AP Language and Composition Assignments
(due on the second AP Language class)
I.
Terms flash cards
II. The Glass Castle assignment
III. Huckleberry Finn assignment
Terms
Using 3 x 5 index cards, make flash cards for each of the terms listed below. Some definitions
have been supplied; others you must locate. Be sure to include EXAMPLES of each term, so that
you will be able to recognize them in the materials we use in class.
1. Alliteration is the recurrence of initial consonant sounds. The repetition can be juxtaposed
(and then it is usually limited to two words)
2. Allusion is a short, informal reference to a famous person or event
3. Anadiplosis: ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words;
specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.
*Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants
of fame; and servants of business. --Francis Bacon
4. Analogy compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of
explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea
or object is similar to some familiar one. While simile and analogy often overlap, the simile
is generally a more artistic likening, done briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy
serves the more practical end of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the
abstract in terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended.
5. Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses or lines.
*We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight
on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the
air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight
in the hills. We shall never surrender.
--Churchill.
6. Assonance: repetition of the same vowel sound in words close to each other.
*Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
7. Antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them
together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure.
8. Aphorism: A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage.
9. Appositive: a noun or noun substitute placed next to (in apposition to) another noun to be
described or defined by the appositive. The appositive can be placed before or after the
noun:
10. Biblical Language – language which makes reference to or originates from the Bible
11. Cliché - A trite or overused expression or idea.
12. Colloquialism: pertaining to words or expressions more suitable for speech than writing;
in informal, conversational style.
13. Connotation is an implied meaning of a word. Opposite of denotation.
14. Cacophony: harsh joining of sounds.
*We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will.
15. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of
connotation.
16. Diction A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language,
which combine to help create meaning.
17. Didactic: Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.
18. Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one
whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
19. Nonfiction Genres
Autobiography - The biography of a person written by that person.
Chronicle - An extended account in prose or verse of historical events,
sometimes including legendary material, presented in chronological order
and without authorial interpretation or comment.
Diary - a personal record of events, experiences, and observations
Letter - A written or printed communication directed to a person or organization
Essay - A short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting
the personal view of the author.
Sermon - A religious discourse delivered as part of a church service. An
often lengthy and tedious speech of reproof or exhortation.
Speech - The faculty or act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings,
or perceptions by the articulation of words.
20. Hyperbole, the counterpart of understatement, deliberately exaggerates conditions for
emphasis or effect. In formal writing the hyperbole must be clearly intended as an
exaggeration, and should be carefully restricted. That is, do not exaggerate everything, but
treat hyperbole like an exclamation point, to be used only once a year.
21. Idiom A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself
grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in
keep tabs on. Think in terms of slang.
22. Inversion: Words out of order. Another device of poetry is the changing of the usual order
of words. This is called inversion, and is found mostly in the work of older classical poets.
But it is sometimes used by modern writers for the sake of emphasis.
23. Imagery: Writing which is detail orientated in terms of description
24. Irony: an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.
Three kinds of irony:
 verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means
something else.
 dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a
character in the literature does not know.
 irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and
actual results.
25. Jargon: The specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group.
26. Juxtaposition: Placing two words or situations together in writing to create a stronger
meaning.
27. Mood: The reader’s interpretation of the “climate” of the writing. Different from Tone.
28. Motif: A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work; a dominant theme or
central idea.
29. Onomatopoeia: use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense.
30. Parallelism is recurrent syntactical similarity. Several parts of a sentence or several
sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal
in importance. Parallelism also adds balance and rhythm and, most importantly, clarity to
the sentence.
31. Paradox reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory.
32. Parallel Construction: As its name implies, parallel construction is necessary to show a
parallel relationship between two concepts of equal weight.
33. Personification metaphorically represents an animal or inanimate object as having human
attributes--attributes of form, character, feelings, behavior, and so on. Ideas and
abstractions can also be personified.
34. (Point of View) First-Person Narrator
The I-narrator may be part of the action or an observer. As readers, we cannot know or
witness anything the narrator does not tell us. We therefore share all the limitations of the
narrator. This technique has the advantage of a sharp and precise focus. Moreover, you
feel part of the story because the narrator's 'I' echoes the 'I' already in your own mind"
35. (Point of View) Second-Person Narrator
"This narrator speaks directly to the reader: "You walk in the room and what do you
see? It's Mullins again, and you say, 'Out. I've done with him.'" This point of view is rare
primarily because it is artificial and self-conscious. It seems to invite identification on the
part of the reader with the narrator, but it often fails"
36. (Point of View) Third-Person Third-person narration permits the author to be omniscient
(all-knowing) when necessary but also to bring the focus tightly in on the central character
by limiting observation only to what that character could possible witness or recall. One
emotional effect of the technique is the acceptance of the authority of the narrator. In
essence, the narrator sounds like the author.
