The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (pub. 1884) Pathfinder
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) between 1876-1883 while he lived in Hartford, Connecticut (Mark Twain House), and Elmira, New York. However, the story is set in an earlier time, approximately 1835-1845.
Essential Questions |
Enduring Understandings |
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Contextual Research Topics for Social Commentary
Literary Theory Questions to Ask for Social Commentary Analysis
Biographical approach focuses on connection of work to author’s personal experiences.
Typical Questions:
Historical approach focuses on connection of the work to the historical period in which it was written; literary historians attempt to connect the historical background of the work to specific aspects of the work.
Typical Questions:
Typical Questions:
- What aspects of the author’s personal life are relevant to this story?
- Which of the author’s stated beliefs are reflected in the work?
- Does the writer challenge or support the values of her contemporaries?
- What seem to be the author’s major concerns? Do they reflect any of the writer’s personal experiences?
- Do any of the events in the story correspond to events experienced by the author?
- Do any of the characters in the story correspond to real people?
Historical approach focuses on connection of the work to the historical period in which it was written; literary historians attempt to connect the historical background of the work to specific aspects of the work.
Typical Questions:
- How does the work reflect the time in which it was written?
- How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?
- What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the work?
- How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was written or set? (Think beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.)
- What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
- What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?
- How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s contemporaries?
- Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it was written? Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing values?
- How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to interpreting the work?
Books
In Destiny, we have a Resource List for Huck Finn and Mark Twain. Click on Catalog, Resource Lists.
Suggested subject headings (for online catalogs and indexes):
Call #s: 306, 970s Databases
UCONN ECE--Click HereStart with the Literature Subject Guide, English and American Literature, then choose JSTOR.
Also, the History Subject Guide. Students will be able to
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