KNOW ALL OF THESE:
1) Define realism, satire, dialect, antihero, unreliable narrator, irony (situational, dramatic, and verbal), episodic plot, romanticism, dramatic foils, hyperbole, motif, picaresque novel, parable, sarcasm, simile, metaphor, oxymoron, allegory, euphemism, bildungroman
2) Pick out examples of symbols, irony and dialect
3) Example the meaning of at least one major symbol
4) Discuss how Huck is both an unreliable narrator and an antihero
5) Discuss how Huckleberry Finn, the novel, fits both a bildungsroman and picaresque novel
6) Give examples of and discuss the following motifs in the book: superstition, parodies of previous literature (romantic novels and Shakespeare), the adopting of personas (or reinventing self), childhood games, religion, lies and cons, death, and perhaps one or two others that I will bring up in class
7) Be out to pick out and example five – ten allusions
8) Outline the plot according to the six elements
9) Break up the book into three sections or three movements (and briefly explain each movement)
10) Break up the book into 9 episodes
11) Give a list of characters in the book with a brief description of each and their general purpose in the novel
12) Compare and Contrast Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer
13) Discuss the idea of and the historical reference of Family Feuds
14) Discuss the different types of conflict found in Huckleberry Finn
15) Discuss how Mark Twain uses allusions to back up his major themes and develop his characters
16) Keep a list of Huckleberry Finns stories and pranks
17) Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is honest in dishonest world
18) Briefly explain the following themes: Racism and Slavery, Intellectual and Moral Education, The hypocrisy of society (appearance vs. reality), conflict between the individual and society, the quest for freedom (both freedom away from society and freedom within society), superstition vs religion, death and rebirth, coming of age and the hero’s journey, the concept of family, the role of the outsider, the nature and the significance of the following traits: gullibility, ignorance, and naivety, tolerance vs. prejudice.
SAMPLE SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS:
1) Give at least three examples of scenes that fit the THEME: the individual vs. society.
2) List 9 episodes and give three events for each.
3) For the following characters list what they did or why they are important in the novel.
King (the late Dauphin)
Duke of Bridgewater (or Bilgewater)
Ben Rogers
Judith Loftus
Colonel Sherburn
Harvey Wilks
4) List three literary allusions in Huck Finn (please don’t use an author more than once) and discuss what the allusions reinforce (think main ideas or themes).
5-8) Name the speaker of the following quotes and briefly discuss the significance of the quote:
“Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children—children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm”
SPEAKER:
SIGNIFICANCE:
“Is a cat a man? Well den, dey ain’t no sense in a cat talkin’ like a man. Is a cow a man? Is a cow a cat? Well den she ain’t got no business to talk like either one… Is a Frenchman a man? Well den! Dad blame it, why doan’ he talk like a man?”
SPEAKER:
SIGNIFCANCE”
“I’d been selling an article that takes the tartar off the teeth—an it does take it off, too, and generly the enamel along with it.”
SPEAKER:
SIGNIFICANCE:
“They call this a govment that can’t sell a free nigger till he’s been in the state six months… Here’s a govment that calls itself a govment, and lets on to be a govment and thinks it is a govment, and yet’s got to set stock-still for six whole months before it can take a-hold of a prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free nigger.”
SPEAKER:
SIGNIFICANCE:
9. Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is both an unreliable narrator and an antihero.
10. Give an example of dramatic foil in the novel and discuss the significance of this dramatic foil. What idea(s) does this foil reinforce?
11. What is the major symbol of the novel? Discuss how it is used? What scenes or moments reinforce this idea? What is Twain saying with this symbol about society?
SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1: At the beginning of the novel, why does Huck quit Tom Sawyer's gang?
a. He has no parent to ransom.
b. He feels guilty about robbing people.
c. The gang's adventures are imaginary.
d. The Widow forces him to quit.
2: When Huck sees Pap's boot print in the snow, what does he do?
a. He tells Miss Watson.
b. He quits school.
c. He tries to get Tom's gang to search for Pap.
d. He sells his fortune to Judge Thatcher.
3: How does Huck cover up his escape from Pap's cabin?
a. He makes it look as if a robber killed him.
b. He leaves a note explaining his disappearance.
c. He doesn't; he just escapes.
d. He leaves evidence indicating that Jim was at fault.
4: Who, in addition to Huck, is hiding on Jackson's Island?
a. Jim
b. Tom Sawyer
c. Miss Watson
d. The Duke and the King
5: Who is Sarah Williams from Hookerville?
a. Tom Sawyer's cousin
b. Jim's new owner
c. Miss Watson's niece
d. Huck in disguise
6: What are the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons feuding about?
a. The theft of cattle
b. The death of an infant
c. Nobody really remembers.
d. A land dispute
7: Where does Huck hide the money he steals from the Duke and the King?
a. In the mattress of his bed
b. In the wigwam on the raft
c. In a well
d. In the coffin
8: Whom do the Phelpses mistake Huck for?
a. Tom Sawyer
b. Sid Sawyer
c. Judge Thatcher
d. Jim
9: At the end of the novel, after Huck leaves them in search of Jim, what happens to the Duke and the King?
a. Huck never finds out.
b. They get tarred and feathered and driven out of town.
c. They have another successful Royal Nonesuch.
d. They take a steamboat up the Mississippi River.
10: Who has the logical plan of escape to free Jim from the Phelps' farm?
a. Jim
b. Tom Sawyer
c. Huck
d. The Duke
11: According to Tom Sawyer, why must Jim's escape be so elaborate?
a. That is the way it is done in romance novels.
b. To fool the ignorant villagers
c. To ensure success
d. To throw off suspicion
12: Who gets shot during Jim's escape?
a. Jim
b. Huck
c. Uncle Silas
d. Tom Sawyer
13: Who says the following: "Doan' hurt me — don't! I hain't ever done no harm to a ghos'. I awluz l
iked dead people, en done all I could for 'em."
a. Huck
b. The Duke
c. Jim
d. Tom Sawyer
14: Who says the following: "I say orgies, not because it's the common term, because it ain't – obsequies bein' the
common term – but because orgies is the right term. Obsequies ain't used in England no more, now – it's gone out."
a. Tom Sawyer
b. The King
c. Uncle Silas
d. Judge Thatcher
15: Who says the following: "You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter."
a. Jim
b. Huck
c. Uncle Silas
d. Tom Sawyer