37. Rhetoric Model Audience: rhetorical analysis always takes into account how an audience
shapes the composition of a text or responds to it.
38. Rhetoric Model Purpose of the Piece: Persuasion, according to Aristotle and the many
authorities that would echo him, is brought about through three kinds of proof (pistis) or
persuasive appeal:



Ethos – Ethical Appeal
Logos – Logical Appeal
Pathos –Emotional Appeal
48. Rhetorical Model Organization: (one card per mode please; look up definitions of
each)


Narration
Description








Example/Illustration
Classification/Division
Process Analysis
Compare and Contrast
Definition
Cause and Effect
Argument
Persuasion
39. Stream of Consciousness: A literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a
character as they occur.
40. Syntax
41. Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous,
sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective.
42. Understatement deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either
for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact. When the writer's audience can be expected
to know the true nature of a fact which might be rather difficult to describe adequately in a
brief space, the writer may choose to understate the fact as a means of employing the
reader's own powers of description.
43. Allegory
44. Anecdote
45. Apostrophe (not the grammar one!)
46. Chiasmus
47. Conceit
48. Metaphor
49. Simile
50. Invective
51. Loose sentence/cumulative sentence
52. Synecdoche
53. Metonymy
54. Oxymoron
55. Parody
56. Periodic sentence
57. Rhetorical Question
58. Sarcasm
59. Satire
60. Syllogism
61. Deductive reasoning
62. Inductive reasoning
63. Symbol/symbolism
64. Theme
65. Litote/Meiosis
66. Asyndeton
67. Polysyndeton
68. Zeugma
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Answer each of the following questions on lined paper in blue or black ink. DO NOT TYPE.
Part I: A Woman on the Street
1. Describe the incident at the opening of the book. How does Jeannette Walls react?
What does her mother later say in reaction to her daughter’s view of the situation?
2. Why do you think Walls opens the book with this story?
3. What do you now want to find out?
4. What are your initial views of the mother and daughter?
5. Look at the closing two lines of the section. What purpose do they serve?
6. Look at the epigraph before the section. What do you suppose it means? We will
return to the epigraph at the end of the book
Part II: The Desert
Pages 9-28
7. Describe the hot dog incident. What do we learn about Jeannette from the incident?
What do we learn about the father, the mother, and the family?
8. How does the outside world view the family?
9. Describe the father (good and bad). What is a genius?
10. Describe the mother.
11. Describe the children.
12. Explain why the family keeps moving.
13. Describe the children’s education. What is important to the family?
14. How does Jeannette feel about her parents? Examples?
15. What stories does the father tell? Why? What can we tell from his stories?
16. Where does the book get its title? Explain.
17. Describe how the parents first met.
18. Describe the importance of the Mary Charlene story.
19. Figure out the birth order and ages of the children.
Page 29-57
20. What is the purpose of the story about Jeannette falling out of the car?
21. How do the children react to the fire?
22. Explain how the father teaches Jeannette to lose her fear of demons.
23. How do the family members celebrate Christmas? Why?
24. Describe the mother.
25. Describe the fight the parents have. How does the fight affect the children?
26. Describe Jeannette’s fight with the Mexican girls. What does the fight tell you about
Jeannette and the family?
27. Describe the U-Haul story. What is the importance of the story?
Pages 58-90
28. Describe the parents’ methods for raising children. Give examples. Contrast their
views with traditional methods for raising children.
29. Describe the episode between Brian and Jeannette with the science experiment in the
shack. What does this tell us about the children? What does it tell us about the
parents?
30. Describe how Jeannette learns to swim.
31. How does the family change when the father loses his job?
32. Explain Jeannette’s comment on page 69: “I’d broken one of our unspoken rules: We
were always supposed to pretend our life was long and incredibly fun adventure.”
