The article was actually very interesting. It actually gave some valid points of why its actually hard to teach or to understand rather then just saying that its racially insensitive. It talked about how it is Socratic irony which I was sort of suprised to hear but it gave a valid point. If you don't understand how the author is writing their story or what the historical context of an article is, then it will be hard to understand and enjoy the book.
I believe that this article discussed many of the same points that we brought up in class over the past few weeks. However, there were a few new ideas that I particularly enjoyed. The first was the idea that the author is not the same as the narrator- that Mark Twain did not have the same views as Huck did in this novel. I think we often forget that and transpose the views of the narrator onto the author themselves. I personally believe that it takes a much better and greater author to write outside of their viewpoint, to open up a whole new side to a debate. Another point that stuck out to me was the idea that this novel reminds us that evil people who had slaves weren’t necessarily “evil.” They were everyday people who just never challenged what is now deemed wrong. This novel humanized those people, something that history textbooks discussing slavery never do. -Katrina Hauser
My response to the article is clearly the writer of the article is a fan of wanting to teach the novel in classrooms and does believe that it’s a classic and most needed novel to read. The writer also included the discussion of an argument that some believe that one of the characters is really replaced by Mark Twain’s true feelings towards the black race, which I personally don’t believe is true. I believe that Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Fin to teach the people of his time and our time and beyond that the big problem is racism. Overall the article said that the novel should be read in the classroom to teach the many useful lessons it has.
I thought this article was very effective. I agreed with pretty much everything the author brought up, and I think that she able to explain some important points very well. I like how she put it that the reader must have an “understanding that Mark Twain's consciousness and awareness is larger than that of any of the characters in the novel.” I also think that she brings up some very good view points on what to teach and point out to student as they are reading the novel. She brings up that the reason Huck Finn causes such issues is because racism is still a big problem today. She also believes that teaching this book in the right way can help overcome that. ---Jennifer Kraemer
I like the points that this article brought up. I really liked how it discussed different “background points” of the novel as well. It gave us reasons for why it’s hard to understand some of the dialect, which I thought was great. I thought it was a good idea to throw some of Twain’s background with slavery into the article. I also liked that it gave teachers suggestions of questions to ask that would be appropriate for the learning environment. Overall I thought the article was great. It presented a lot of good points! --- Sam Koltun
I found this article to be rather interesting. It had a lot of points to make. But it seemed as though the points that the author was making contradicted each other. The author wanted to be on both sides of the argument to try not to upset either side. I can understand how Huck Finn can be a difficult book to teach, but it can also be very simple. It seems as though a mojority of the argument as to why it is a hard book to teach is because of one word. If that were the case for all books, we may as well not read anything. But I could still see how it is hard to teach because some teachers just don't want to offend anyone. But they shouldn't just be worried about one simple word that was used as a discriminatory term back then and not as much today. -Andrew Manott
When reading this article I noticed that the author is for teaching Huck Finn in our classrooms. I think that throughout the article there are many great points said that show why it should be. The author talks about how Huck Finn shows irony, history and racism in it. She says that they all “painfully intertwine in our past and present.” If these are all issues or difficulties still today we need to learn about where they came from. The author is saying that the classroom is a good place to learn about everything we need to experience for the things we will confront in the future. And since Huck Finn combines all three of those issues, it should definitely be studied in a classroom. -Annie Reuther
Michael Klein The part of this article that stood out to me the most was the section where the author compared a novelist to a surgeon, saying that they “cut straight to the heart” and “leave it open to heal or fester, depending on the septic level of the reader’s own environment”. Through this comparison, the author is saying that the novel can open up sensitive topics, but a well-prepared teacher and a good classroom environment can make this novel beneficial. Therefore, a person who might have been potentially offended by the book could find the book useful and enjoyable under the care of a good teacher. The author also made a good point when she said that the views of the narrator and the views of the author are not one and the same. The author provides several useful insights through this article.
Kelly O'Brien-- I think the author made several valid points in this article, especially when it comes to the history of racism. I think the author was right when she said, "...it was not the villains who made the system work, but the ordinary folks...who did nothing more than fail to question the set of circumstances that surrounded them." People, like Huck, were used to undermining blacks, and therefore never stopped to question if their actions were wrong. Also, the author makes a valid point that Huckleberry Finn brings up a part history that America is ashamed of. It opens up room in classrooms for debates on our country's prejudice past. However, the novel requires us to also address that past. In history classrooms, one can avoid the issue of slavery and choose not to pay attention when it is being brought up. However, in a piece, like Huckleberry Finn, one is forced to address just how people in that time period viewed racism. Through this, we can get a better understanding of that part of history.
