AE Contemporary Composition, Per. 2

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain

Study Questions - Chapters 14-23 - DUE TUESDAY, 19 February 2013

Ch. 14-18

1. What sort of loot does Huck get from the Walter Scott? Which do you think are the most valuable items to Huck and Jim?
2. Why doesn't Jim think Solomon was wise? What do you think is the point of that biblical story? Why doesn't Jim get the point? How could Huck have explained it?
3. What is Huck and Jim's plan for going down the Mississippi? Why do they plan to take the Ohio River where it comes in?
4. How do Huck and Jim get separated on the river? How does Huck play a trick on Jim? Why? Why does he apologize? Why does it take him so long?
5. How does Huck feel about the fact that Jim is almost free? Why?
6. What disasters happen to the canoe and to the raft? Why is this chapter called The Rattlesnake-skin Does it Work?
7. Who are the Grangerfords? What new identity does Huck assume? Why do the Grangerfords take him in?
8. Why does Huck try to write a poem? What does this show about the kind of person he is?
9. How do Buck and his father and brothers get killed? Is it Huck's fault? How do you explain that only a few hours after Huck watched terrible bloodshed, Huck and Jim “talked and had a good time” (p. 107)?
10. Satire is the use of ridicule, sarcasm, wit, or irony to expose a folly or social evil – and Mark Twain was a skilled satirist. Reread the section where Huck describes the role of kings (pp. 74-76). At what aspects of royalty is Twain poking fun?
11. Huck feels guilty about a lot of things. He wishes he hadn't pulled the practical joke on Jim (Chapter 15) and he feels responsible for igniting the feud by bringing the note from Harney to Miss Sophia (Chapter 18). Describe something you did that you felt very guilty about later. What happened? Looking back, were you really to blame? Did you ever apologize – or do anything to make the situation better?

Chapters 19-23

1. Who are the “Duke” and “Dauphin”? How does Huck help them? How do they treat Huck and Jim?
2. How are the Duke and King frauds? Why are they on the run? Why doesn't Huck tell them he knows they are frauds? Do you agree that “the best way to get along with this kind of people is to let them have their own way” (p.115)?
3. What identity does Huck assume when describing who he is to the Duke and King? How much of the story is true?
4. Why do the people of Parkville get angry with the Duke and King? What scams have they fallen for?
5. What plan does the Duke come up with for moving downriver with an escaped slave in the daytime? Does Huck consider how uncomfortable this will be Jim? What other plans could have been devised?
6. What literary speech does the Duke teach the King? Why? The Duke seems to be quite intelligent. If he decided to earn an honest living, what career might he have pursued?
7. Who is Boggs? How is he killed? How does Huck feel about the killing?
8. Who Colonel Sherburn? Why isn't he lynched? How do you feel about him as he faces the crowd and turns them back? Why do you suppose Twain included this episode?
9. How does the crowd feel about the Royal Nonesuch performance? Why do they spread the word about how great the show is?