33. What is odd about the closing episode on page 72?
34. Discuss the quotation on page 78: “Have I ever let you down?”
35. Discuss Jeannette’s promise to her father on page 79.
36. Discuss the importance of the Billy Deel episode?
37. Compare and contrast Jeannette’s life to Billy’s life.
Pages 91-125
38. Describe how Jeannette felt about her grandmother. How does she react when she
learns of her grandmother’s death?
39. On page 93, Jeannette’s mother calls herself at “excitement addict.” Do you agree?
Give examples. In what ways is this good, and in what ways is this bad?
40. Describe the new house and the family’s new life.
41. Describe the story with the gypsies. What does this tell about the family?
42. What role does religion plan in the family? Explain.
43. Explain the purpose of the zoo story.
44. Explain the quotation on page 115: “When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways
of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night.”
45. Explain the importance of Jeannette’s 10th birthday story. What does the story tell us
about the father?
46. Describe the family’s escapades to collect money.
47. Explain the purpose of the Grand Canyon story.
48. How does the family change at the end of the “Desert” section? Explain.
49. Explain the role which each member has in the family. Give examples.
50. Explain the movement of the family from the opening of the second section to the
end. How has the family changed? How have individual family members changed?
Part III: Welch
Pages 129-158
51. Describe the quotation at the bottom of page 129.
52. Describe the family that Jeannette meets in Welch. How do they respond to the
visitors? How do Jeannette and her family react to their new relatives?
53. Describe Welch.
54. Explain what happens when Jeannette attends the new school. How does Jeannette
react to her new situation?
55. Explain how racism causes problems within the family.
56. How do the children respond when their parents leave for Phoenix?
57. Explain the huge fight that takes place between the grandmother and children. How
do the parents respond when they return? How and why is this a significant change in
the family?
58. At the bottom of page 148, Jeannette states: “And so I put it out of my mind.” Do
you believe her? Is it possible to truly put something out of your mind?
59. Describe the new house the family finds. Explain how each family member reacts to
this new house.
60. Explain the importance of the glass castle episode.
61. Trace Jeannette’s growth / maturity.
Pages 159-179
62. Why do the parents reject welfare or charity?
63. What’s the purpose of the Ginnie Sue Pastor story?
64. Why do so many children hate the Walls?
65. Describe the story of Jeannette taking care of her injured father.
66. How has the family changed?
67. How do the children take care of themselves?
68. What’s the purpose of the story at the bottom of page 179?
Pages 180-198
69. How does the family respond to Erma’s death? What rift develops in the family?
Explain.
70. Explain the mother’s statement that sexual assault is a crime of perception. What is
your reaction to her statement to her daughter?
71. Describe the episode when Jeannette must rescue her father from the bar. Why is this
episode so important?
72. The mother’s mental health seems to deteriorate. Explain.
73. What’s the purpose of the ring story?
74. In what ways do Jeannette and her mother switch roles?
75. Discuss the quotation on page 188: “We’ve got to get away.”
76. What can we learn about the mother and children from the mother’s teaching job?
Pages 199-217
77. Explain the purpose of the Dinitia stories.
78. What can we learn from the story about braces?
79. How does the school newspaper change Jeannette?
80. Why is Miss Bivens so important to Jeannette and her family?
81. Why is Jeannette so enamored by newspapers?
82. What changes does Jeannette see in Maureen? Explain.
83. Describe mom’s melt-down and how each child reacts.
84. Explain Jeannette’s promise to herself on page 208.
85. Explain the difficulties Jeannette encounters in managing the family’s finances for
two months.
86. Explain the importance of the bar scene. How does Jeannette’s relationship with her
father begin to change?
87. Describe Jeannette’s first real job. How does the job change her?
Pages 218-241
88. Explain the importance of the section on pages 218-221.
89. Describe the plans that Lori and Jeannette make. What do these plans tell us about
the sisters?
90. Describe how and why the children change their feelings for their parents.
91. How does Jeannette’s newspaper job change her? Why?
92. How do Jeannette’s parents react to her decision to leave Welch at the end of the
eleventh grade?
93. Explain the importance of the Glass Castle discussion on page 238.
94. Describe Jeannette’s final departure from Welch.
Part IV: New York City
95. Explain how Jeannette adjusts to life in New York City.
96. Describe how Jeannette, Lori, and Brian find success in New York City.
97. Describe the parents’ lives in NYC.
98. How do the parents affect each child when they move to NYC?
99. How does each child try to help the parents?
100. Explain the significance of Professor Fuchs confrontation with Jeannette on page 256.
101. Explain the importance of the Christmas scene on page 263.
102. How does Dad try to support Jeannette with her education? What does this tell us
about him?