Will Dacus- This article is true because you must know how to teach this story for students to understand it. Many people look at this book thinking that Mark Twain had the racist opinion that circulated at that time and get this by what is said in the story. Twain uses Huck to portray innocence to the subject and just because things that could be racially insensitive are said that does not meant that Twain felt that way. People need to remember the time that this was written in and remember that these were common ways of thinking. The article does a good job of stating how poorly people can interpret great literature due to what may be said in the text.
Kate Antor--Overall, I think that the article presented a lot of good points about the novel and I agree with a lot of the points that the author made. People will read this book and think that Mark Twain had these racist opinions about blacks at the time but that is not necessarily true. The author reminds us that Twain is opening up a discussion and option of learning about a period of time in history when racism was brutal. He does not give his opinion on blacks, but simply informs us and the author of the article reassures that.
I found this article very interesting. It delved deeper than just "saying the N-word 219 times" into the racism behind the book than I've read in other articles. This article reminds us that the book is a satire and that there is more to it than just what we read on the surface. As Katrina pointed out, I found it interesting how the article mentioned that there is a difference between the author and the narrator. Huck may come off as rather ignorant and naive, but upon paying closer attention we realize that the author is subtly trying to communicate certain messages to us. I also liked how the article pointed out that learning about history in a history class is different than learning about it through a novel like this, a book in which the people we typically view as being "evil and cruel" turn out to be ordinary people with their fair share of vices and virtues. I think this article does a better job than most at getting at the underlying messages behind the book. -Emily Thorn
The author made several valid statements in the article. The author said, Mark Twain changed literature through this book. The cruelties of racism during this time was an enormous topic and Mark Twain, as the abolitionist he was, was trying to teach people that slavery and everything dealing with slavery, was wrong. People and parents that refuse to have this book studied in school are stripping students from the right to learn about the cruelties of the past. Just like the author said, we just can’t push history to the side.
I do agree with many points that were made in this article. This novel does contain a lot of irony, which I found only thirty pages into the novel. As pointed out, society was not at its best at this time, yet Huck is always in a good mood and treats society like it's no big deal. This perpetration of Huck and society portrays black people overall in my opinion because it shows how good-spirited black people were through the toughest times in history, just as Huck Finn is good-spirited even though his father is a very abusive drunkard.
After reading the article, I feel like it will be easier for me to read the book now that i know a few things about the book. One very important thing was there was a lot of irony in the book and now when I read the book I will know to look for the irony in the book instead of taking it literally and straight forward. I also learned that the reader must realize what time in history this book is taking place. During this time, black people were known as propery. This is what Mark Twain believed as he grew up also. People who criticize the book for using the N word, they must realize that mark Twain is using this book to show that slavery is wrong and he isn't being racist against any African Americans. -Matthew Parasch
I think this article brought up many of the same topics that we also brought up in class. Even though I felt that the article covered many good points I felt that they all somewhat contradicted themselves. It seemed to me almost that the author was afraid to pick a certain side, so instead of picking one side she covered both sides of the argument. However, this was really helpful to me since it helped me see both sides of the argument and open up to the opinions of both sides. She goes on to say that this book can be very open and leave the readers feeling bad and to an extent awkward. Yes, Huck Finn might be a hard book to take in and teach but I strongly believe that we need to push those things to the side and learn about the hard times of the past. – Michelle Silva
I think this article was very well written and was useful in reading before reading this book. I think all teachers should read this article and use it in the classroom when teaching this book. It helped me to know to look more at the irony in the book and it will also help my understand why it is there. I think this also gives a good background on explaining Mark Twain's past and some of the reasons he wrote this book. -Kara N
Joseph Rogers- The article was very interesting. It actually gave some good points of why its actually hard to teach or to understand rather then just saying that its racially insensitive comments. Mark Twain uses Huck to portray innocence to the subject and just because things that could be racially insensitive are said that does not mean that Twain felt that way. This is why i think Mark Twain wrote this book.
I like how the article points out that this book is hard to teach if and it is the task of the instructor to really get their students to understand how racism, irony, and history play in the story or teacher to teach Huckleberry. I also think it is a good point that we look at the story through young Huckleberry’s eyes when deciding if the book is racist or not. -Tony Scalise Jr
Lauren Corley- I like how the article talked about how irony, history, and racism are connected in our past and in the present and especially how it ties in with "Huck Finn." I liked how the article mentioned how the book can be hard to teach because of the irony and racism but also the historical content of the book since "Huck Finn" was written during a significant time period in our nation's history.
