Essays

Today we are going to go over your essay and then begin your essays.  Note - essays should be 2-3 pages and will be due on Monday.  There is a rubric below.

Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of nineteenth 

century foundation works of American Literature by analyzing satire in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and relating one of its main themes to another text and issue of the time. 

 

Scale/Rubric relating to learning goal:

4 – The student can analyze Mark Twain’s use of satire to address an issue of the day and compare/contrast multiple themes in the text with other texts of realism

3 – The student can analyze satire used in Huckleberry Finn and connect a major theme of the book to another text and issue of the time

2 – With some direction/help from the teacher the student can analyze the satire in Huckleberry Finn and connect the novel to a issue of the day

1 – Even with help from the teacher the student is unable to analyze satire or connect the novel to an issue of the day.

	A	B	C	D
FOCUS	Hook, Thesis Statement, Order of development are fresh and original, and connected to a theme.  Thesis is narrow and manageable.  Order is precise and helps develop one clear idea.  Hook and thesis are connected.	Hook, Thesis Statement and Order are present in the first paragraph.	There is a thesis statement but either it is not clear, or the order of development and/or hook is missing.	No thesis statement
Examples and Analysis	The examples from the source (text) not only back up the thesis but are introduced, explained and analyzed. The analysis shows depth of thought and insight into the text.	The examples used back up the main ideas of the essay.  The analysis offers some insight into the theme, but the depth is not necessary original.	The examples used don’t necessarily back up the thesis.  They are summative in nature and not exact.  The analysis doesn’t offer much if any depth into the text or is merely plot summary.	No Analysis and/or Examples
Voice/Word Choice	Point of view is evident.  Clear sense of audience.  Ideas are original.  Work is engaging.  Precise, fresh and original words.	Some sense of audience.  Conveys ideas to reader.  Ideas are not necessary original.  Uses favorite words correctly.  Some experiment with new words or SAT words.	Paper lacks energy.  Essay lacks focus and/or doesn’t persuade.  Language relies on repetition of the same words or there is an overuse of “to be” verbs.	Voice is not apparent, or doesn’t necessary seem that of the author.
Mechanics	No mistakes	One to five small mistakes that do not affect the reading of the essay	Five to ten mistakes	Numerous mistakes that impair reading

A – it is three pages or longer

B- It is at least two full pages in length

C – it is not quite two pages in length

D – it is under two pages

 

ESSAYS:

COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY: outline

Paragraph 1: Thesis Statement and order of development (you might even think about a hook)

HOOK:

THESIS:

ORDER:  1)

           

                2)

               3)

You can use either block or alternating paragraphs.

Block means you compare or contrast both characters in a paragraph.  Example: Pa Sexton and Granddaddy Cain react to problems differently.  You would show how they react to problems differently in a paragraph

Alternating Paragraphs

You could say Pa gets angry when confronted with problems and his eyes dance fire.  He doesn’t think he reacts with a violent temper.  This could be one paragraph.

The second paragraph would be about Granddaddy Cain.

Today we are going to read Emily Dickinson.  You will be required to choose one of the poems we read in class and write a paragraph (5-7 sentences with a topic sentence) about what you believe the poem means (please reference the poem in your writing).

Walt Whitman

2/11: Walt Whitman

Today we are going to look at Walt Whitman.  But first let's see if we can connect Huckleberry Finn to either Lincoln or Frederick Douglas?

Homework: questions 1-4, 6 on page 541.

FRIDAY

Today we are going to look at the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas" (pages 558 - 569) and answer questions 1-3, 5-7.

Today I will take any further questions on Huckleberry Finn and then we will read Abraham Lincoln.

He is a possible question from a future exam:

4) Discuss Lincoln's purpose in "The Gettysburg Address" and his "Second Inaugural Address".  Give a summary of the "Emancipation Proclamation" and how its form reinforces it idea.

So as we read today you need to figure out Lincoln's purpose in his two speeches, "The Gettysburg Address" and his "Second Inaugural Address" and write these purposes out with examples from that text on your blog.  (Each of these should be a paragraph).

Example - Abraham Lincoln's purpose in "The Gettysburg Address" is to......  This can be scene by his.... and ....  He uses these examples to reinforce the idea that .....


Lastly, for Friday you need to summary the "Emancipation Proclamation".

Emancipation Proclamation

The Gettysburg Address

Second Inaugural Address

Picarsque Novel: Usually a satirical novel which depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who survives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

Bildungsroman: A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological and intellectual development of a youthful main character.

Episodic Plot: A structure that features distinct episodes or a series of stories linked together by the same character. Huck Finn can be broken up into 8 or 9 episodes.

Romanticism:
Work of literature that deal with imagination, that represent ideals of life, these works often include fantastic adventure stories, spiritual connections with nature, gothic stories of the fantastic. Authors include: Sir Walter Scott, Fenimore Cooper, Poe.

Realism:
Works of literature that depict life and people as they really appear. Hence Realistic.
Themes include corruption of society as a whole, racism.

Anithero:
A protagonist who doesn't fit the traditional description of a hero.

Persona:
An assumed identity or character.

Satire:
A work of literature that uses irony and hyperbole to attack and mock some aspect of society as a way to promote social change.