103. Explain mom’s “sell out” comment to Jeannette on page 269. What’s your reaction
to her comment?
104. Explain the significance of the land purchase squabble on page 272.
105. Explain Maureen’s deterioration.
106. Explain the statement: “Something in all of us broke that day” on page 277.
107. What effect does the dad’s death have on the family?
Part V: Thanksgiving
108. Explain how the family and individual members of the family have changed since the
death of the father.
109. Explain Brian’s statement at the top of page 288: “You know, it’s really not that hard
to put food on the table if that’s what you decide to do.” Why do you think he says
it?
110. Explain the importance of the final toast to the father.
Concluding Discussion Questions
111. Go back and read the opening section. How do you now view the mother?
112. Explain the book’s epigraph.
113. In what ways are the children stronger because of their childhood experiences?
114. In what ways have the children been damaged because of their childhood
experiences?
STUDY GUIDE: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Answer the following questions in complete sentences on lined paper. DO NOT TYPE
Chapters 1-3
1. What doesn't Huck like about the Widow Douglas?
2. What does Jim think has happened to him as a result of the trick that Tom plays on him?
3. How does Huck know that the drowned body that is found is not his Pap?
4. When Tom's gang raids the "Spanish merchants and rich Arabs" what is it that they actually
do?
5. Where does Miss Watson take Huck to pray?
6. How would you compare the characters of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson? Who seems
to be presented in a more favorable light? Why do you think so?
7. How does Huck respond to Miss Watson's admonitions to pray? What does this tell us about
Huck?
8. How would you characterize Huck's self-image at this point in the novel?
9. What is the setting of the novel? Why is the time period in which it is set important?
10.
How would you contrast the characters of Huck and Tom?
Chapters 4-7
1. How does Huck know that his father has returned?
2. What does Huck do with his money? Why?
3. Why do the Widow Douglas and Judge Thatcher fail in their petition to become Huck's
guardians?
4. Where does Huck's father take him? Why?
5. How does Huck escape from his father?
6. How does Twain satirize "do-gooders" in his description of Pap's "reform"? How is the new
judge different from Judge Thatcher and the Widow Douglas?
7. How does Huck like life with his father? Why does he decide to run away?
8. How does the physical description of Huck's father in Chapter 5 also serve to describe his
character?
9. What does Huck's father criticize about the "govment"? What does Twain want the reader to
feel about these issues?
10.
Why does Huck think about Tom when he is working out his escape?
Chapters 8-11
1. Why has Jim run away from Miss Watson?
2. What does Jim discover in the house that is floating down the river?
3. What prank does Huck play on Jim, and how does it backfire?
4. What does Huck learn about Jim from his visit to Mrs. Loftus?
5. How does Mrs. Loftus figure out that Huck is not a girl?
6. How does Huck feel about not turning Jim in? Why do you think he feels that way?
7. How would you characterize Jim's predic-tions in these chapters? Does the reader get any
sense of which ones will come true and which will not?
8. Do you think that Jim's character is any different in chapters 8 and 9 than in Chapter 2? How?
9. How would you characterize Mrs. Loftus? Why do you think she isn't harsher on Huck when
she discovers he is lying to her?
10.
Much of the humor of Huckleberry Finn, as well as the serious satire, comes from Huck's
being unaware of the comic implications of what he says. What Huck takes seriously,
Twain often means to be comic. Find one or two instances of this in these chapters, and
explain the difference between what Huck says and what Twain means.
Chapters 12-14
1. How do Huck and Jim avoid being seen while they are floating down the river?
2. Whom do Huck and Jim discover on the wrecked steamboat?
3. Why can't Huck and Jim escape from the boat? How do they finally get away?
4. What happens to the steamboat?
5. Where does Huck get his information about dukes and kings?
6. What does Huck's insistence on boarding the wrecked steamboat tell us about Huck?
7. What is the name of the steamboat? Why do you think Twain might have given her that name?
8. Why does Huck stop and try to save the murderers, and how does this reflect on his character?
9. How accurate is Huck's information about dukes and kings? Why?
10.Why do you think Jim is so vehement in his dislike of King Solomon?