Megan Robison - I read the article, and I was interested by what the author said about how Huck's views of slavery don't necessarily line up with Mark Twain's views of slavery. At the time this book was writted, racism was still a big problem. So Mark Twain started somewhere that readers could recognize. Huck doesn't really have a problem with slavery at the beginning of the book. But as it goes on, he comes to see that slaves are people too. I think that Mark Twain was hoping that readers would make that realization with Huck.
Katy Mosley: The article overall was a good explanation of the problems in teaching Huckelberrry Finn. The author is obviously in favor of teaching the book herself by stating that although their are obstacles "it's nothing we can't get past" when people are teaching it. She not only focuses on the racism issue she focuses on the problem of many students not understanding it because of Soratic irony. It's good that she doesn't only focus on the racism in the book but also the other problems in teaching it. She acknowledges that it's a difficult book but it shouldn't be that way when you look at Mark Twain's background and that you shouldn't pin all of the racism and issue on the novel soley for whatever reason.
Joe Lawrence- I think this article is a very good and rather informing article. It gives you a better insite on the book, Huckleberry Finn and gives some very good points in the essay. One good point that he starts out his essay with is "Secondly, one must be able to place the novel in a larger historical and literary context -- one that includes the history of American racism and the literary productions of African-American writers -- if the book is to be read as anything more than a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (which it both is and is not); most students can't." I think this is very true that we must come over a larger historical and literary context which includes the racism element of it. Another good point is when the author says, "They don't make you understand that it was not the villains who made the system work, but the ordinary folks, the good folks, the folks, who did nothing more than fail to question the set of circumstances that surrounded them, who failed to judge that evil as evil and who deluded themselves into thinking they were doing good, earning safe passage for themselves into heaven." I think this is a major point that happened in our history the ogod people were just used to it so they let it happen(the slaves *like Huckleberry Finn). This is why when you look at the background of Huckleberry Finn and the racism and all other historical content behind it we must be able to get past it and look at the great literary elements of Mark Twain's novel
25 comments:
Comment by Frankie Frisch
The article was actually very interesting. It actually gave some valid points of why its actually hard to teach or to understand rather then just saying that its racially insensitive. It talked about how it is Socratic irony which I was sort of suprised to hear but it gave a valid point. If you don't understand how the author is writing their story or what the historical context of an article is, then it will be hard to understand and enjoy the book.
I believe that this article discussed many of the same points that we brought up in class over the past few weeks. However, there were a few new ideas that I particularly enjoyed. The first was the idea that the author is not the same as the narrator- that Mark Twain did not have the same views as Huck did in this novel. I think we often forget that and transpose the views of the narrator onto the author themselves. I personally believe that it takes a much better and greater author to write outside of their viewpoint, to open up a whole new side to a debate. Another point that stuck out to me was the idea that this novel reminds us that evil people who had slaves weren’t necessarily “evil.” They were everyday people who just never challenged what is now deemed wrong. This novel humanized those people, something that history textbooks discussing slavery never do.
-Katrina Hauser
My response to the article is clearly the writer of the article is a fan of wanting to teach the novel in classrooms and does believe that it’s a classic and most needed novel to read. The writer also included the discussion of an argument that some believe that one of the characters is really replaced by Mark Twain’s true feelings towards the black race, which I personally don’t believe is true. I believe that Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Fin to teach the people of his time and our time and beyond that the big problem is racism. Overall the article said that the novel should be read in the classroom to teach the many useful lessons it has.
Kristen Scego
I thought this article was very effective. I agreed with pretty much everything the author brought up, and I think that she able to explain some important points very well. I like how she put it that the reader must have an “understanding that Mark Twain's consciousness and awareness is larger than that of any of the characters in the novel.” I also think that she brings up some very good view points on what to teach and point out to student as they are reading the novel. She brings up that the reason Huck Finn causes such issues is because racism is still a big problem today. She also believes that teaching this book in the right way can help overcome that.
