1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain

2. Summary & Background  Huck’s Story:  Written in 1885  Takes Place in 1840s  Set in St. Petersburg, Missouri  Huck’s Family Life:  No Mother  Deadbeat Dad = Alcoholic, Abusive, Skipped Town  Lives with Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson  Huck’s Likes:  Skipping School  Wearing Ratty Clothes  Chillin’ with his Boys, Mainly Tom Sawyer  Keepin’ it Real

3. Summary & Background  1840: Time when novel takes place  1861-1865: Northern and Southern U.S. States Engage in Civil War  1863: President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that all slaves in Confederate states be freed  1866: 13th Amendment to the U.S. constitution abolishes slavery  1883 – Twain writes Tom Sawyer  1885 – Twain writes Huck Finn  1964: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting discrimination in public places.

4. Chew On This: The Civil Rights Act was signed only 52 years ago.

5. Summary & Background Main Ideas in Huck Finn  Religion  Superstition  Racism/Slavery  Money/Wealth  Freedom  How to Be A Man  Gender Roles  Alcohol/Sobriety  Education vs. Ignorance  Individual vs. Society Twain’s Writing Style  Colloquial Language/Dialects  Emphasizes Local Color  “De bes way is to res easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey’s two angels hoverin’ roun’ ‘bout him” (Twain 8).  Picaresque Novel  relating the adventures of a rogue or low-born adventurer (Spanish pícaro) as he drifts from place to place and from one social milieu to another in his effort to survive  Episodic Structure  Series of Mini Stories  First Person Unreliable Narrator  Like Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye

6. Who’s This Twain Guy Everybody Keeps Talking About?  Mark Twain, b. 1829 – d. 1910  Real Name = Samuel Clemens  Mark Twain means 2 fathoms (12 feet)  Riverboat term meaning “Safe Water”  Grew up in Hannibal, Missouri  Setting of Story Based Heavily off of Hannibal  Advocated for Solving Racial Issues

7. Responses to Huck Finn The Good “All American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn… it’s the best book we’ve had.”  Ernest Hemingway, author of The Old Man and the Sea The Bad “If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses he had best stop writing for them.”  Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women

8. The Ugly  Huck Finn was banned from many libraries because the content was thought to be too dark, distasteful, and unsuitable for children.  1885 – Banned by Library in Concord, MA  1902 – Excluded from Denver Public Library & Omaha Public Library  1957 – Removed from New York City Public Education List of Approved Texts  1975 – Banned in Davenport, Iowa; Houston, Texas; and Bucks County, Pennsylvania  1982 – Removed from Required Reading Lists by Principal at Mark Twain Intermediate School in Fairfax County, Virginia  2016 – Inclusion in School Curriculum Still Challenged by Many Communities

9. What’s the Big Deal? Satire & Irony  Written as Satire  Satire = An Instrument of Social Change Used to Denounce or Expose  In the case of Huck Finn, Focus is Racism.  Use of Irony  Irony = Opposite of Literal Meaning  Huck Finn Example: Racist Protagonist Used to Show that Racism is Wrong Is There Still An Argument? Well, Decide for Yourself.  Some critics argue that regardless of Twain’s intentions, the novel promotes racism and should be banned from schools in the United States.  In order to form an opinion on the novel, however, some would argue that it must first be read.

10. Based on your introductory knowledge of the novel and its controversy, what do you think? Consider the materials and information you have encountered so far. At the bottom of your notes from this PowerPoint, write a 1-2 paragraph reflection on whether Huck Finn, or any book for that matter, should be banned from Literature classes in public schools across the United States.