Mr. Hollabaugh Name______________________________ Period_______ English III Huck Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain

Read “Meet Mark Twain,” and then write complete sentences in response to the following items.

1. What is Mark Twain’s real name?

2. List three or four of the jobs Twain held:

3. Give two possible meanings of the name “Mark Twain.”

Read “Introducing the Novel,” and then write complete sentences in response to the following items.

4. Why might Twain readers have been surprised by the content of Huckleberry Finn?

5. How is Twain’s novel Tom Sawyer connected to this novel, and what is Tom

Sawyer about?

6. Why might this novel be considered hopeful?

7. Describe the real-life person who serves as Twain’s inspiration for Huckleberry.

8. Explain Twain’s associations with slavery.

Read “Mark Twain’s Famous Quotes.”

9. We can get to know a famous person a little better by looking at some of the famous remarks he/she has made.

Based on these quotations, what kind of person do you think Mark Twain was? List five adjectives to describe

the personality that comes through in these quotations. Be ready to explain which quotes lead you to choose each

adjective:

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Personality Trait #1 Personality Trait #2 Personality Trait #3

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Personality Trait #4 Personality Trait #5

Vocabulary: Chapters 1 - 13 Use a dictionary to define the underlined word in each sentence. Write the definition on the line provided.

1. ...you couldn't go right to eating but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little

over the victuals...

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2. ...though they was only lath and broomsticks and you might scour at them till you rotted...

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3. I was getting sort of used to the widow's way, too, and they warn't so raspy on me.

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4. And after supper he talked to him about temperance and such things till the old man cried...

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5. ...and in the night some time he got powerful thirsty and clumb out on to the porchroof and slid down a

stanchion...

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6. I took all the coffee and sugar there was all and all the ammunition; I took the wadding...

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7. ...and people might see me and hail me.

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8. Well, then I happened to think how they always put quicksilver in loaves of bread and float them off...

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9. When breakfast was ready we lolled on the grass...

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10. "What did you speculate in, Jim?"

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11. The lightning showed us the wreck again just in time, and we fetched the starboard derrick and made it fast in

time.

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12. But before they got in I was up in the upper berth cornered and sorry I come.

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13. skiff

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Mr. Hollabaugh Name___________________________ Period______ Date______ Score______

American Literature

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Study Guide: Chapters 1 - 13

Notice: “PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished;

persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” By order of the author,

Per G.G., Chief of Ordinance

1. This novel begins with a notice – a warning telling readers to essentially beware of what?

2. What does Twain mean by each of the following terms?

Motive Moral Plot

3. Why do you think Twain might begin his book with such a warning?

Explanatory “IN this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern

dialect; the ordinary "Pike County" dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several

forms of speech.”

“I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding.”

4. Again, how strange that Twain starts with not only a notice but then an “explanatory.” What does he want readers

to understand before they begin reading?

5. In approximately what year is this story set?

Chapter 1

6. Apparently this book is something like a sequel. Explain.

7. Why didn’t Huck run away?

8. How does Huck demonstrate that he’s superstitious?

9. Chapter 1 introduces Huck. Use the t-chart below to make a list of his likes and dislikes:

Huck Likes Huck Dislikes___________________________

10. Huck is an unreliable narrator. What does that mean?

11. How does Twain demonstrate in Chapter 1 that the reader will have to be smarter than Huck?

Chapter 2

12. What trick does Tom play on Jim?

13. How does Jim react to the trick?

14. What problem does Huck have as the boys

begin to form their band of robbers?

15. How does Huck resolve the problem?

16. What word do the boys struggle to understand?

17. Twain has said that, “Part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were

themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.”

Does this plan succeed in Chapter 2? In other words, does Chapter 2 remind you of how you once were, how you

once thought and talked and felt? Explain.

“Well, when Tom and me got to the edge of the hill-top we

looked away down into the village and could see three or four

lights twinkling, where there was sick folks, maybe; and the

stars over us was sparkling ever so fine; and down by the

village was the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and

grand.”

Chapter 3

18. Why doesn’t Huck believe in prayer?

19. Explain the difference between the widow’s idea of Providence and Miss Watson’s idea of Providence?

20. Why does Huck resign from the gang of robbers?

21. Contrast Huck and Tom. What do they have in common? How are they different?

Chapter 4

22. How does Twain begin the chapter by once again characterizing Huck as an unreliable narrator?

23. Most kids would struggle to adjust to a new life – like living with the widow – but Huck succeeds. Why do you

think he’s so adaptable?

24. How does Huck once again demonstrate that he’s superstitious?

25. What does Huck see that motivates him to run over to Judge Thatcher’s house?

26. How much money does Huck have?

Huck Finn Tom Sawyer

27. What does Huck decide to do with his money?

28. What do you notice about Judge Thatcher’s speech

versus all of the other characters’ speech?

