...My literary critique on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is focused on the confusion of the message being given to the reader do to the conscious struggle between right and wrong, an example of that would be the decision of stealing from Ms. Watson and freeing Jim, or not stealing from Ms. Watson and leaving Jim as a slave. Huck did decided that even though stealing from Ms. Watson would surely send him to “Hell” he still went with his gut and freed Jim, But with that later in the story shortly after Ms. Watsons death Huck and Jim found out that in her will she had freed Jim anyways. The ending of that situation in this story is what I choose to critique because of the cloudy message that is being given to the reader. It does not support...
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...In the Declaration of Independence it is stated that, “all men are created equal”, however that statement can only be said to be true since 1865, when the thirteenth Amendment was ratified. Over the course of history, slavery has been a sensitive and controversial topic for many nations, especially for America. Mark Twain sheds light on culture and society during the time period shortly before slavery was abolished. Twain actively opposed slavery and how society acted during this time. With the unlikely friendship between Huck and Jim he shows that people aren’t really different from each other and they’re really all the same. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain satirizes slavery, society, and religion. In the novel Twain satirizes slavery through Huck’s early belief in them and the...
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...STATEMENTS IN LITERARY ANALYSIS PAPERS *The thesis statement is one of the (if not the) most important parts of your paper—think of it as the foundation of a house—if your foundation is weak and poorly constructed, what do you think happens to the house? *The thesis statement is the announcement of your analytical argument that you intend to make and prove in the duration of your paper. It is a road map for the paper—it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. *It should be placed somewhere in the Introduction of your paper—Many like to put it as the last sentence(s) of their Intro which is fine. *Successful thesis statements provoke thought and should read beautifully. *Your thesis statement should include two parts: WHAT and WHY. *WHAT: What claim are you making about the text? *WHY: Why should we care? Why is your claim important? Your thesis should answer the “so what?” question. *A thesis statement is usually, but can be more than, one sentence long. Examples of Literary Thesis Statements: * “Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.” *What’s wrong with this thesis statement? *An opinion about the book, not an argument. * “In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.” *Better? How so? What is still missing? *Doesn’t answer the “so what?” question—what is the point of the contrast? What does the contrast signify? * “Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests...
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...Course Number and Title: American Literature 1 Number of Credits: 3 Instructor Name: Sos Bagramyan Email Address: sbagramyan@aua.am Telephone Number: 51 27 69 Office Location: Paramaz Avedisian Building, 132W Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 8am-9am Term/Year: Spring 2015 ENGL 120 – American Literature 1 This survey course introduces students to American literature from the beginning of European contact to the present, focusing on major authors and different literary genres. It examines the historical influences on the evolution of this body of literature and the construction of a distinct and complex American identity. Through close reading, class discussion and their own research and writing, students will explore how themes such as gender, race, class, spirituality, economics, and the environment play a role in the formation and evolution of the American experience Three hours of instructor-led class time per week. Required Materials: All readings are located in PDF format on our course’s Moodle page. Academic Integrity: All graded assignments must completed individually. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and any attempt to pass off another person's ideas and writings as your own will result in severe disciplinary measures, possibly expulsion from the university. This also applies to your Informal Responses, which should reflect your own understanding of the material and not simply repeat what I or your classmates have already said. Students are required...
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...Analysis of Huckleberry Finn Samuel L. Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, was one of the first American writers to truly express realism in his writing. (A&E) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884 and quickly became a novel of controversy for its intense language. (A&E) The novel is about a young white boy and runaway slave who take on the Mississippi River and experience a wide variety of adventures. Along the way Huck finds himself fighting an internal battle of his morals vs. his conscience. According to Gemma Marshall not only was it a controversially themed book based on race, but a story of a young boy’s battle within himself to join society or follow his heart in the matters of black people. After reading the novel, I found myself drawn to Huck and his internal struggle. I found it to be a novel that can overwhelm you with different emotions that sneak up on you. Huckleberry Finn is about a young white boy named Huck and a runaway slave named Jim who travel on the Mississippi River seeking freedom. You can quickly see Huck’s contempt for a civil life style and his irritations with the “do as I say not as I do” environment he is in. At this point Mark Twains establishes that internal battle between Huck’s morals and his conscience. The book introduces a variety of characters, which throughout the story will affect Huck’s life and this internal struggle. As you are introduced to Jim, the runaway slave, you will quickly see how regardless of...
