"Man is the only animal that blushes."

Today we are looking looking into Mark Twain's acrimonious view of mankind; he finds fault with the Darwinian theory and instead posits The Descent of Man. It is, of course, that Twain's bad theology and mocking behaviors transformed him into a bitter man. As we shall see Twain takes a "low" view Man, and he is no Humanist. There is one virtue in his characterization, however; he reminds us of that Biblical doctrine of the radical corruption of mankind, that is, man is a sinner.
Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
2. Study, review, and discuss Huck Finn
3. Huck Finn Quiz: Chapters 36-The Last 
4. Read "The Lowest Animal" by Mark Twain (p. 469 in LB) 
5. Review HW: 
1. Do Vocab HW (due 2/5) for Unit 8: Pick any 5 words from Unit 8. Know each word's part of speech, etc. Write a short paragraph that correctly uses these 5 words, is grammatically correct, and addresses one of the following prompts:
1. Prompt 1: We have been reading about Huck's adventures. Explain a time when you made a decisive change your life or embarked on an adventure of your own.  
2. Prompt 2: Explain your ideal government and civilization and why.
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.

Note the more accurate versions:

When churchyards yawn in customary suits of solemn black...

Today we are still moving with Huck along the inscrutable and majestic river. T. S. Eliot says, "Huck Finn must come from nowhere and be bound for nowhere." Such is also is the essence of Huck's many adventures. The troubles Huck faces emerge and disappear almost as in a dream, and perhaps it is this quality of fantasy that gives the novel is buoyancy to transcend the boring Realist novels of its time. Twain might be a Realist and a Pessimist, but he knows how to tell a good story.  

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Read Huck Finn
3. Lecture and discuss significant parts of Huck
4. Review HW: 
1. Do Vocab HW (due 2/5) for Unit 8: Pick any 5 words from Unit 8. Know each word's part of speech, etc. Write a short paragraph that correctly uses these 5 words, is grammatically correct, and addresses one of the following prompts:
1. Prompt 1: We have been reading about Huck's adventures. Explain a time when you made a decisive change your life or embarked on an adventure of your own.  
2. Prompt 2: Explain your ideal government and civilization and why.
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.

The Mystery of the Big Muddy - Part II: Rollin' on the River

Today is sort of a review day, a corporate discussion of where we were, where we are now, and where we are going. By now, you should be with Huck rolling on the river, where the "adventures" of the story truly begin. We will discuss the river more later. And next week we will spend more time discussing Huck Finn in light of Twain's other writings. Today we are doing more review of Realism and of Huck Finn.

Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
5. Finish reading Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
6. Reading Journal (1/28): Life on the Mississippi
1. What is the extended metaphor that Twain uses to describe the process of learning to navigate the river up and down the Mississippi?
2. At the end, Twain laments, "All the grace and beauty had gone out of the river." Why does he say this? How does this concluding thought place this story belongs in the period of Realism? 
3. How does Twain's descriptions of the river inform the adventures of Huck Finn?
7. Review HW:
1. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
2. Be perfect.

The Mystery of the Big Muddy

Harold N. Fisk, 1944. Cape Girardeau, MO -
Donaldsonville, LA. Plate 22-10

Today we are looking into the magic of the Mighty Mississippi, or as some affectionately call it the Big Muddy. What you see here is the "Map of ancient courses of the Mississippi River." The one thing we can deduce is, as Heraclitus once observed in his own tributary, that the river is always changing.

Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
   
2. Read and study Huck Finn
3. Huck Finn Quiz: Chapters 20-35
4. Finish Reading Journal: Huck Finn Ch. 20-35
1. Twain is known for his anti-religious beliefs; however, the doctrine of realism holds that authors should not intrude into the story. In Chapter 20, is Twain satirizing the portrayal of the camp-meeting or is he simply describing it.
2. In Chapter 22, Sherbourne gives his opinion of a “man.” Is this Twain’s opinion or is he being humorous? Support this. What kind of men are the King and Duke? 
3. In chapter 26, why does Huck start to feel remorse about the hoax in which he has become involved? Given the stubbornness and confidence of the king, what is Twain’s opinion of the human race?
4.  In chapter 28, Huck “takes considerable resks” to be honest and “ups and tells the truth.” Why does he do this? Explain its significance in terms of Huck’s development of conscience.
5. In chapter 31, Twain subtly attacks the religious tenets that support slavery. Explain this in terms of Huck’s moral anguish. Support your argument with the text.
5. Read Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
6. Binder Check-3.1:
1. Grammar Exercise 10-1
   
2. Realism Notes
3. Reading Journal: A Mystery of Heroism
4. Reading Journal: Huck Finn
7. Review HW:
1. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
2. Be perfect.

"Being Tom Sawyer was easy and comfortable, and it stayed easy and comfortable till by and by I hear a steamboat coughing along down the river."

"I am the late dauphin."

Today we look into what T. S. Eliot, who was from Missouri, has to say about Huck Finn. Our purpose is to discuss the characters, comedy and satire, and the rhetorical arguments Twain makes in the novel. As we have seen Twain is a scoffer and mocker, and he's very good at making the common appear absurd. Sometimes he's right; sometimes is wrong.
 
Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
2. Vocab & Grammar Quiz: Unit 7 / Bedford 10
3. Continue reading Huck Finn
4. Reading Journal (1/23): Huck Finn Ch. 20-35
1. Twain is known for his anti-religious beliefs; however, the doctrine of realism holds that authors should not intrude into the story. In Chapter 20, is Twain satirizing the portrayal of the camp-meeting or is he simply describing it.
2. In Chapter 22, Sherbourne gives his opinion of a “man.” Is this Twain’s opinion or is he being humorous? Support this. What kind of men are the King and Duke? 
3. In chapter 26, why does Huck start to feel remorse about the hoax in which he has become involved? Given the stubbornness and confidence of the king, what is Twain’s opinion of the human race?
4.  In chapter 28, Huck “takes considerable resks” to be honest and “ups and tells the truth.” Why does he do this? Explain its significance in terms of Huck’s development of conscience.
5. In chapter 31, Twain subtly attacks the religious tenets that support slavery. Explain this in terms of Huck’s moral anguish. Support your argument with the text.
5. Review HW:
1. Huck Finn quiz tomorrow (1/24).
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
3. Binder Check tomorrow (1/24). Check it out:
1. Grammar Ex 10-1
2. Reading Journal: A Mystery of Heroism
3. Reading Journal: Huck Finn Ch. 20-35 
4. Realism Notes (the worksheet)
4. Be perfect.

Some calls me Sarah, some calls me Mary.

Huck Finn illustrations by E. W. Kemble.

In English today, we will try to catch up...There have been numerous critics who rightly compare Huck Finn to "The Wily Odysseus" and the "Adventures" of Huck to the convoluted exploits in the story of the Odyssey. It is right, therefore, to consider the novel an epic; it takes place over vast setting; yet it is rooted in the particular culture and country of the South; it has a hero; yet he is a kind of anti-hero. But however similar it might seem, Huck Finn lacks both the supernatural (because it is a book of Realism) and the moral wisdom of The Odyssey (because Twain likes to mock things). 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Read T. S. Eliot's Intro to Huck Finn 
3. Read Huck Finn
4. Review HW:
1. Study Vocab Unit 7 and Bedford 10. Quiz tomorrow (1/23).
   
1. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
2. Binder Check this week. 
3. Be perfect.

Huck, Vocabulary, and the grammar of being "sivilised."

Today we continue our study of grammar and vocabulary; we will pick up where we left off last week. In addition, we will review more of Huck for Chapters 1-19.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Vocab HW: collect and review
3. Review and discuss Grammar Ex 10-1 (Bedford)
4. Discuss Chapters 1-19 of Huck Finn
1. Use the Huck Finn Reading Questions
5. Review HW:
1. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
2. Study Vocab Unit 7 & Bedford 10
3. Be perfect.

Death, the River and Huck Finn: Chapters 1-19

Taking a Rest. Chapter 8.

We are reviewing our study of Huck Finn, analyzing the events and narrative structure, considering the  shape of Twain's characters, and the use of satire and humor. Today we shall use the Huck Finn Reading Questions as the impetus for our discussions on the book.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Pop Reading Check Quiz
3. Discuss Chapters 1-19 of Huck Finn
1. Use the Huck Finn Reading Questions
4. Review HW:
1. Do Vocab HW for Unit 7 & study Bedford 10:
1. Pick any 5 words from Unit 7. Know each word's part of speech, etc. Write a short paragraph that correctly uses these 5 words, is grammatically correct, and addresses one of the following prompts:
1. Prompt 1: Describe one key moment in your Christmas vacation.
2. Prompt 2: Write a science fiction account of what might happen if schools keep using the iPads.
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
3. Be perfect.

Of 19th Century Realism and the Slackjawed yokel-ness of Huck Finn

E. W. Kemble, 1884 Edition

In English today, it's business as usual. Having entered in to the realm of our slack-jawed yokel, Huck Finn, we are confronted with much that is foreign and strange to our Californian tolerance, our Modern sensibilities, and our ethical philosophy. There is much to sift and be wary of in Mark Twain, and because Huck Finn is such a convincing character it makes our job more difficult. But convincing he is, nevertheless.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Get Lit Books and turn to page 376.
3. Read and take notes on "Realism" (p. 376-395 in Lit Book)
1. Take Notes in Word or on pdf.
2. Work in pairs with someone sitting next to you. Be productive.
4. Read Huck Finn
1. Check Huck Finn Reading Questions 
5. Discuss Notes on Realism.
6. Review HW:
1. Do Vocab HW for Unit 7 & study Bedford 10:
1. Pick any 5 words from Unit 7. Know each word's part of speech, etc. Write a short paragraph that correctly uses these 5 words, is grammatically correct, and addresses one of the following prompts:
1. Prompt 1: Describe one key moment in your Christmas vacation.
2. Prompt 2: Write a science fiction account of what might happen if schools keep using the iPads.
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube. Grover Gardener is a wonderful reader of Huck Finn. You need someone of the south. Regionalism depends on it.
3. Be perfect.

Who is Mark Twain?

Samuel Clemens. 1884.

In English today, we continue with Huck Finn.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Behold the Huck Finn Reading Questions
1. Check these questions before and as you reading to gain a better understanding and enjoyment of the novel. From these questions, will come your quizzes.
3. Read Huck Finn, Chapters 1-19
4. Read Twain's Bio (p. 457)
5. Review HW:
1. Do Vocab HW for Unit 7 & study Bedford 10:
1. Pick any 5 words from Unit 7. Know each word's part of speech, etc. Write a short paragraph that correctly uses these 5 words, is grammatically correct, and addresses one of the following prompts:
1. Prompt 1: Describe one key moment in your Christmas vacation.
2. Prompt 2: Write a science fiction account of what might happen if schools keep using the iPads.
2. Read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn --
   DO THE READING!
1. Check out the Reading Schedule.
2. Study the Huck Finn Reading Questions
3. Get a free audio version: Lit2Go and LibriVox. Both are available as Podcast. Also, some audio versions are available on Youtube.
3. Be perfect.