Racism+in+Huck+Finn

JUST A NOTE TO ALL OF YOU. I SEE SOME VERY GOOD ANALYSIS. REMEMBER THAT THE CITATION IS PLACED AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE. business” (Twain 349). IS CORRECT. BECAUSE YOU ARE DISCUSSING A JOURNEY, KEEP THE EVENTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. MAKE SURE YOU REFER TO SPECIFIC EVENTS AND YOU EMBED QUOTES IN YOUR OWN SENTENCES. DON'T USE A FULL SENTENCE OF A QUOTE AND THEN SAY "THIS SHOWS." WHEN YOU RESPOND, PLEASE GIVE ONE PRAISE, ONE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND ONE QUESTION YOU HAVE. I STARTED RESPONDING, BUT I WANTED TO WAIT UNTIL ALL OF YOU HAD RESPONDED. How does the growth and/or changes in Huck reflect a changing attitude toward Jim and illustrate Mark Twain's attitude toward the prevalent racism?

In the beginning of the book, __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn__, Mark Twain uses Huck Finn to accurately portray the stereotypical racism of the 1840’s. Thinking of Jim as only a slave, he accepts the fact that Jim is Miss Watson’s property and she has the ability to sell him. He even feels bad that he is “stealing” Jim from her, and believes that Tom will think helping Jim is “dirty, low-down business” (Twain 349). However, as Huck spends time with Jim on the raft away from society, he comes to realize that Jim is a person too. Through friendship, Huck recognizes that Jim “cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n.” (Twain 239) Huck decides to aid Jim in his pursuit of freedom, no matter what anyone else thinks. This reflects Mark Twain’s opinion that racism and slavery are immoral and should be rejected by all, just as Huck has done. Gabby Murphy, Alec Muklewicz, and Lacey Sanchez Why was the second quote used to describe the opinion that Tom would have about racism and freedom instead of an opinion from Huck? Zack More, Jake Sheldon, Luizangel Walle, Alfredo Cortez Excellent job - I can't wait to see how you answer the question. Mrs. S.

We used the second quote to describe the opinion that Tom would have about racism and freedom to show the way society and common beliefs affected the way Huck felt about race. -Gabby, Lacey, and Alec


 * Dmitry Smith, Chase Guthrie, James Thomas**

Huckleberry Finn’s perceptive on racism was very prevalent at the beginning on the novel. It seemed that all the racial slurs, and segregated environment played an impact on Huck’s views. At first Huck thought that racism, and the prejudice ways of the South was normal. He though African American, was a total different strand of people. Huck essentially was ignorant to the fact that the only difference between him and Jim was the color of their skin. Throughout the novel, Huck realizes how wrong he was. The turning point for this event was when Huck witnessed Jim crying and being emotional over the thought of never seeing his family again. This enlightened Huck’s word and gave him a more open minded perspective of what African-American’s had to go through back then, and how wrong it was to judge someone merely by the color of their skin. This is good, but you need quotes and support from actual events. You have one -- Embed some quotes to support. Mrs.S This analysis of __Huckleberry Finn__, while informative, had a few grammatical errors. We appreciate the fact that this group included the point in the story when Huck's opinion of Jim changes. We also agree with the inferences they have made about the racism in the novel. Although the paragraph may have had strong points, there were a number of spelling issues and errors in grammar. For instance, in the fourth sentence, the mispelling of 'thought' was evident as well as the inclusion of a comma. Observing the same sentence, the misuse of the noun, total, is apparent, whereas an adverb should have been utilized. Additionally, this paragraph was not backed up by any quotes from the novel, and also didn't have a wide range of sentence structure. Why didn't you use a direct quote from the novel? Gabby Murphy, Alec Muklewicz, and Lacey Sanchez We felt like the paragraph covered the material well enough to the point where we didn't need the quotes, as we described them. <3

