Saturday, January 27, 2007

So I am here to start the discussion on how and if Huck Finn should be taught in schools.

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/huckcen/huckcentg.html

I thought this website I have posted above might be a good place to start. It is one way to teach Huck Finn, designed to teach it to 11th graders. It includes activities on how the book was banned and gives websites. Let me know what you guys think.

Rachael

17 Comments:

At 3:51 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

Well, Huck Finn is a very controversial book that can be intrepreted in many different ways. I am still catching up as basketball has had me swamped, but regarding teaching it, I haven't seen many problems that high schoolers should not be able to handle maturely.

 
At 3:58 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

Jim, for example is portrayed as almost unintellgent and socially blind as anyone as he seems to be able to find a sign of bad luck almost anywhere. When Huck touches the snakeskin, the moon over the shoulder, the dead man in the two story home, and so forth, Jim believes these to be all omens of bad things to come. Then, later on, Jim argues with Huck that French people should not speak french because it is not natural, when actually Jim has no idea what he is talking about. Huck tries to explain it as a cow talking to a cat and stuff like that but Jim just says that it is stupid and unnatural.

This kind of demonstration is satirically abusive of african americans of this time period. Teachers and school board directers might believe this will somehow transfer into the classroom discussions and might be mentally degrading to those of african american heritage. So far, this is the only reason besides horrible grammatical errors to why this book should not be taught.

 
At 4:02 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

Going back to my comment on the grammar, this book is terrible. Mark Twain was trying to actually provide a sense of education of that time period, but now it is just a hassle to read. I constantly find myself reading sentences over again for context clues as well as sounding out Jim's dialogue. Other words like i think it was "WigWam" or something like that when Jim and Huck were on the river were making me angry because from the desrciptions, I had no idea what they were talking about.

Grammar could be another supporting topic to why this book should not be taught in classrooms.

 
At 4:05 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

Another topic, if you researched it might be Mark Twain himself as a character. Having not really known or studied Mark Twain, one could say he was a controversial writer of his time and attack his ethics. From reading his quotes, I can see how people might have not liked his writing and how it would spread into the school board or something. Plus, his excessive use of the word "N*****"

 
At 4:09 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

I need to read more into the book and might post later cuz when we took that test, I was way behind.

 
At 6:19 PM, Blogger Rachael Cherryhomes said...

I agree with the fact that most high school students should be able to handle it without getting carried away. However, some people have African American descent might really take offense to the story. I think that expecially within racially diverse schools, it would be prudent to talk to the students before about the racial epithet used in the book, and avoid using it in class. I also think that students who take offense to it should have an alternative novel they could read... even though we may think that high school students should be able to handle it, you can see that if someone had an ancestor who was a slave or something could easily take offense to the novel. I think it would be especially offensive because of the portrayal of Jim as stupid, even though we all know that race has nothing to do with intelligence.

Basically, I think the novel should be taught in schools delicately, with sympathy to those who take offense to it.

 
At 6:29 PM, Blogger Rachael Cherryhomes said...

Oh and I was doing some more research, and I saw that it was on several lists of books over the past 15 or so that have tried to be banned from school. And not only because of its racial connotations and use of the n-word. Other parents also disliked it because of its profanity and atheistic ideals practiced by the characters, namely Huck Finn.

And just as a sidenote... I was surprised at how many books parents and other people have tried to ban that a lot of us have read for school... Huck finn was one, and also Of Mice and Men, Flowers for Algernon, The fallen Angels, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Awakening, among many others.


Here's a website that shows various books and the reasons parents and others want to ban them. I thought it was pretty interesting...
http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship/front/109678.htm

 
At 6:34 PM, Blogger Rachael Cherryhomes said...

Megan...

I can see what you are saying. I personally am not offended by it. However, I've been in some pretty racially diverse classes before, and I'm just pointing that I could see somebody making a joke about it or something, and somebody really taking offense to it, and because I've never had ancestors who were African American slaves in this country, I could never fully understnad what they are feeling, and I would be sympathetic towards them.

 
At 9:00 PM, Blogger PatNoll said...

