GROUP TWO: CHAPTERS 1-11

10/21/2010

1. Huck and Tom are foils (characters that contrast each other). How does Tom represent the romantic ideals of literature and fiction? How does Huck represent the realist movement in literature? Use examples from the text to support your answer. This may be a lengthy answer. THIS QUESTION MAY REQUIRE SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR PART--MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE ROMANTIC AND REALIST MOVEMENTS BEFORE ANSWERING!

2. Analyze Judge Thatcher’s reactions to Huck’s request to take his money. Why did the judge exchange one dollar for six-thousand dollars? Was he cheating Huck? Explain your answer, using textual clues to help your explanation.

3. Miss Watson could sell Jim for eight hundred dollars. He, therefore, feels rich because he owns himself. Explain Twain’s use of satire (LOOK THIS TERM UP IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT IT MEANS) in Jim’s statement. What was Twain’s attitude toward slavery in this passage? Explain your answer, using support from the text to provide proof for your opinion.

33 Comments

Alivia Cutts

3/24/2011 08:53:42 am

Question 1
Tom had realistic ideals because he believed everything in books. He was an adventurous and creative person. It didn't matter what it was, he believed what every great book said. Huck is more a realistic person. He is trustful and honest with everyone. He never really believed what Tom said but he still looked up to him and wanted to be more like him.

Question 2
Thatcher wasn't cheating Huck out of his money, because Thatcher wasn't really going to take the six-thousand dollars. He made an agreement on paper that he would give Huck a dollar for the agreement of the possible chance of Thatcher taking the money.

Question 3
Twain was a realistic writer and tried to keep all facts straight when he wrote. I think Twain was actually not a racist person. He was just making the story how he thought that the facts were portrade. When he wrote about Jim he was just showing how ignorant and illiterate the man really was, just like every other slave back then.

Carly VanLandingham

3/27/2011 05:29:33 am

Question 1
Tom represents romantic literature because he believes everything he reads in books but doesn't really see the realistic side of things. For example when he and the boys are forming the gang he bases every decision they make on what he has read in books and doesn't really think about the consequences or what exactly could happen (page 6-7). On the other hand Huck represents realist literature because he was very focused on reality, what was going on at that moment, and the consequences of every action. He was also very blunt and honest with everyone. He also questioned religion and the realness of it (page 9).

Larissa Fogle

3/27/2011 10:17:03 am

Question 1:
Tom represents the romantic ideals of literature and fiction because he takes what he reads and applies it to his life; He has a huge imagination. Huckleberry represents the realist movement in literature because he lacks the creativity Tom has, and he sees everything as it is [he’s a realist]. For Example, (page 10-11) Tom says instead of there being a Sunday School Picnic there were Arabs, elephants and tons of diamonds, but Huck said he couldn’t see any of it; Tom tells him if he read a book he would know it was due to enchantment. “I didn’t see no di’monds, and I told Tom Sawyer so. He said there was lods of them there, anyway; and he said there was A-rabs there, too, and elephants nd things. I said, why couldn’t we see them, then? He said I warn’t so ignorant, but hd read a book called ‘Don Quixtote’, I would know without asking. He said it was all done by enchantment.”

Larissa Fogle

3/27/2011 10:17:26 am

Question 2:
I believe Judge Thatcher was helping Huckleberry rather than cheating him because Huck told him to not ask questions and to please take the money. Thatcher exchanged one dollar for six thousand dollars because he bought Huck’s “property” (page 14).

Larissa Fogle

3/28/2011 07:56:20 am

Question 3:
Jim says on page 38, "Yes- en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns myself, en I's wuth eight hund'd dollar. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no mo'.” Twain’s use of satire is to show the irony of Jim’s state of mind. Jim still thinks of himself as property even though he is a human-being. I don’t think Twain is a racist writer. I believe he just using the facts on the characteristics of people back then and how society was.

Larissa Fogle

3/28/2011 07:59:11 am

Reply to Alivia, Question 3:
I don’t see how Twain used satire to show that all slaves were ignorant. I do agree that he was a realistic writer and wasn’t a racist; He was only using what he probably found in his research.

Larissa Fogle

3/28/2011 08:07:56 am

Reply to Carly, Question 1:
I agree completely that Tom is too caught up in make belive stories and he doesn't think about what could happen if he did these things in reality. I also agree that Huck is very focused on the real world and is somewhat honest with everyone.

Carly VanLandingham

3/28/2011 11:15:58 am

Question 2
I don't think Judge Thatcher was cheating Huck out of money at all but rather looking out for him. Huck got an extremely large amount of money at one time and for a boy his age this could be very dangerous. He has the temptation to want to blow it all at once and buy things he doesn't need. He also faces the chance that someone may try to take advantage of him to get his money. By only giving him a dollar a day he gave him plenty of money so he could still spend it if he wanted but he wouldn't have the temptation so spend it all. So I think Judge Thatcher was looking out for him more than anything.

Carly VanLandingham

3/28/2011 11:26:31 am

Question 3
It is ironic that Jim thinks that since he is worth 800 dollars he is rich because he thinks of himself as something that can be bought and has a price tag even though he is a human being. (page 39) I don't think that by saying this Twain was racist. He was simply a realist writer and using the mindset and opinions of people from that time period to tell his story. Twain may have seemed to have an attitude that approved of slavery but this isn't necessarily the case. He was just portraying the attitudes of people of that time.

