Prompt
For this assignment, students are to write a 5-page essay on Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Each essay is to have a solid and complex thesis statement, a structure and set of claims supporting that thesis, and analysis of textual evidence. Each essay must show a well-developed reading and interpretation of Twain’s novel.
See below for topics choices, and for requirements in writing the essay.
Topics:
- Lying: How and why is “lying” important to this novel? Example: How might you interpret the importance of lying to Huck as narrator? Or to how lying is important to what Mark Twain says about the narratives we tell each other?
- Speech: How is speech, the realistic use of “dialects,” significant to understanding this novel? Explore and find your own answer to this question.
- The Significant Role of Jim: Write an essay in which you study the significance of Jim to the novel and to Huck Finn. The essay should include contrasts and comparisons between Jim, Pap, and Tom Sawyer, as major influences on Huck.
- Satire: How does Mark Twain use satire and comedy effectively in this novel? Explore and create your own answer to this question. (Note you can study specific cases of satire and comedy in the book for this topic. One does not have to study every case of satire.
- Tom Sawyer: How does Tom Sawyer’s function in the novel display Mark Twain’s views of the power that literature can have on life, or life on literature? Use a focus on Tom Sawyer to explore what you think Mark Twain wants to do with this character to explore the life/literature negotiation in the novel.