...My literary critique on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is focused on the confusion of the message being given to the reader do to the conscious struggle between right and wrong, an example of that would be the decision of stealing from Ms. Watson and freeing Jim, or not stealing from Ms. Watson and leaving Jim as a slave. Huck did decided that even though stealing from Ms. Watson would surely send him to “Hell” he still went with his gut and freed Jim, But with that later in the story shortly after Ms. Watsons death Huck and Jim found out that in her will she had freed Jim anyways. The ending of that situation in this story is what I choose to critique because of the cloudy message that is being given to the reader. It does not support...
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...“It's not as bad as it sounds.” (Huckleberry Finn) Compare how the theme of outsiders is presented in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, D.B.C Pierre’s Vernon God Little and Sylvia Plath’s Ariel. Throughout the history of literature, the idea of an outsider unable to find his place within society is explored frequently in all three texts. The theme of the outsiders is presented in all novels but separated due to the different time periods in which they were set, thus resulting in controversy and criticisms making it difficult to find a place within literature. Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is the story of a young boy, Huck Finn, who is faced with a restraint enforced upon him by society and later acknowledges this restraint once he comes to the realization that there is no escape from the society. ‘Vernon God Little’, like Huckleberry Finn, is also a story of a young boy framed as an accessory in a High School Massacre and is rendered to be an outcast in a society which revolves around manipulation and gullibility. Both Pierre and Twain portray the limitations and issues placed upon a young boy growing up in society. Sylvia Plath was viewed as a feminist icon, her collection ‘Ariel’, adopts the theme of outsider, as she believed women were classed as second-tier in a male dominant society and posed as a response to patriarchy in which oppressed women. The three texts intertwine in the portrayal of the outsider and act as a commentary on the societies in which these writers...
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...author. According to Neil Schmitz, Mark Twain was, “a southern humorist gone over, not just a deserter, a dissenter, but a literary scalawag, a southern writer in unionist discourse and narrative” (91). Most people recognize Twain’s brief, witty, straightforward proverbs that are often quoted today. He also wrote many novels, a few nonfiction books, a plethora of short stories, and essays. Mark Twain uses a variety of rhetorical devices including carefully chosen, colorful language, satirical tone, and unique symbolism to entertain and to enlighten his readers about the moral dilemmas and the beauty of the America he knew. According to Ernest Hemingway, all of American literature comes from one great book, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain, Huck Finn vii). Although this statement may seem hyperbolic, it does indicate the important place Mark Twain holds in American literature. Early Nineteenth century American writers tended to try to write like English writers with flowery, ostentatious language (Schmitz 100). Twain’s writing style was innovative when it was written and is still absolutely unique. He writes with simple prose and careful word choice. Each word is carefully selected and each sentence is meticulously crafted. Twain writes, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning” (Twain, Wit 71)....
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...Huck Finn: Recommended but not Required The probability of a student being able to understand and appreciate the value of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if having been introduced to it too young and with a poor teacher is like a seed being able on to grow on concrete: improbable and disappointing. Similar to a student, a seed needs conducive and nurturing conditions in order to grow— that’s why only a small few end up reaching their full potential. Seeds need access to direct sunlight, water, and proper soil. Students need access to passionate teachers who are invested in educating their students properly—especially when it comes to challenging literature. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel that has immense value and meaning; however, it is also one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted stories of all time. Twain’s classic is continuously accused of supporting the prejudiced attitudes it is actually criticizing. This is especially apparent when these confusing passages are not properly explained and put in context by an inspirational teacher. Huck Finn has the ability to become detrimental when it is put in the hands of students who lack enough academic experience to understand the book’s purpose on their own and/or lack a teacher who can properly explain it to them. Educators need to be able to illustrate to students that through satire, Twain shares his beliefs about racism, religion, and other topics that plagued America at the time – all...
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...Huck Finn: Comparing and Contrasting the Controversies Surrounding Banning Books The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, deemed one of the great American novels, was published by Mark Twain in 1884. From the start, this novel has sparked a lot of negative criticism. There were heated debates among critics, and in schools debating whether or not to ban this controversial piece of literature. In today's society, this book still offends sensitive readers, because it was written in a time when people were not sensitive to the plight of African Americans. Just a month after it was published, The Concord, library in Massachusetts banned all copies stating that it was “Not suitable for trash.” (Ruta1) It was believed, that racism was at the heart of this book, and the content was, and still viewed as being harsh. Louisa May Alcott was a popular author who served on the very first library committee in Massachusetts, where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned. She voted against this book from being sold, read or viewed. Criticizing Mark Twain saying that "Huck should not sweat. He should perspire." (Ruta1) Other libraries began removing their copies stating that it is inappropriate for children to read. The number of concerned citizens continue to debate on this subject today. Derogatory words are seen throughout this story in reference to showcase the difference between the two classes, white verses black. This book not only celebrates an unlikely friendship between...