Study Questions

Movements

Hannibal
St. Petersburg

Movement 1:
Being in and around Petersburg.
(Civilization)
[[[Chapters 1-12]]]

Movement 2:
On the River
River adventures/Jim + Huck Outside of society
[[[Chapters 13-30]]]

Movement 3:
Return to Society
Phelp's Farm
Captives in Society
[[[Chapters 31-43 === Chapter the last]]]

Episode 1: Chapters 1-4

Episode 2: Chapters 5-8

Episode 3: Chapters 9-11

Episode 4: Chapters 12-16

Episode 5: Chapters 17-18

Episode 6: Chapters 19-20

Episode 7: Chapters 21-23

Episode 8: Chapters 24-30

Episode 9: Chapters 31-43

Huck Finn TEST

Today we are going to discuss your upcoming Test on Huckleberry Finn and look at the things you need to know.  Read 515-523 in your textbook (it's an overview of Realism).  Here is an outline for the rest of the Unit.

2/5 Review
2/6 Test on Huckleberry FINN

2/7 Lincoln: “The Emancipation Proclamation”; “The Gettysburg Address”; “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address”

2/8 from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

2/11: Walt Whitman

2/12: Emily Dickinson

2/13: Begin Essays

2/19: Essays Due

Learning OBJECTIVES:

By the end of the novel students will be able to

1)    Define realism, satire, dialect, antihero, unreliable narrator, irony (situational, dramatic, and verbal), episodic plot, romanticism, dramatic foils, hyperbole, motif, picaresque novel, parable, sarcasm, simile, metaphor, oxymoron, allegory, euphemism, bildungroman

2)    Pick out examples of symbols, irony and dialect

3)    Example the meaning of at least one major symbol

4)    Discuss how Huck is both an unreliable narrator and an antihero

5)    Discuss how Huckleberry Finn, the novel, fits both a bildungsroman and picaresque novel

6)    Give examples of and discuss the following motifs in the book: superstition, parodies of previous literature (romantic novels and Shakespeare), the adopting of personas (or reinventing self), childhood games, religion, lies and cons, death, and perhaps one or two others that I will bring up in class

7)    Be out to pick out and example five – ten allusions

8)    Outline the plot according to the six elements

9)    Break up the book into three sections or three movements (and briefly explain each movement)

10) Break up the book into 9 episodes

11) Give a list of characters in the book with a brief description of each and their general purpose in the novel

12) Compare and Contrast Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer

13) Discuss the idea of and the historical reference of Family Feuds

14) Discuss the different types of conflict found in Huckleberry Finn

15) Discuss how Mark Twain uses allusions to back up his major themes and develop his characters

16)   Keep a list of Huckleberry Finns stories and pranks

17) Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is honest in dishonest world

18) Briefly explain the following themes: Racism and Slavery, Intellectual and Moral Education, The hypocrisy of society (appearance vs. reality), conflict between the individual and society, the quest for freedom (both freedom away from society and freedom within society), superstition vs religion, death and rebirth, coming of age and the hero’s journey, the concept of family, the role of the outsider, the nature and the significance of the following traits: gullibility, ignorance, and naivety, tolerance vs. prejudice.  

HUCKLEBERRY FINN TEST

Each question is worth 10 points.  200 points total

1)    Give two examples of the occurrence of Moses in the book and briefly discuss how it represents a main idea (or theme) or the novel.

2)    Give at least five examples of death (or the mentioning of death) and how these examples fit the theme of DEATH and REBIRTH.

3)    Give three examples of scenes that fit the individual vs. society theme and explain why they fit this theme.

4)    List the inciting event and the climax of the novel.

5)    List 9 episodes and give three events for each.

6)    For the following characters list what they did or why they are important in the novel.

King (the late Dauphin)

Duke of Bridgewater (or Bilgewater)

Ben Rogers

Judith Loftus

Colonel Sherburn

Harvey Wilks

7)    List three literary allusions in Huck Finn (please don’t use an author more than once) and discuss what the allusions reinforce (think main ideas or themes).

8)    List four ironies in the book and what they reinforce (think main ideas or themes).

9-12) Name the speaker of the following quotes and briefly discuss the significance of the quote:

“Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children—children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm”

SPEAKER:

SIGNIFICANCE:

“Is a cat a man?  Well den, dey ain’t no sense in a cat talkin’ like a man.  Is a cow a man?  Is a cow a cat?  Well den she ain’t got no business to talk like either one… Is a Frenchman a man?  Well den!  Dad blame it, why doan’ he talk like a man?”

SPEAKER:

SIGNIFCANCE”

“I’d been selling an article that takes the tartar off the teeth—an it does take it off, too, and generly the enamel along with it.”

SPEAKER:

SIGNIFICANCE:

“They call this a govment that can’t sell a free nigger till he’s been in the state six months…  Here’s a govment that calls itself a govment, and lets on to be a govment and thinks it is a govment, and yet’s got to set stock-still for six whole months before it can take a-hold of a prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free nigger.”

SPEAKER:

SIGNIFICANCE:

13.   Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is both an unreliable narrator and an antihero.

14.   Discuss how Huckleberry Finn fits the definition of both a Bildungsroman and Picaresque novel.

15.   Discuss how personas are used in the novel (give five examples).  What is the underlying purpose of these personas?

16.   Give an example of dramatic foil in the novel and discuss the significance of this dramatic foil.  What idea(s) does this foil reinforce?

17.   How is Huck Finn, the novel, a satire?  Give examples?

18,  What is the major symbol of the novel?  Discuss how it is used?  What scenes or moments reinforce this idea?  What is Twain saying with this symbol about society?

19.Discuss the three movements of the novel (list chapter number within this discussion) and the main idea of each movement.

20.   List five Huck Finn stories (and their purpose).

Extra Credit:  (4 points each) must be completely right for credit.

21.   Name four people Huck pretends to be in the novel (full names)

22.   Explain how the items in the Grangerford’s house symbolizes the theme: Romanticism vs. Realism?

23.   Who is Miss Hooker (be exact)?

24.   What is significant about the Hairball episode?