MATTHEW  ISOM

Huck Finn Essay 2nd  Period Group 4

 

COLLABORATIVE ESSAY

 

Your homework this weekend is to write a collaborative essay.  This means that in your groups you need to decide what each person will say in the essay.  Each person is required to write at least 100 words of this 750-1000 word essay.  Each of you is assigned a font color so that in the final essay we will be able to see what each person says.

Your writing is due by 11:55 pm Monday, January 16th.   20 points.  No late work this time, guys. Students who do not complete this assignment will receive 0/20 points, so if you’re having computer problems you’ll have to go to a friend’s house or the public library.  Everyone should be able to get this one done because Google Docs can be accessed from anywhere in the world, even from your smartphone.

 

One person will write the introduction and thesis in one color and all other students will add to the essay writing at least 100 words in their own colors.  After you have written the parts of your rough draft that you and your group decided you should write, you will need to add other writing to the essay in your color.  For example, if someone cites an example from the book but you don’t feel like the example has been discussed enough, add your own ideas in your color (you might want to put it in parentheses and preface it with something like, “Hey, group, what do you think about adding this sentence here?”  Others could then respond to you or add their own thoughts.  This is the spirit of a collaborative essay.)   Making the whole essay  flow like one piece of writing won’t be easy and  I understand if the draft is still a bit rough by the beginning of the period when we meet for class next time.  We will go to the computer lab where you can all sit around one computer for your final revision.   For the most part, your points for this draft will be given out for writing 100 words and submitting your writing by 11:55 pm Monday night.

 

Note: in Google Docs, you don’t have to hit save.  It’s done automatically.

 

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Title: Huck’s Journey Down the River of Rebirth

 

Intro:

Throughout the course of the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the protagonist dynamically develops his character and personality. Published in 1884, the novel begins in St. Petersburg, a town on the banks of the Mississippi River, which is loosely based off of Twain’s own hometown. Huckleberry Finn, the main character, begins to change for the better and is transformed through his many experiences. He’s faced with many challenges that test his beliefs, ethics and values, and they mold him into the person which the readers are presented with at the finale of the novel. One significant experience that changes Huck is his various experiences with Jim, a runaway slave. He questions civilization’s views on the treatment of African Americans, and realizes that what may be accepted in society is not genuinely and morally just. Huck’s transformation and change of heart chiefly boils down to three instances with Jim in the novel. Subsequently, Huck’s metamorphosis and development of his views that are alternative to society‘s can be seen most significantly through his treatment of Jim: his apology to Jim in chapter XV, saving Jim in chapter XVI, and tearing up the letter in chapter XXXI. (198)

 

Body Paragraph I:

In Chapter XV, a fog settles on the river and separates Huck and Jim. They attempt to stay together but lose each other. The fog eventually clears and Huck finds Jim sleeping on the damaged raft. He tricks Jim into thinking he had dreamt the debacle, and Jim “’terpret[s]” it. Afterwards, Huck reveals his trick. Jim makes Huck feel so mean that he “could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back.” (Pg. 111) Huck then says

“It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterward, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d ‘a’ knowed it would make him feel that way” (111).

This represents a turning point for Huck. A white person living in that society would never have apologized to a black person. Huck struggles with what society ingrained in him, but his natural kindness and morality kicks in and he apologizes. Also, Huck begins to care for Jim and to learn to respect his feelings despite the color of his skin, which was another unheard-of idea in those times. (207)

 

BP II:

Throughout the novel, Huck faces a decision between society’s rules and what his heart tells him. After being separated, and Huck fooling with Jim in chapter XV,  Huck continues to be a friend to Jim and helps him escape. In the midst of their journey, Jim and Huck encounter two white men looking for escaped slaves. At this point, Huck realizes he must decide between saving the man who has called him his one true friend versus bowing to the rules of society. In society’s eyes, which is what Huck has been taught, he knows he “had done wrong.” However, a few sentences later, Huck states,

“Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on,--s’pose you’d a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad--I’d feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, what’s the use you learning to do right, when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” (79-80).

In the end, he decides to disobey the traditions and ideals of the society he was raised in and to lie to a white man in order to protect a slave, who is also his friend. (220)

 

BP III:

The biggest turning point in Huck’s adventure is when he conclusively decides to do the right thing, even if it means going against everything he has been taught. Huck has been raised with the belief that blacks are inferior to whites, and that it’s a crime to not turn an escaping slave in, let alone help one escape. Added to the mix are Huck’s spiritual beliefs, in how he thinks that Providence is playing a part in his life and punishing him for not turning Jim in. With this in mind, Huck writes a letter telling Jim’s owner where Jim is. In a crucial turning point, he tears up the letter, boldly declaring ‘All right then, I’ll go to Hell” (214). This is significant because it shows that Huck has decided that society has the wrong idea, and he’s willing to do the right thing despite what others might tell him. Compare this to Huck’s character at the beginning, who wanted to fit in no matter what, as evidenced by him longing to be in Tom Sawyer’s kid bandits group. This shows how much Huckleberry Finn has changed, to the point that he now can and will stand up for his own beliefs. (203)

 

Conclusion:

    Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck, even though he is a kid, has a true sense of right and wrong and a broader, clearer view of the world. Geoffrey F. Albert once said, “It often takes more courage to change one’s opinion than to stick to it.” This quote relates to Huck because he changed his opinion on blacks, and decided that they are nice people and he has a hard time keeping his mind changed. His opinion is tested when he tears up the letter he almost sent to Jim’s owner about where she could find him. Huck was strong enough to tear up the letter and not conform to society and what society believed was right. Change is defined as “to make the form different from what it is or what it should be.” Huck follows the definition of change because he should have turned Jim in to the authorities the minute he saw him, but he altered what should have happened and that’s what made all the difference. (172)

 

(total: 1000)