29. Huck visits Jim because he believes that Jim can tell him his

fortune. What information does Jim share concerning:

Pap future?

Huck’s future?

30. Why are characters like Huck and Jim superstitious? Do you

think Judge Thatcher would be superstitious? In general, what

do you believe causes people to believe in superstitions?

31. Do you believe in superstitions? If so, give an example or two

If not, explain why not.

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Chapter 5

32. Why, apparently, has Pap decided to visit Huck?

33. Re-read the following passage:

“…but it was a new judge that had just come, and he didn't know the old man; so he said courts mustn't interfere and separate families if they could help it; said he'd druther not take a child away from its father.”

What do you think of the judge’s statement that he would

rather not “take a child away from its father”?

34. Why might it be important that the judge is new?

35. What messages or themes might a reader notice in Chapter 5

about

Men who claimed to be reformed

Those who push to reform others

36. Why do you think Pap’s reformation fails?

Chapter 6

37. Why isn’t Huck able to escape using the wood saw that he

finds?

38. Why does Pap criticize the government? Give two reasons:

1. 2.

39. What is ironic about Pap’s criticisms?

40. How does Twain create humor in the tense situation of Pa’s

drunken rage in the cabin?

41. How does Twain begin to question the morality of slavery in

this chapter?

Chapter 7

42. Huck often tells lies. Provide two examples from Chapter 7.

1. 2.

43. Re-read the following passage:

“By and by along comes part of a log raft -- nine logs fast together. We went out with the skiff and towed it ashore. Then we had dinner. Anybody but pap would a waited and seen the day through, so as to catch more stuff; but that warn't pap's style. Nine logs was enough for one time; he must shove right over to town and sell. So he locked me in and took the skiff, and started off towing the raft about half-past three.”

According to Huck, what kind of guy is Pap?

44. Explain how the picture to the right relates to Huck’s plan to

escape.

45. Explain the suspenseful, close call at the end of Chapter 7.

46. What are the purposes of Chapters 5, 6, and 7? In other

words, what role do these chapters play in developing

the characters, plot, settings, themes, etc?

Characterization in Huck Finn

Characterization is “the method a writer uses to reveal the personality traits of a character in a literary work.” Methods

may include (1) by what the character says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3)

by the character's own actions. There are two types of characterization, direct and indirect:

Direct Characterization – the narrator tells us straight out, by exposition or analysis, or through another character.

Fill the below chart with information that the narrator (Huck) directly tells the reader about the following characters:

Character Huck tells the reader that this character…

Widow Douglass

Miss Watson

Judge Thatcher

Jim

Tom Sawyer

Pap

Indirect Characterization – the narrator shows us the character in action; the reader infers what a character is like from

what she/he thinks, or says, or does.

Fill the below chart with the conclusions you have personally made about each character based on your observations of the character’s actions, speech, etc.

Character My conclusions about this character My evidence to support the conclusion

Widow Douglass

Miss Watson

Judge Thatcher

Jim

Tom Sawyer

Pap

Chapter 8

47. Huck goes to Jackson’s Island. The next morning, he wakes

to have breakfast and hears large “BOOM” sounds. Explain

these sounds.

48. What might be dangerous about Huck eating the bread?

49. Why is Huck startled by finding the still-smoking camp fire? What does the fire mean?

50. When he and Huck first meet, what is Jim worried about?

51. Why did Jim “run off”?

52. According to Jim, what signifies that a man will be rich?

53. Explain Jim’s three failed investments:

1. 2. 3.

Passage Analysis

Be prepared to write an analysis for each of the below passages:

“People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum -- but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways.”

“And then something struck me. I says, now I reckon the widow or the parson or somebody prayed that this bread would find me, and here it has gone and done it. So there ain't no doubt but there is something in that thing -- that is, there's something in it when a body like the widow or the parson prays, but it don't work for me, and I reckon it don't work for only just the right kind.”

“When it was dark I set by my camp fire smoking, and feeling pretty well satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, and so I went and set on the bank and listened to the current swashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that come down, and then went to bed; there ain't no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, you soon get over it.” “Everything was dead quiet, and it looked late, and smelt late. You know

what I mean -- I don't know the words to put it in.”

Chapter 9

54. Chapter 9 begins with Huck and Jim exploring the middle of the island.

There, they find a place to keep all of their possessions. Describe this

place.

55. Why, at first, does Huck dislike the idea of keeping their possessions

hidden here?

56. How does Jim convince Huck that this place is ideal for storing their

possessions?

57. Why is it important that Huck agrees with Jim? What does Huck’s

agreement demonstrate about his character?

58. What do readers learn about Huck’s character from the below passage:

"Jim, this is nice," I says. "I wouldn't want to be nowhere else but here. Pass me along another hunk of fish and some hot corn-bread."