Chapters 15-16
1. What is Huck and Jim's plan to reach safe territory?
2. What is Jim doing when Huck rejoins him after they are lost in the fog?
3. What is Jim's response to Huck's trick?
4. How does Huck convince the men looking for runaway slaves not to search the raft?
5. How do Huck and Jim know that they have passed Cairo?
6. What is the principal conflict in Huck's mind about Jim?
7. Does the reader's attitude toward Jim change as a result of his response to Huck's trick on him?
How does his response make you think of Huck's pranks?
8. What is Huck's response to Jim's plans to steal his children after he reaches freedom? How
does this response help to satirize a slave society?
9. How is the steamboat portrayed at the end of Chapter 16? What is the attitude of steamboatmen toward raftsmen?
10. With Huck and Jim below Cairo and the raft destroyed, where can the plot go from here?
Chapters 17-18
1. After Huck forgets his name, how does he trick Buck into revealing it?
2. What theme was Emmeline Grangerford most interested in?
3. How does Huck rediscover Jim?
4. What happened to the raft?
5. Why does Huck feel responsible for the carnage following Sophia's elopement?
6. What do the furnishings of the Grangerford house tell us about the inhabitants?
7. What do you think Twain is satirizing in his description of Emmeline Grangerford's poetry?
8. In Huck's description of the church service and later the hogs that sleep under the church
floor, do you think Twain is satirizing religion itself or the way some people practice
religion?
9. Would you say that the Grangerfords are basically good or bad people? Why do they end up
the way they do?
10.
At the end of Chapter 18, Huck says, "You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on
a raft." How would you compare life on shore and life on the raft so far?
Chapters 19-20
1. What theory does Jim come up with regarding the origin of the stars?
2. How does Huck meet the men who later identify themselves as the duke and the king?
3. What had the duke and the king been doing before they met Huck?
4. How does the king dupe the people at the camp meeting?
5. How does the duke arrange for them to float by day?
6. How do Huck and Jim dress on the raft? How might clothes function in this novel?
7. Why do you think Huck helps the duke and the king when he first meets them?
8. Huck knows the duke and king are frauds. Why does he pretend that he believes them?
9. What characteristics do the people at the camp meeting display? Does Twain approve?
Chapters 21-23
1. What kind of show do the king and duke plan at first?
2. What does Sherburn do to Boggs?
3. How is the first performance by the duke and king received?
4. What is the people's response to the "Royal Nonesuch"?
5. What does Jim tell Huck about his daughter Elizabeth?
6. How would you describe the town where Huck and Jim land? What are the inhabitants like?
7. What is Sherburn's attitude toward the men attempting to lynch him? What is Twain's?
8. Why do you think Twain includes a description of the circus here? How would you compare
the circus to the entertainment provided by the duke and king?
9. How do the duke and king entice people to see the "Royal Nonesuch"? What do you think
Twain is implying about human nature with this?
10. What connection does Huck see between the duke and king and real royalty? What do you
think Twain's opinion is?
Chapters 24-26
1. What arrangement does the duke make so that Jim doesn't have to be tied up all day?
2. How does the king learn about the Wilks family?
3. Why is the king worried that the gold is $415 short? How do they solve the problem?
4. Why does Dr. Robinson think that the king is a fraud?
5. What makes Huck determined to steal the gold back from the duke and king?
6. How do clothes change the king? How do clothes change Jim? What would you say the
thematic role of clothes might be in these chapters?
7. At the end of Chapter 24, Huck describes the welcome the townspeople give the duke and
king, and says, "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race." Why do you
think Huck's response to this is so strong? How does what the duke and king are doing
differ from what they've done before?
8. Why do the duke and king give "their" part of the inheritance to the girls?
9. What qualities do the Wilks girls have that allow them to be duped so easily? How does Mary
Jane's response to Joanna's grilling of Huck help emphasize this?
10. How would you compare these townspeople with the inhabitants of the townspeople in the
last episode? Are they better, worse, or about the same?
Chapters 27-29
1. Where does Huck hide the money? Who comes in right after he has finished?
2. What causes the disturbance during the funeral?
3. Who does Huck blame for stealing the duke and king's money?
4. Why does Hines claim that the duke and king are frauds?
5. What is Levi Bell's plan for deciding who the real Harvey and William Wilks are?
6. How does Huck feel about Mary Jane in these chapters? What do you think it is about her that
he responds to most deeply?
