Huck Finn Week Two: Addressing Racism and Stereotyping

 Homework Due Dec. 17

1.  Independent Reading Project #2.  Be prepared to share with class.

2.  Read the article below, from "Culture Shock, Born to Trouble: The Adventures of Huck Finn," pbs.org.

3. Complete activities #1-3 below the article 

Since its publication, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been under fire as objectionable, not always for the same reasons. some objections have stemmed from the overt violence and cruelty present in the text; some have originated in the companionship of a black slave and a white teenager; some have been offended that southerners have been depicted as ignorant or backwater; but most frequently in the modern period, objections to racist words found in the text have led schools to suppress reading of the novel. 

Culture Shock.  Born to Trouble: The Adventures of Huck Finn

To many, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the world's greatest novels -- and a national icon. Twain's satirical attack on slavery, hypocrisy, and prejudice in antebellum America compels readers to look not only at slavery and racism, but also at the whole tradition of American democracy. It is the story of a white outcast boy, Huck, and his adult friend Jim, a runaway slave, who flee from Missouri together in search of freedom on a raft down the Mississippi River in the 1840s. Most critics agree that Huck's moral awakening to the injustice of slavery is among the most powerful statements against racism in American literature. As writer and Twain expert David Bradley sees it, "You can't arbitrarily say this book is trouble, we're not going to teach it, because a book like Huckleberry Finn is part of American literature. You can't get around it." In Hannibal, Missouri, Twain's hometown and the inspiration for Huck Finn, residents celebrate National Tom Sawyer Days around every Fourth of July honoring the author by reenacting some of Twain's local activities. Yet according to one Hannibal resident quoted in the film, very few of the African American residents choose to participate in the festivities because Huck Finn"degrades them." "Hannibal presents a selective version of what Mark Twain was about," says Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin. "It ignores the fact that Hannibal was a slave-holding town. It ignores the role that slavery played in shaping Mark Twain's imagination and in shaping the work of Mark Twain." While many praise the book, there are others who find it offensive. No American novel has been attacked by the public as long and as continuously as Huck Finn. Born to Trouble transports viewers back to the end of the Victorian era when Twain's then new novel was banned from the Concord, Massachusetts public library after members of the Library's committee called the book "trash." Other critics of the time followed suit, denouncing Twain for threatening public morality, childhood innocence, and the purity of the English language. The author's response was typically acerbic: "Those idiots in Concord are not a court of last resort and I am not disturbed by their moral gymnastics," wrote Twain. Although writers and critics elevated the novel to the canon of classic literature in the 1930s, the controversy surrounding Huck Finn was far from over. In 1957, as the Civil Rights movement started to gain momentum, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) charged that Huck Finncontained "racial slurs" and "belittling racial designations." While they didn't advocate censorship, the book was nevertheless removed from the New York City school system. Since then, the book has been called "racist" for both the use of the word "nigger" and a portrayal of blacks that some consider stereotypical and demeaning. It has been removed from reading lists in schools from Texas to Pennsylvania. Born to Trouble chronicles one such school system's battle: Kathy Monteiro, a Tempe, Arizona mother, recently launched a crusade to have the book removed from her teenage daughter's high school curriculum. "I'm wondering as a teacher and as a mother, how you can ask kids to go home and read the word 'nigger' 200-something times in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and then expect kids to come back to school and not use the word," observes Monteiro in the film. In 1985, the nation marked the centennial of the publication of Huck Finn and the 150th anniversary of Twain's birth with celebrations around the country. Although Twain could no longer respond to his critics -- he died in 1910 -- he had no shortage of supporters. President Ronald Reagan, seen in archival footage in the film, commends the author's legacy. "In the decades to come, may our schools give to our children the skills to navigate through life as gracefully as Huck navigated the Mississippi. And may they teach our students the same hatred of bigotry and love of their fellow men that Huck showed on every page, and especially in his love for his big friend Jim," praised Reagan. Beloved or banned, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with nearly 700 foreign editions printed, is one of the best known American novels across the globe, which would undoubtedly please the author. "I have never tried to help cultivate the cultivated classes. I was not equipped for it, either by native gifts or training. And I never had any ambition in that direction, but always hunted for bigger game -- the masses," wrote Twain.

Activity #1. Respond to the following statements, rating each statement using the following guide:
         4 beside a statement with which you strongly agree
         3 if you agree somewhat
         2 if you disagree
         1 if you disagree strongly

1. some words are so offensive that they should never be used to tell a story.
   
2. The names we use for others are not important.
   
3. The saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones,
   but words will never hurt me” is true.
   
4. Members of an ethnic group can refer to themselves in
   language that would be inappropriate for others to use.
   

Activity #2. Choose one of the statements with which you agree or disagree the most, and free write about your point of view and why you believe as you do.  Try to give concrete examples about why you feel as you do.

Activity #3. Explain the meaning of stereotype, as you would define it, and then list some common stereotypes that are used to describe teens/young adults like you.  Sort the list into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative labels. What do you notice about these labels? In what situations are they used? What impact do these labels have on the students? Why do you like or dislike these labels? 

Honors Students: 
Read Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” from History of Woman Suffrage (Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights, 1848) and Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman?” (from her speech at a woman’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio in 1852), both readily available on the web. While both works deal with the women’s movement in the United States, Truth’s status as a slave complicates the issue. 
Write a short essay (1 1/2- 2 pages) in which you discuss: 
If Truth’s argument results in her being treated as a woman, then enslaved males must be accorded status as men. How will this recognition confront existing laws? Considering that women in Huck Finn are widowed, spinsters, or unmarried—women who introduce troubled boys to religion, education, and civilization— describe the role of women during the reform movements and in the novel.  
 Also consider how fictional writing can arouse sympathies toward political and social action. Do modern novels have this effect? Name short stories, novels, or films that have brought about or contributed to social movements. To assist with this, consult the Best Timeline of American Literature and Events (1880-1889): www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1880.htm.