Grade 6 Huckleberry Finn About the book and stuff

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, novel by Mark Twain, published in the United Kingdom in 1884 and in the United States in 1885. The book’s narrator is Huckleberry Finn, a youngster whose artless vernacular speech is admirably adapted to detailed and poetic descriptions of scenes, vivid representations of characters, and narrative renditions that are both broadly comic and subtly ironic. 1. The book has a narrator. Do we know who it is? 2. The synopsis talks about ‘vernacular’speech. What does it mean? formal language, used by educated people for official purposes. Standard language, which is the typical and accepted language of a country. Local language, with a particular accent and words that are only used in a certain area. 3. The character descriptions and narrative use ‘irony’ (some of the descriptions are ironic) Check a dictionary. What does ‘ironic’ mean? Words or sentence mean the opposite of their real meaning. Words or sentence used to show the true meaning. Huck runs away from his abusive father and, with his companion, the runaway slave Jim, makes a long and frequently interrupted voyage down the Mississippi River on a raft. During the journey Huck encounters a variety of characters and types in whom the book memorably portrays almost every class living on or along the river. As a result of these experiences, Huck overcomes conventional racial prejudices and learns to respect and love Jim. 4. Check the purple paragraph: What subjects, according to this paragraph are covered in the story? racism war sexism child labour equal rights slavery a journey crime friendship bullying 5. Internet Research: The Mississippi River – What state does it begin in and what state does it end in? The book’s pages are dotted with idyllic descriptions of the great river and the surrounding forests, and Huck’s good nature and unconscious humour permeate the whole. But a thread that runs through adventure after adventure is that of human cruelty, which shows itself both in the acts of individuals and in their unthinking acceptance of such institutions as slavery. The natural goodness of Huck is continually contrasted with the effects of a corrupt society. 6. Check the brown paragraph, but read very carefully: It says that a key subject is covered throughout Huck’s adventures. What is it? Together with Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn changed the course of children’s literature in the United States as well as of American literature generally, presenting the first deeply felt portrayal of boyhood. It is a classic of American realism both for this portrayal and for Twain’s depiction of the pre-Civil War South, especially through his use of dialect. This realism was the source of controversy that developed concerning the book in the late 20th century. Despite Huck’s friendship with Jim, the book was felt to be racist by some who considered the language offensive. Nevertheless, the publication in 2011 of a bowdlerized version of the novel generated debate and was considered by many to be every bit as unacceptable as the original. 7. The green paragraph tells us that the book was banned because it was too ‘honest’ (realistic) and for the racist language that was used.What do you think? The story was about a friendship between black and white people so it should not be banned. People should take the message, not the words that were used to write it. It should be banned. People should not see racist language in books because it is a bad example to society. c) A modern author should rewrite the book with suitable language before it can be read by our generation.