---Jennifer Kraemer
I like the points that this article brought up. I really liked how it discussed different “background points” of the novel as well. It gave us reasons for why it’s hard to understand some of the dialect, which I thought was great. I thought it was a good idea to throw some of Twain’s background with slavery into the article. I also liked that it gave teachers suggestions of questions to ask that would be appropriate for the learning environment. Overall I thought the article was great. It presented a lot of good points! --- Sam Koltun
I found this article to be rather interesting. It had a lot of points to make. But it seemed as though the points that the author was making contradicted each other. The author wanted to be on both sides of the argument to try not to upset either side. I can understand how Huck Finn can be a difficult book to teach, but it can also be very simple. It seems as though a mojority of the argument as to why it is a hard book to teach is because of one word. If that were the case for all books, we may as well not read anything. But I could still see how it is hard to teach because some teachers just don't want to offend anyone. But they shouldn't just be worried about one simple word that was used as a discriminatory term back then and not as much today.
-Andrew Manott
When reading this article I noticed that the author is for teaching Huck Finn in our classrooms. I think that throughout the article there are many great points said that show why it should be. The author talks about how Huck Finn shows irony, history and racism in it. She says that they all “painfully intertwine in our past and present.” If these are all issues or difficulties still today we need to learn about where they came from. The author is saying that the classroom is a good place to learn about everything we need to experience for the things we will confront in the future. And since Huck Finn combines all three of those issues, it should definitely be studied in a classroom.
-Annie Reuther
Michael Klein
The part of this article that stood out to me the most was the section where the author compared a novelist to a surgeon, saying that they “cut straight to the heart” and “leave it open to heal or fester, depending on the septic level of the reader’s own environment”. Through this comparison, the author is saying that the novel can open up sensitive topics, but a well-prepared teacher and a good classroom environment can make this novel beneficial. Therefore, a person who might have been potentially offended by the book could find the book useful and enjoyable under the care of a good teacher. The author also made a good point when she said that the views of the narrator and the views of the author are not one and the same. The author provides several useful insights through this article.
Kelly O'Brien-- I think the author made several valid points in this article, especially when it comes to the history of racism. I think the author was right when she said, "...it was not the villains who made the system work, but the ordinary folks...who did nothing more than fail to question the set of circumstances that surrounded them." People, like Huck, were used to undermining blacks, and therefore never stopped to question if their actions were wrong. Also, the author makes a valid point that Huckleberry Finn brings up a part history that America is ashamed of. It opens up room in classrooms for debates on our country's prejudice past. However, the novel requires us to also address that past. In history classrooms, one can avoid the issue of slavery and choose not to pay attention when it is being brought up. However, in a piece, like Huckleberry Finn, one is forced to address just how people in that time period viewed racism. Through this, we can get a better understanding of that part of history.
Will Dacus- This article is true because you must know how to teach this story for students to understand it. Many people look at this book thinking that Mark Twain had the racist opinion that circulated at that time and get this by what is said in the story. Twain uses Huck to portray innocence to the subject and just because things that could be racially insensitive are said that does not meant that Twain felt that way. People need to remember the time that this was written in and remember that these were common ways of thinking. The article does a good job of stating how poorly people can interpret great literature due to what may be said in the text.
Kate Antor--Overall, I think that the article presented a lot of good points about the novel and I agree with a lot of the points that the author made. People will read this book and think that Mark Twain had these racist opinions about blacks at the time but that is not necessarily true. The author reminds us that Twain is opening up a discussion and option of learning about a period of time in history when racism was brutal. He does not give his opinion on blacks, but simply informs us and the author of the article reassures that.
I found this article very interesting. It delved deeper than just "saying the N-word 219 times" into the racism behind the book than I've read in other articles. This article reminds us that the book is a satire and that there is more to it than just what we read on the surface. As Katrina pointed out, I found it interesting how the article mentioned that there is a difference between the author and the narrator. Huck may come off as rather ignorant and naive, but upon paying closer attention we realize that the author is subtly trying to communicate certain messages to us. I also liked how the article pointed out that learning about history in a history class is different than learning about it through a novel like this, a book in which the people we typically view as being "evil and cruel" turn out to be ordinary people with their fair share of vices and virtues. I think this article does a better job than most at getting at the underlying messages behind the book.
-Emily Thorn
The author made several valid statements in the article. The author said, Mark Twain changed literature through this book. The cruelties of racism during this time was an enormous topic and Mark Twain, as the abolitionist he was, was trying to teach people that slavery and everything dealing with slavery, was wrong. People and parents that refuse to have this book studied in school are stripping students from the right to learn about the cruelties of the past. Just like the author said, we just can’t push history to the side.