Zack More, Jake Sheldon, Luizangel Walle, Alfredo Cortez

Huckleberry Finn is Mark Twain’s way of displaying his views of society, especially racism and slavery.Being fourteen, Huck is not yet affecte d by society, he sees the African-American people as property and possessions. However h e sheds these ideals slowly through out the book as he aids Jim in his escape from slavery. Not only is he helping Jim, but he also w ishes to escape a town that wants to “ s ivilize” him by forcing morals, that Huck doesn't completely agree with, on to him. At one point in the book Huck is given the decision to turn Jim in, which would have been correct by the way he was raised by his guardians, Ms. Watson, his father, and the widow. Instead he says, “…alright then, I’ll go to hell!(Twain 215)” and decides to stay with Jim because Jim was not just a piece of property anymore, he was a friend. An epiphany also occurs when Jim say s that he misses his family and Huck realizes "Jim cared for his family just as white folks do for theirs"(Twain117). Having be en written from the view of a 14 year old boy, Mark Twain expresses his views towards racism through Huck 's simple mind and eyes. Overall, we liked your paragraph because you expressed the views in an understanding way. We liked the idea of Huck's age being important to his viewpoint on racism. We also feel that his age makes it where he's not an entirely reliable source, but it was very unique. The problems we noticed were that there weren't any complex sentences starting with a subordinate clauseand you spelled civilize wrong. Do you think that Huck would have ended up with the opinion of Jim that he has if he hadn'tbeen a rebel to society before he faked his death? How important do you think that it is that Huck Finn was only 14 when his adventures took place to his relationship with Jim? Ashley, Samantha, and Abby We think that Huck was a rebel because he was a youth that wanted to rebel just to rebel, that being said Jim never had a big influence on Huck's ideas about society other than his idea of race and racism. Being only 14 Huck's age was important to the story and how he viewed the world, so we think his age played a huge role in the novel.

Ashley Hartzell, Samantha Lockhart, Abby Ault

Huckleberry Finn's view of rascism evolves as his relationship with Jim changes. In the beginning of the novel, Huck believed that Jim was just another person's property, not an actual person. Jim was not introduced as himself first, but as "Mrs.Watson's big nigger" (Twain 13). This showed that he was more like an object and something to be owned rather than an actual person. Huck's original feelings about racism were partially thanks to his father, such as when he said " When they told me...they'd let a nigger vote, I drawed out "(Twain104). As he realizes "Jim cared for his family just as white folks do for theirs," Huck's views began to change (Twain 117). Huck showed that he started trusting Jim when he began to laugh and joke around such as when he said "Jim was the easiest nigger to laugh that ever was"(Twain480).Spending time onthe raft has made them closer and able to be around each other as friends rather than slave and master. They're so close, that when Tom Sawyer comes back into his role, he agrees that he will try to break out Jim, considering that he is friends with Huck, who is friends with Jim.

Your paragraph was fairly good. The only mistakes were a few grammar errors such as after your quote (Twain 480) you joined the words ‘on’ and ‘the’ together. Also in this sentence you did not put a space between ‘Spending’ and the period of the last sentence. Also why didn't you give a quote on the aqquired skills or at the very least go into it in detail? The final sentence is a bit of a fragment sentence as well. However other then these errors, your paragraph was very good. Alexa B, Connor T

We did not give a quote on the acquired skills because we felt like not only would people already have an idea, but we also believed that we did not want to overload our readers with quotes. Nor did we go into specific detail because this is not a long essay, it is a short response. There also wasn't just one specific moment in which all of his skills were acquired, but a gradual increase in his abilitys to live on his own, and provide for himself. Ashley, Abby, and Samantha

Huck’s perspective changes from the beginning to the end on racism. Throughout the novel, Huck developed a strong bond with Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. In the beginning of the book, Huck did not see Jim as more than a slave. Jim was not seen as a real person. Jim and Huck’s relationship gradually became stronger. Huck’s father was a racist and society impacted his opinion on blacks. Running away with Jim enclosed Huck from society and it’s opinions. He started to really see Jim as a person when Jim talked about his family. “..but by and by it got sort of lonesome.” Shows Huck preferred companionship. When Huck first saw Jim on the island, he was just happy to see someone he knew. Over time, Huck realized “Jim cared for his family just as white folks do for theirs (Twain 117).” By the end of the novel, Huck and Jim were the best of friends. Their friendship grew stronger and stronger in time. Huck would not leave Jim behind, whatever it took, he would find Jim and they would leave together. He finally saw Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, as Jim, his friend. The racial slurs of the environment that Huck was used to being in seemed to not matter and disappear.