I believe that it is fine for this book to be taught. When look at all the characters no racial group is portrayed in untruthful way. For example, Jim is portrayed as a slave would be. He would not be educated and in all likelyhood talked like that. Twain is not trying to say african americans were or are dumb. He was just showing how an uneducated person back then would talk, in this case a slave. Also, often, Hucks and Jims inteligence are seen as equal because of they are both uneducated.

The racial slurs are not that bad and I would think that few people whould take offense to it since it is a historical fact that those racial slurs were used back then. They may be offended that black people were treated that way back then but I don't think that the book should be blamed for accurately portraying history.

This book can be easily taught here but in other stricter societies in the U.S. as it is known, it has been banned or someone has tried to ban it. It depends on where you are trying to teach this book if there will be problems teaching it or not.

 
At 11:12 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

Mr. Wargo. Quick Question. the feud between the Shepardsons and the Grangerfords, did happenings like that really go on during the 19th century? I can't see two families just randomly killing each other or trying to every time they meet.

 
At 11:13 PM, Blogger ATR068 said...

and can u explain WigWam?

 
At 6:35 AM, Blogger Rachael Cherryhomes said...

isn't a wigwam like a round hut??

 
At 8:21 PM, Blogger SamBK said...

All of these are great comments and I agree as well as disagree overall. What I mean is I don't take offense in the usage of certain words and the depiction of African Americans, its just that is the book strong enough to make it the best book to read for its criteria? For example, the great depression has already happened and an excellent book that drew a large picture for the reader was Grapes of Wrath. With Huck Finn, it does draw somewhat of a picture of this time period, but I find it more for an entertainment purpose or a good read. There are better books out there that do depict racism and how life was like back then than compared to Huck Finn. Overall Huck Finn is a good book to show the readers who aren't as fimilar with the racism that occured in the 19th century, but as juniors we should already know about the bad events in history with slavery and racism. Huck Finn is a book for entertainment purposes or just a good read, but should not be required to be taught to students.

 
At 9:22 PM, Blogger Cecily said...

Huck Finn should be taught carefully (and respectively). When its taught the racism in the book should be discussed, and mad esure that it is understood that it had to do w. the time period and unacceptable today.

 
At 10:32 PM, Blogger Rachael Cherryhomes said...

Sam, I think you bring up a good point. It actually is more of an adventure book than historical novel, and although it definetly does tell a lot about the people in the era, it might not be the best for learning about it.

 
At 9:00 PM, Blogger Brittany N. said...

I don't necessarily think that African American readers should or do take offense to the light Jim was portrayed in. Although in some aspects his superstition and other characteristics may be viewed as satirical, I think the novel depicts him as a very caring and genuine person, something many of the white characters in the novel are not(Ex. the Duke, Pap, the King). Compared to other people in Huck's life, Jim also stands out as showing a great amount of paternal qualities. He worreis for Huck, shields his eyes from the dead body, and has meaningful conversations with him. He is loyal to Huck and expresses his love to him unlike Miss.Watson, who is more concerned with civilizing him. I think these qualities in his personality make for a character that outshines all of the white characters in the novel. No matter what his educaiton level, he still has a much more loving and genuine concern for other human beings that others lack.
Yes, the N word is used many times, but I find nothing offensive about using it for historical reference and as a realistic portrayal of life in that time period. This goes for any race. I think this novel can help people realize just how terrible things were at that time and learn from it. Without novels like this remainging within schools, i think youth in the future will miss out on the valuable lessons it has to offer.

 
At 7:54 PM, Blogger Maritza Hernandez said...

I have to agree with Cecily. While this book holds a lot of historical background that people should understand, it's also a very "touchy" book, considering of it's common use of the "n" word. Now, while I believe that many students of high school are mature enough to read this book, I believe there are others who are NOT. This book SHOULD be taught... but carefully. It should be thoroughly explained to students before beginning the book and teachers must receive feedback from each individual student. As Mr. Wargo did awhile back ago, he warned us about the use of vulgar language and racial slurs and informed us that if anyone was uncomfortable with this language, they were free to perform a different assignment with no relation to the novel. While students should be given the opportunity to read the book, they should also be given the opportunity to decline the offer of reading this book. Personally for me, though, I am aware of the circumstances of the time this novel was written and I find it appropriate (for me) to read such a novel.

 

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