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...Maze 1 Bethany Maze Ms. Woods CP English III December 13, 2012 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain has been considered one of the greatest American novels in history. Unfortunately, no one receives this sort of praise without criticism. This book has been deemed indecent for many younger readers due to its lack of morals and failure to conform to today’s politically correct language. Most of the disapproval comes from the racist comments, words, and general feeling towards one of the main characters, Jim. The big controversy here is whether or not this book should be available for young readers in libraries, and if it should be used as a learning material in classrooms. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught in classrooms under certain conditions. One of the strongest reasons people believe that younger readers should not be subjected to this book is because of its racial undertones. Twain was writing to portray what happened at this time in history and what the social norms were. In fact if he didn’t include words such as the “N” word in his novel it would not have accurately portrayed the people during that time period. Using these racial terms is a sensitive Maze 2 thing to deal with. Although this book is accurate, younger readers aren’t educated enough to know the consequences of some of the terms used. Michiko Kakutani believed that “to censor or redact books on school reading...
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...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain, author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, created a very controversial book because it spoke very sensitive topics such as slavery. Throughout the book, we follow the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a fictional character, as he travels the Mississippi River. Highlighted during Huck’s journey, slavery and greed are attributed to many American norms. Huck is confronted with these societal issues such as slavery with a slave Jim, owned by Ms. Watson. Huck also faces greed when Pap returns to claim him. Greed is also very evident when he meets the fake dauphin and duke, two con artists who scam many characters in their journey. Twain is very clear on his opinion about slavery and greed in America. Twain is very clever in allowing the reader of the book to connect with Jim on an emotional level, and not portraying slaves as property like many did during that time. Additionally, many of the antagonists are driven by self-serving greedy motivations which portrays Twain’s opposition to greed. This...
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...Hannibal Journal, where he quickly became saturated in the newspaper trade. Rising to the role of sub-editor, Twain indulged in the frontier humor that flourished in journalism at the time: tall tales, satirical pranks, and jokes. II. Influences of the Writer The following were the persons, things, places and events that influenced Mark Twain. -his connection to the mississippi river as a boy and the fact that he became a riberboat pilot -time spent traveling the world -the nice life he led shortly after he married -tragedies in his family -financial problems -problems he saw in the south during reconstruction Hannibal inspired several of Mark Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but also vipers' nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness, and life-crushing boredom. All of that had been a part of Sam Clemens' boyhood experience. The story is set in the town of "St...
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...publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn resulted in generally friendly reviews, but the novel was controversial from the outset.[13] Upon issue of the American edition in 1885 a number of libraries banned it from their stacks.[14] The early criticism focused on what was perceived as the book's crudeness. One incident was recounted in the newspaper, the Boston Transcript: The Concord (Mass.) Public Library committee has decided to exclude Mark Twain's latest book from the library. One member of the committee says that, while he does not wish to call it immoral, he thinks it contains but little humor, and that of a very coarse type. He regards it as the veriest trash. The library and the other members of the committee entertain similar views, characterizing it as rough, coarse, and inelegant, dealing with a series of experiences not elevating, the whole book being more suited to the slums than to intelligent, respectable people.[14] Twain later remarked to his editor, "Apparently, the Concord library has condemned Huck as 'trash and only suitable for the slums.' This will sell us another five thousand copies for sure!" Soon after, in 1905, New York’s Brooklyn Public Library also banned the book due to bad word choice and Huck having “not only itched but scratched” within the novel, which was considered obscene.[15] When asked by a Brooklyn librarian about the situation, Twain replied: I am greatly troubled by what you say. I wrote 'Tom Sawyer' & 'Huck Finn' for adults exclusively...
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...Three works of literature, labeled immoral, unfit to read and even satanic, completely criticized for their use of vulgar language and “blasphemes” way of speaking their mind. What critics fail to see is the true creativity of the humor in Candide, the morality and kindness in Huckleberry Finn, and the passion of Don Juan. All three of these great works of literature have suffered the injustice of biased criticism and have been rejected from public schools, which wastes their educational potential. Candide has been place into the index of prohibited books, Huckleberry Finn has been banned almost every public school, and Don Juan has succumb to a similar fate. What people don’t understand is that these novels and works of poetry can show us more about how humans treat each other, how realistic some ridiculous things can be, and how we can understand ourselves. Candide is a novel written by the French writer Voltaire, it’s about a germen man by the name of Candide who goes on quite a journey meeting a variety of people, constantly running into political and religious figures with bad results. Meeting up with old friends and characters he believed dead, the novel consists of unrealistic situations in a comedic fashion but in the end, through all the hell he can say let’s just forget about it and move on in our life. This story can give you a real life perspective and show you that life shouldn’t be taken seriously, if a guy like Candide can go through what he did without a thought...