In the //Adventures of Huckleberry Finn//, a friendship was bloomed throughout the novel, and with that a point of view was changed. The novel took place in the South, where whites had supremacy over blacks, and equality was nowhere to be seen. Blacks were seen as property, not individuals, not even as human beings, just as slaves. In the society that Huck Finn was raised in, he was influence to feel the same. Huck’s view of Jim was no different from the society that surround him, the only difference was that Huck was a young individual, who dislikes being civilized and whose opinion could succumb to change. Towards the beginning of the novel, there are numerous examples of Huck’s belief of being superior to Jim. There are countless pranks that Huck played upon Jim, from the rattlesnake incident, to pretending their separation was all just a dream that Jim had, the actions showed that Huck felt that Jim was inferior and could not outwit him. The rattlesnake prank was a prank that made Huck feel guilty, but not to the point where he would apologize. __As for the separation prank, this was a drastic shift in their relationship. In chapter 15, the two main characters get separate during a foggy night. After some time, the two are reunited. Huck takes this chance to prank a worried Jim. He proceeds to convince Jim that it was all a dream. Jim falls for it and sees it as a warning. But, he soon comes to a revelation, that it is all a fib. Jim gets upset, which cause Huck to feel extreme guilt. “It was fifteen minutes before [Huck] could work [himself] to go and humble [himself] to a nigger,” this was a huge shifted in their relationship, because it finally showed that Huck saw Jim as an equivalent, to himself, a person who deserved an apology (Twain,89).__ From there he gradually changed his view of Jim. Another turn of events would be when Jim finally spoke about his family that he abandoned. When Jim opened up to Huck, Huck at first thought it was a little strange that Blacks care for their families like white people did for theirs, but he brushed it off as it only seem natural. This provided Huck with a view of Jim as a caring person, who had feeling and emotions. The final act that proves that Huck truly saw Jim as an equal and a good friend was when Huck was debating whether to rescue Jim from Phelps. There he would state that he would go to hell, for rescuing Jim, but he was still going to do it. This ties in to a huge opinion change. Jim was once a slave that Huck knew, but now he would go to hell for him just like he would for Tom Sawyer.

Dalena and Erica We really enjoyed your paragraph, we thought it was really well thought out and the diction was superb; however, the citation was not correct. For example, (Twain, 89) should be (Twain 89) no comma! We also believe that although it got your point across, it could have been done in fewer words. It was not really clear as to when the turning is in your opinion. We would like to know when that was? Otherwise, well done. Savannah, kailyn, Elizabeth

Thanks! -Erica and Delena * We feel that Huck’s turning point was when he finally apologizes to Jim, which was after the separation incident.

At the very beginning of the story __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn__, the protagonist Huck feels that African Americans are not even considered people, they are just slaves. When Huck is sneaking out of the house with Tom, they almost get spotted by Jim. Huck and Tom wait until he falls asleep then sneak away. He says that slaves are all superstitious “Niggers is always talking about witches in the dark by the kitchen fire” (Twain, 6) After this he runs into Jim again later in his travels, where again he doubts him because of his superstitious beliefs. Later, down the river in which they're traveling, Huck says that Jim had a level head, for a nigger. Huck even said “You can’t learn a nigger to argue” (Twain, 80) After Jim talked about how he was going buy a wife and have kids, and if they couldn’t have kids then they would steal them, when Jim said this Huck was horrified to hear that. An old saying came back to him “Give a nigger an inch and he’ll take an ell.” (Twain, 88) Finally Huck decides to tell on Jim. He starts to swim ashore to find someone but stops when he hears Jim call that Huck was the only white person who ever tried to help him. This makes Huck rethink his plans and try to help Jim escape from slavery “Well, I just felt sick.” (Twain, 89) Over the journey together, they start to develop a powerful friendship. This shows that Mark Twain thinks slavery is immoral and a dark stain on human history. Mark shows this by Huck’s character. At first he thought that slavery was normal, however after his travels he begins to think that slavery should not be allowed and that African Americans are just like white people. Alexa Berk, Connor Thomas