A response by Chris Primo on 2-22-12:
I do agree with many points that were made in this article. This novel does contain a lot of irony, which I found only thirty pages into the novel. As pointed out, society was not at its best at this time, yet Huck is always in a good mood and treats society like it's no big deal. This perpetration of Huck and society portrays black people overall in my opinion because it shows how good-spirited black people were through the toughest times in history, just as Huck Finn is good-spirited even though his father is a very abusive drunkard.
After reading the article, I feel like it will be easier for me to read the book now that i know a few things about the book. One very important thing was there was a lot of irony in the book and now when I read the book I will know to look for the irony in the book instead of taking it literally and straight forward. I also learned that the reader must realize what time in history this book is taking place. During this time, black people were known as propery. This is what Mark Twain believed as he grew up also. People who criticize the book for using the N word, they must realize that mark Twain is using this book to show that slavery is wrong and he isn't being racist against any African Americans.
-Matthew Parasch
I think this article brought up many of the same topics that we also brought up in class. Even though I felt that the article covered many good points I felt that they all somewhat contradicted themselves. It seemed to me almost that the author was afraid to pick a certain side, so instead of picking one side she covered both sides of the argument. However, this was really helpful to me since it helped me see both sides of the argument and open up to the opinions of both sides. She goes on to say that this book can be very open and leave the readers feeling bad and to an extent awkward. Yes, Huck Finn might be a hard book to take in and teach but I strongly believe that we need to push those things to the side and learn about the hard times of the past. – Michelle Silva
I think this article was very well written and was useful in reading before reading this book. I think all teachers should read this article and use it in the classroom when teaching this book. It helped me to know to look more at the irony in the book and it will also help my understand why it is there. I think this also gives a good background on explaining Mark Twain's past and some of the reasons he wrote this book.
-Kara N
Joseph Rogers- The article was very interesting. It actually gave some good points of why its actually hard to teach or to understand rather then just saying that its racially insensitive comments. Mark Twain uses Huck to portray innocence to the subject and just because things that could be racially insensitive are said that does not mean that Twain felt that way. This is why i think Mark Twain wrote this book.
I like how the article points out that this book is hard to teach if and it is the task of the instructor to really get their students to understand how racism, irony, and history play in the story or teacher to teach Huckleberry. I also think it is a good point that we look at the story through young Huckleberry’s eyes when deciding if the book is racist or not. -Tony Scalise Jr
Lauren Corley- I like how the article talked about how irony, history, and racism are connected in our past and in the present and especially how it ties in with "Huck Finn." I liked how the article mentioned how the book can be hard to teach because of the irony and racism but also the historical content of the book since "Huck Finn" was written during a significant time period in our nation's history.
Carlye Chaney -I read the article.
Megan Robison - I read the article, and I was interested by what the author said about how Huck's views of slavery don't necessarily line up with Mark Twain's views of slavery. At the time this book was writted, racism was still a big problem. So Mark Twain started somewhere that readers could recognize. Huck doesn't really have a problem with slavery at the beginning of the book. But as it goes on, he comes to see that slaves are people too. I think that Mark Twain was hoping that readers would make that realization with Huck.
Katy Mosley:
The article overall was a good explanation of the problems in teaching Huckelberrry Finn. The author is obviously in favor of teaching the book herself by stating that although their are obstacles "it's nothing we can't get past" when people are teaching it. She not only focuses on the racism issue she focuses on the problem of many students not understanding it because of Soratic irony. It's good that she doesn't only focus on the racism in the book but also the other problems in teaching it. She acknowledges that it's a difficult book but it shouldn't be that way when you look at Mark Twain's background and that you shouldn't pin all of the racism and issue on the novel soley for whatever reason.
Joe Lawrence- I think this article is a very good and rather informing article. It gives you a better insite on the book, Huckleberry Finn and gives some very good points in the essay. One good point that he starts out his essay with is "Secondly, one must be able to place the novel in a larger historical and literary context -- one that includes the history of American racism and the literary productions of African-American writers -- if the book is to be read as anything more than a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (which it both is and is not); most students can't." I think this is very true that we must come over a larger historical and literary context which includes the racism element of it. Another good point is when the author says, "They don't make you understand that it was not the villains who made the system work, but the ordinary folks, the good folks, the folks, who did nothing more than fail to question the set of circumstances that surrounded them, who failed to judge that evil as evil and who deluded themselves into thinking they were doing good, earning safe passage for themselves into heaven." I think this is a major point that happened in our history the ogod people were just used to it so they let it happen(the slaves *like Huckleberry Finn). This is why when you look at the background of Huckleberry Finn and the racism and all other historical content behind it we must be able to get past it and look at the great literary elements of Mark Twain's novel
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