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...The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a perfect example of an author ahead of their time. It is a wonderful capturing of a young boy who appears to be so life smart that he is able to bravely venture off on his own and stand up against nearly all the adults he comes across for their bad behaviors and bad or selfish intentions, even when he has the underlying thought of ending up in hell for it. At the time the book was written, the Civil War was not all that far behind us as a country, and certainly most people had not come far in their thoughts and treatment of African American people. Twain's choice to make Jim the person in the book to be the one all the others should strive to be like was bold for that time. Also, choosing to have Huck, an uneducated and unsophisticated boy who was completely against...
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...Ewen Wang In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain targets Southern selfishness and ignorance by ironically imposing cruel treatments on Jim’s compassionate and logical character, supporting his goal to satirize racism. Twain embeds his criticism of racism in Jim’s human characteristics and cruel fate in order to avoid denunciation himself. Early in the novel, Huck and Jim debate about whether the French talk the same way. Huck does not think so, but Jim convinces him otherwise by contrasting a cow with a cat, and comparing a Frenchman with a man. Then he says “Dad blame it, why doan’ he talk like a man?” (Twain 60). This seemingly silly debate serves as an outlet for Twain’s message that people of all heritages should be equal. Through Jim’s simple logic, Twain demonstrates the unreasonable nature of...
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...1/09/13 Hypocrisy of Society In Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain develops the plot into Huck and Jim's adventures allowing him to weave in his criticism of society. The two main characters, Huck and Jim, both run from social injustice and both are distrustful of the civilization around them. Huck is considered an uneducated and unusual boy, constantly under pressure to conform to the “humanized" surroundings of society. Jim, a slave is not even considered as a real person, but as property. As they run from civilization and are on the river, they ponder the social injustices forced upon them when they are on land. These social injustices are even more evident when Huck and Jim have to make landfall, and this provides Twain with the chance to satirize the socially correct injustices that Huck and Jim encounter on land. The satire that Twain uses to expose the hypocrisy, racism, greed and injustice of society develops along with the adventures that Huck and Jim have. The ugly reflection of society we see should make us question the world we live in, and only the journey down the river provides us with that chance. Throughout the book we see the hypocrisy of society. Miss Watson constantly corrects Huck for his unacceptable behavior, but Huck doesn't understand why, "That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don't know anything about it". Later when Miss Watson tries to teach Huck about Heaven, he decides against...
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...Comma Splices and Fused Sentences (Handbook, Ch 36-37) Comma splice – when two independent clauses (or complete sentences) are joined only by a comma. Fused or run-on sentence – when two independent clauses (or complete sentences) have no punctuation. Dependent clause or fragment – contains a subject and verb but does not complete a thought. Dependent clause marker words include although, when, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whether, while Identify the comma splices, run-on sentences, and/or sentence fragments. 1. He enjoyed his history class, it was the best class of his semester. 2. Her father bought her a new car for Christmas. 3. Even though he never believed it was his fault. 4. Jim tried fishing with spinner bait he finally managed a nibble or two. 5. Although he always claimed to be an environmentally friendly person. 6. While you may wonder about its usefulness, you will be glad you took typing. 7. The phone rang at least ten times my dad didn’t even pay any attention to it. 8. You should definitely listen to the Tragically Hip, they are a great band. 2 9. Unless you can make the commitment, don’t bother picking up a guitar. 10. My uncle told me not to play baseball he played all the time when he was young. 11. Alcoholism is considered a disease, but many people think it’s just weak willpower. 12. Because he told us we would...
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...American Realism The Civil War tore the country apart. Once America was reunited in 1865, there was a lot of healing that needed to take place to correct the wounds Americans had suffered at the hands of their kin. In these years there were still a lot of questions to answer and still a lot of truth to be found out about the nation itself. The questions of the place of African-Americans, white Americans, political Americans and every other kind of American out there was a source for constant frustration and violence. This is the background and the huge dust storm that American Realism rose out of. Prior to the Civil War, America was knee deep in the Romantic Movement which included writers such as Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, Poe and Whitman. Their writings focused on the puritan aspects of their ancestors or of the dark romance and psychological perspectives writers such as Poe and Melville used. However, after the war, this movement began to fade and Realism increased as the choice reading of the people. This was due to multiple events and changes in culture that led to Americans looking for something better to relate to. The first event was the end of the Civil War. The Civil War showed the violent intentions men had towards each other and also showed the vulnerability of men and the nation and how ungodly man actually was. However, Realism did not begin immediately after the Civil War but rather took off in the 1880’s. So what happened in the 1880’s then? The 1880’s...
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