Carly VanLandingham

3/28/2011 11:30:48 am

Reply to Larissa Question 3
I totally agree with you about Twain not being racist. He was simply portraying the thought and mindsets of the people in that time period.

Carly VanLandingham

3/28/2011 11:34:58 am

Reply to Larissa QUestion 1
I agree with how you explained Tom being a romantic and Huck being a realist. I didn't see it before but now I see that imagination really is a big factor in both. Romantics clearly use their imagination more than realists because they are always finding the better side of things.

Carly VanLandingham

3/28/2011 11:38:33 am

Reply to Larissa Question 2
I agree with you that Thatcher wasn't cheating Huck at all. He was really looking out for him and keeping his well-being a main priority.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 11:48:33 am

Tom represents romantic ideals and fiction by believing everything in books that he reads. For example when he tells the boys the rules and regulations of the gang he always refers back to books he had previously read. Not even knowing what things were that he read, he still used it because thats what the book said. Huck relates to the realist movement in literature by being his own, this meaning he took everything in as it was and not by what something tells him it is. An example of this is the way he questions religion and deems it doesnt have much 'stock' since all the people are dead.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 11:49:08 am

Question 1 ABOVE :)

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 11:54:02 am

Question 2
Judge Thatcher exchanged 1 dollar for 6 thousand so it didn't seem as he took the money from Huck or that Huck didn't just give it to him. In a way it was like a trade, Huck got rid of the money which acted like a burden when it came to his father and Judge Thatcher got money that he probably put to good use. The way i see it Thatcher did Huck a favor and vice versa.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 12:01:09 pm

Question 3
Twain's use of satire shows that Jim doesnt really see being a slave as a bad thing. Mostly because he owns himself and makes money like a real job. This shows you how common and in a way, normal slavery became and was.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 12:03:24 pm

Reply to Alivia Question 2
I agree with that but in signing of the paper it did mean taking the $6,000, not just a possible chance.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 12:06:42 pm

Reply to Alivia Question 3
It did not show Jim's illiteracy and ignorance nor any other slave because what he thought was actually true. He was worth $800 and he felt rich, that isn't a state of ignorance just stating an almost factual opinion.

Ray Edwards

3/28/2011 12:09:22 pm

Reply to Carly Question 3
I agree with exactly what your saying, Twain did not use bias nor opinion he simply stated the facts and mindset of the people.

Larissa Fogle

3/28/2011 12:50:51 pm

Reply to Ray, Questioon 2:
I agree with you that the one dollar for the six thousand dollars was a trade-off; also, it did most likely help them both.

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:06:08 pm

Question 2:
Judge Thatcher was not cheating Huck. He did not want to just take the money so he felt it was right to give Huck something for giving him the money.They made an agreement for the money so it wouldn't be wrong to anyone.

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:08:37 pm

Question 1:
Tom believe what he read. He was always thinking in his own world based on greate books he's read before, which made him the more romantic ideas. Huck, on the other hand, never really believed Tom because he was more honest than Tom. But Huck looked up to Tom, they were best friends. So in other words, Huck was the one with more realistic ideals.

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:10:23 pm

Question 3:
Twain stuck with the facts of that time period. I do not think he was racist at all, he just told the story how it was. Slaves were property so therefore he used it in the story because in that time that was the big thing.

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:11:46 pm

Reply to Alivia, Question 3:
I agree about Twain being realistic. He never sugar coated the facts about slavery and I don't think he was racist either, just sticking with what he knew!

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:13:17 pm

Reply to Carly Question 1:
I think the same thing about Tom, when I saw the whole story about the Arabs with the treasure that Tom was telling Huck I realized who the more realistic one was of the 2.

Taylor Thornlow

3/28/2011 01:14:51 pm

Reply to Ray Question 2:
I agree, Judge Thatcher didn't want to seem like a theif in my opinion. He's a judge, he doesn't need all of that money just being given to him and him not paying for or giving something in return.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:17:37 pm

Question 1
Tom represents romantic ideals because he beleaves in the fairy tales he reads.He thinks that what he reads is real and can happen.For example tom uses ideas he reads in books. Huck represents realistic ideals because he has to see it to beleave it. For example when tom talks about Arabs and stuff he says he cant see it.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:21:43 pm

Question 2
I beleave that the judge wasn't cheating Huck.He exchanged a dollar for six thousand because he knew he was helping Huck in the long run.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:22:09 pm

Question 2
I beleave that the judge wasn't cheating Huck.He exchanged a dollar for six thousand because he knew he was helping Huck in the long run.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:28:47 pm

Twain uses satire because Jim runs away before he gets sold so therefore he thinks he has eight hundred dollars because he owns himself because he ran away. Twain is against slavery in this passage because he brings up the negatives of slavery in the book he said that Jim doesn't want to get broken away form his family.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:33:30 pm

reply to Taylor Thornlow question 1.
I agree with you where tom believed all of the make believe stories.But I disagree with the part Huck looked up to tom i think Huck looked up to tom on some thing but not others because he knew there were not true.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:34:54 pm

reply to Ray Edwards question 2
I agree with you on this because Huck didn't want his dad to get the money.

Scott Tyson

4/10/2011 12:36:20 pm

reply to Ray Edwards question 3
I disagree with this because I feel like Jim missed his family because he wasn't with them because he was a slave.

GROUP TWO: CHAPTERS 1-11

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