7. How would you describe the funeral in Chapter 27? How does it help to characterize the town?
8. Where is Jim during this entire episode? Why didn't Twain involve him more?
9. At one point while the townspeople are trying to decide who the real Wilks brothers are, Huck
says "anybody but a lot of prejudiced chuckleheads would a seen" that the duke and king
are frauds. Do you think this characterization of the townspeople is accurate? Why or
why not?
10. What does Huck's easy escape from Hines say about Hines's character?
Chapters 30-32
1. Who does the duke think hid the money in the coffin?
2. How do the duke and king prosper in the days following their escape?
3. Who sells Jim out?
4. Briefly describe the Phelps farm.
5. Who does Mrs. Phelps think Huck is?
6. How do the duke and king behave toward each other in these, chapters? How would you
compare this with their behavior in earlier chapters?
7. Briefly describe Huck's crisis of conscience that leads up to his decision to write to Miss
Watson. How does Twain use irony here to make his satirical points?
8. Why does Huck decide to "go to hell"?
9. What is Huck's understanding of Providence in Chapter 32? Would Miss Watson agree with
it?
10. How does Twain use irony in the discussion between Huck and Mrs. Phelps about the
steamboat accident that Huck makes up?
Chapters 33-35
1. What does Tom think Huck is at first?
2. Describe how Tom shocks Aunt Sally.
3. Who does Tom pretend to be?
4. Explain how Tom figures out where Jim is.
5. How do Huck and Tom overcome the difficulty that they can't take thirty-seven years to free Jim?
6. What accounts for Huck's surprise that Tom will help him steal Jim?
7. Why do you think Huck tries to help the duke and king when he finds out that the townspeople
know about them?
8. How does Huck respond to the duke and king being tarred and feathered? Is his response at all
surprising? Does it remind you of anything earlier in the novel? Explain.
9. Why does Huck prefer Tom's plan for freeing Jim to his own?
10. After Tom tells Huck that it's all right for them to steal, Huck steals a watermelon. Tom is
angered by this and insists that Huck pay for the watermelon. Why does Tom respond this way,
and what does this scene tell us about the differences between Huck and Tom?
Chapters 36-39
1. What do Huck and Tom use for light while they are digging?
2. Describe what Tom does when he can't climb the lightning rod.
3. Who does Aunt Sally blame for the missing shirt?
4. What does Tom want Jim to water his plant with?
5. What effect do the warnings have on the family?
6. How would you compare Huck's and Tom's attitudes toward the escape?
7. What characteristics does Aunt Sally have that enable the boys to take advantage of her?
8. What is the irony in the way that Tom and Huck get the grindstone into the hut?
9. Is there any evidence that Jim is really suffering during all of this? Does Huck's response to
Jim's plight seem reasonable to you?
10. When Tom devises a coat of arms for Jim, what evidence is there that his knowledge of these
things is really quite superficial?
Chapters 40-43
1. What effect has the last warning letter had on the Phelpses?
2. How does Tom get hurt?
3. Why doesn't Huck sneak out at night to visit Tom?
4. Who clarifies the identities of Tom and Huck?
5. What has happened to Huck's father?
6. What does Jim's behavior in these chapters say about his character?
7. What narrative purpose does the doctor's refusal to share a canoe with Huck serve?
8. What effect does the doctor's speech in support of Jim have? How believable is the deus ex
machina (literally, the "god from a machine," a theatrical term referring to a sudden and
unexpected solution to a seemingly insoluble problem) through which Jim is freed? Explain.
10. Where is Huck going at the end of the novel? What does this imply about the society in
which he lives, and his place in it?
The Novel as a Whole
1. What advantages does the river have as a setting and vehicle for a picaresque novel such as
this? What disadvantages does it have for this novel?
2. Briefly describe the style of Huckleberry Finn. What is your opinion of its effectiveness?
3. Compare and contrast life on the raft to life on the shore.
4. How would you describe Jim's intelligence and abilities? How "ignorant" is he, really? 5. Why
does Huck do what Tom says all the time? What elements contribute to Tom's authority?
6. What is Twain satirizing in the episode where Colonel Sherburn shoots Boggs? How would
you compare the tone of this satire to that in the rest of the book?
7. What aspects of Huck's character make him a good narrator? What difficulties are there for
the reader in having Huck as narrator?
8. How does Twain portray small-town life in this book?
9. How do you think Twain feels about "honor" as defined by the Grangerfords and Tom?