"What is the relevence of the quotes in your summary? Do they really portrey what you're trying to explain?"

In your summary you have many run on sentence fragments. For example; In the summary they as well did not put quotation marks where they were needed, ex. "Huck says that Jim had a level head, for a nigger." Also, in the quotation there is no site or refrence to where the quote is in the book, so it could be assumed that they made it up.
 * " After Jim talked about how he was going buy a wife and have kids, and if they couldn’t have kids then they would steal them, when Jim said this Huck was horrified to hear that."
 * "Mark shows this by Huck’s character."
 * "Huck and Tom wait until he falls asleep then sneak away."

- Dmitry Smith, James Thomas and Chase Guthrie

The quotes we used portrayed how at the beginning of the story, Huck believed that slaves were not real people. The very first quote we put showed that Huck thought all slaves were superstitious. We will have to double check from now on for fragmented sentences. Thank you for the helpful criticism and we’ll be sure to check for these mistakes from now on. Connor T and Alexa B

We liked your paragraph; however, there are a couple of questions we would like to ask. How did you arrive at the idea that Jim wanted to buy a wife and have kids with that one, and that if they couldn’t have kids they would steal them? We noticed that there were a couple of mistakes regarding your citation after the quote. There should not be any comas, example: (Twain, 13) should just be (Twain 13). In addition, usually when ending a quote, there is no punctuation used before the citation. Savannah Kailyn Elizabeth

We did not know that you were not supposed to put a comma between the name of the author and the page number. Also we now realized that we should have put in a quote showing that Jim wanted to get a wife and children was a real part of the story and not something we made up. Thank you for the helpful criticism.Connor T and Alexa B

Huck is a dynamic character because he changes his attitude towards Jim. Viewing Jim as "Miss Watson's big nigger" (Twain 3), Huck's views reflect society's.In the late 1830's, society made it seem okay for people to treat people of different races unkind and unfairly. Huck, being only 14 years old, is not completely tainted by society's views. However, as Huck starts to drift away from society on a raft with Jim, his views start to alter.Then, as the story progresses, Huck still messes with Jim by playing tricks and lying to him. For example, Huck plays a role in getting Jim hurt when he places a snake's carcass in Jim's blanket, consequently, Jim was bitten. However, Huck did not continue to feel like this as he began to know Jim and get closer to him as more than just a companion on a daring adventure, but as a friend. The longer that Huck and Jim spent together on the raft, the closer they got. Since they spent a copious amount of time together, Jim even tells Huck that he is the "bes' fren' Jim's ever had" (Twain 89). Huck's views start to alter when he realizes Jim "cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n" (Twain 117), which is the turning point in their relationship. Showing how much he cares for Huck and his feelings, Jim hides the corpse of Hucks's father "He ain't a comin' back no mo', Huck" (Twain 220). Mark Twain uses Huck and Jim's relationship to show how society viewed racism back in the 1830's. -Kailyn savannah elizabeth

Your response was well thought out; it clearly shows how Huck’s views were changed. The paragraph you’ve written was a nice summary of what happened in the novel, also. We like how there were two perspectives on their friendship. I would recommend trying to not use “then” at the beginning of a sentence. Also, we feel that Huck’s view began to change earlier in the story, how does your team feel about this? -Erica and Delena Thank you for your response. However, we feel that the relationship did start to morph at the time that we stated, the raft. It wasn't until then that Huck began to approcah Jim as a friend and companion.