. Why do the duke and king give the money to the girls? (215-216)
4. What does Doc. Robinson say about the king and duke? What are people’s responses? (218-219)
5. How do the duke and king get people to trust them even more? How does that change your opinion of them?
6. Why don’t the people believe Doc Robinson when he calls the duke and king frauds? How do the prior discussions of mob mentality help us understand what happens at the Wilks’ place?

BRIEF PLOT REVIEW

1. Summarize the conversation Huck and Joanna have (221-224).
2. What question does Joanna ask about servants and what is Huck’s answer (223)?
3. Why exactly is Mary Jane so upset with Joanna (224-225)? What is the effect of her anger on Huck (225)?
4. Why does the duke want to leave (226-227)?
5. Why does the king want to stick around, and how does he explain why it’s OK if they do (227-228)?
6. Where does Huck finally hide the money and why (230)?
7. What disrupts the funeral (232)?
8. Why is Huck so concerned when the undertaker screws the lid on the coffin (233)?
9. What does the king say will happen now that the funeral is over (234)?
10. What is the first thing the king sells and what effect does it have (234)?
11. How does Huck divert the king’s suspicion that he took the money (234-237)?

INTERPRETIVE QUESTIONS

1. Why is it important that Huck has had to act as the king and duke’s servant? What has his having to do so taught him?
2. What happens on page 225 three times? What does this show us?
3. Why isn’t Mary Jane troubled to hear that Huck might have been telling lies?
4. What are Huck’s feelings about Mary Jane?
5. Why does he choose to steal the money (225-226)?