59. In the long paragraph on the right, note examples of figurative

language:

Circle similes

Draw boxes around personification

Place an asterisk (*) above onomatopoeic words

List three images that Huck wants us to picture:

_______________ ______________ _____________

60. Sometimes when there’s too much rain near a river, houses and other

structures built too close to the river end up falling into the river and

floating downstream. What do Huck and Jim find in the floating house?

61. How does Jim seem fatherly or protective inside this floating house?

“We spread the blankets inside for a carpet, and eat our dinner in there. We put all the other things handy at the back of the cavern. Pretty soon it darkened up, and begun to thunder and lighten; so the birds was right about it. Directly it begun to rain, and it rained like all fury, too, and I never see the wind blow so. It was one of these regular summer storms. It would get so dark that it looked all blue-black outside, and lovely; and the rain would thrash along by so thick that the trees off a little ways looked dim and spider-webby; and here would come a blast of wind that would bend the trees down and turn up the pale underside of the leaves; and then a perfect ripper of a gust would follow along and set the branches to tossing their arms as if they was just wild; and next, when it was just about the bluest and blackest—fst! It was as bright as glory, and you’d have a little glimpse of tree-tops a-plunging about away off yonder in the storm, hundreds of yards further than you could see before; dark as sin again in a second, and now you’d hear the thunder let go with an awful crash, and then go rumbling, grumbling, tumbling, down the sky towards the underside of the world, like rolling empty barrels down-stairs—where it’s long stairs and they

bounce a good deal, you know.”

62. Huck and Jim take and keep many items from the floating house. List four items that might help them to survive

more comfortably and four items that, given their situation, seem useless.

Helpful items: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

Useless items: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

Chapter 10

63. What good luck do Huck and Jim encounter as they rummage through the clothes they found on the floating

house?

64. Huck decides to have some fun at Jim’s expense. How does Huck’s trick backfire?

65. Why, according to Huck, was Hank Bunker a fool?

66. How might intelligent readers differently interpret Huck’s Hank Bunker story?

67. How do Jim and Huck catch the large catfish?

68. Why does Huck want to go onshore?

69. How does Huck make sure that he won’t be recognized?

Chapter 11

70. When she asks for his name, what does Huck tell the woman?

71. What does the woman tell Huck about

Huck?

Pap?

Jim?

72. Given that many suspect Pap of murder, why do you think the reward for Pap is less than the reward for Jim?

73. Why do this woman’s comments cause Huck to feel “so uneasy [he] couldn't set still”?

74. What causes this woman to first become suspicious of Huck?

75. What story does Huck make up to earn the woman’s sympathy?

76. This woman, Judith Loftus, gives Huck several tips for the future, in case he ever needs to successfully disguise

himself again. List three of her tips:

__________________________ __________________________ __________________________

77. What does Huck mean when he says, “They’re after us!” Who’s after them?

I remember when a pack of bubble gum used to cost…

Have you ever heard older relatives complain that gasoline or movie tickets or cars used to cost a lot less money? For

example, my grandpa always tells me that he used to get into the movies for “a nickel” and that his ticket came with

popcorn. Today, a movie ticket and a small popcorn will cost you more than $10. When I graduated high school in 1998,

gasoline cost $1 per gallon. Since then, the price has more than doubled. Throughout the course of American history,

prices have risen. Of course, wages have increased too, meaning that people make more money – a greater number of

dollars – today than they used to. According to www.measuringworth.com, here is what certain sums of money in 1835

would be worth today:

$6,000 (the amount of _______________________________) would be worth $150,728 today

$300 (the amount of _______________________________) would be worth $7,536 today

$200 (the amount of _______________________________) would be worth $5,024 today

$0.05 (the amount of money Tom paid Jim for a candle) would be worth $1.26 today

78. Why might it be important to know the above information concerning the value of money today vs. in 1835?

79. What evidence suggests that Jim and Huck care for one another?

80. At this point in the book, what would you do if you were in their situation?

81. Huck has told many lies throughout the novel so far. How do you feel about his lying?

He shouldn’t have told any of the lies. Some of his lies are okay. I would have lied too.

Explain:

Chapter 12

82. Draw a picture of the raft that Huck describes:

83. Explain:

Pap’s view of “borrowing” The widow’s view of “borrowing”

84. What do Huck and Jim decide about borrowing?

85. Why can’t Huck resist boarding the steamboat?

86. As you read their conversations, describe each of the men onboard:

Jim Turner Bill Jake Packard

87. How does Bill and Jake Packard’s reasoning concerning murder

compare to Huck and Jim’s reasoning concerning borrowing?

88. How does Chapter 12 end with a cliffhanger?

Chapter 13

89. What story does Huck invent to save the men on the Walter Scott?

90. In previous chapters, Huck refers to Tom Sawyer as a role model by asking himself, “What would Tom Sawyer

do?” Explain another role model presented in the chapter, as well as the situation and significance around this

reference.