Reading Huck Finn, Part I

Okay, not surprisingly, I didn’t hear a ton of interest in reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  But even if I’m talking mostly to myself, here’s my schedule in case you’re thinking about it.

• November 9: discuss Chapters 1-16, post questions on chapters 17-30
• November 16: Chapters 17-30, November 16
• November 23: Chapters 31-43 and wrap up

And here are some reading questions for Part 1, Chapters 1 through 16.

1)      How do you feel about the character of Huck? What traits does he have that are admirable and not so admirable?  Does he seem like a thirteen-year-old to you?

2)      What positive and negative relationships does Huck have with adults so far in the story?

3)      How is Huck’s relationship with Jim developing in these chapters?

4)      How are you feeling about the use of dialect in the book?  Too difficult?  What role do you think the dialect serves?

5)      How are the river and land symbolic in this story?

I’ll post my thoughts and the next set of questions on November 9.  Obviously this is for fun, not meant to be literary analysis – but of course Twain gives us a lot to think about!  Since most of you out there have read this book, I look forward to hearing what you think.