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...through one’s head” states Mark Twain in his autobiography (Twain, Wit 78). Twain certainly had a “storm of thoughts,” but he was able to eloquently and succinctly put those thoughts onto paper. Because he wrote a combination of fiction and nonfiction, it is difficult to categorize Mark Twain as an author. According to Neil Schmitz, Mark Twain was, “a southern humorist gone over, not just a deserter, a dissenter, but a literary scalawag, a southern writer in unionist discourse and narrative” (91). Most people recognize Twain’s brief, witty, straightforward proverbs that are often quoted today. He also wrote many novels, a few nonfiction books, a plethora of short stories, and essays. Mark Twain uses a variety of rhetorical devices including carefully chosen, colorful language, satirical tone, and unique symbolism to entertain and to enlighten his readers about the moral dilemmas and the beauty of the America he knew. According to Ernest Hemingway, all of American literature comes from one great book, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain, Huck Finn vii). Although this statement may seem hyperbolic, it does indicate the important place Mark Twain holds in American literature. Early Nineteenth century American writers tended to try to write like English writers with flowery, ostentatious language (Schmitz 100). Twain’s writing style was innovative when it was written and is still absolutely unique. He writes with simple prose and careful word choice. Each word...
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...Proving Hemingway Wrong Ernest Hemingway made a quote stating that all American writing came from “one book by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn” and that there was no American Literature before the book. Hemingway was wrong because, American Literature is written works that are created by utilizing the English language and based off of the culture and history of America. It is true that in the period before Huckleberry Finn, British and European writers influenced the majority of the literature produced. But, as America found its identity while settling in the new found land, so where the early American writers. Moreover, some of the literature produced before Huckleberry Finn is American Literature because it does contain the essential elements...
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...Disliking Books, which is written by Gerald Graff, is about his struggle to comprehend literary novels. Literature and history were Graff’s least preferred subject because there didn’t seem to be any obvious logic behind the subject matter. Graff shares his experiences with his students in his discussion topics in his role as a college English professor. Graff grew up inside of an educated Jewish family, with a fear of being assaulted by local schoolboys due to his geological location and academic abilities. Graff’s father, who was educationally accomplished, was discouraged by Graff’s willingness to read the texts his father thought were beneficial to Graff’s future. The books Graff’s father forced him to read were clearly irrelevant to...
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...Education - ADHD, Learning, Philosophy of Education, Privatization, Public Schools, School Violence, School Vouchers, Teaching, Technology and Education, Test and Testing, Writing English Composition Essays - Analitical, Autobiographical, Argument, Cause/Effect, Classification, Compare/Contrast, Comparison, Conversation, Creative+Writing, Critical, Deductive, Definition, Descriptive, Description, Dialog, Division, Exploratory, Expository, Informative, Interview, Inquiry, Journalistic, Narration, Observation. Personal Narrative, Place, Profile, Process, Proposal English Literature and Literary Analysis - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A & P, Antigone, Apocalypse Now, Araby, The Awakening, Barn Burning, Beowulf, Beloved, Bible, Birthmark, Blade Runner, The Bluest Eye, Candide, Canterbury Tales, Catcher in the Rye, Cathedral, Chrysanthemums, A Clockwork Orange, The Color Purple, Comparing Literary Works, Crime and Punishment, Death of a Salesman, Death in Venice, Desiree's Baby, A Doll's House, Dr. Faustus, Epic of Gilgamesh, Everyday Use, A Farewell to Arms, Frankenstein, The Grapes of Wrath, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Glass Menagerie, Gulliver's Travels, The Handmaid's Tale, Heart of Darkness, The Iliad, Invisible Man, Jane Eyre, The Joy Luck Club, The Lottery, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Metamorphosis, My Antonia, My Papa's Waltz, Neuromancer, The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, On the Road, Oresteia, Paradise Lost, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Portrait of the Artist...
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...Sydney Poole AP Language Arts Jameson 24 January 2016 Prose Essay In the article, I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Sing by Francine Prose, she feels uncertain about the process of teaching through selected books. Prose gives a few examples from To Kill a Mockingbird to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as various textbook short stories. Prose is questions the effectiveness of using literary works to teach values through different traits that certain characters exude. She writes, “The narrator of Caged Bird is good, her rapist is bad; Scout and Atticus Finch are good, their bigoted neighbors are bad.” This is a twodimensional way of looking at the characters and their development. Another point found in this article is that teachers plant their own interpretation of a work in their students heads. Prose adds “ … this moving, funny novel (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) is being taught not as a work of art but as a piece of damning evidence against that bigot, Mark Twain.” Which changes Prose’s initial excitement upon finding that work on the list. Overall, on this topic Prose conveys that she does not believe that values can be taught through literature in a school setting. However, I believe that novels can teach a lesson. Prose writes about how lessons are taught to high school readers as if they cannot draw their own conclusions about what they read. Some may be unable to think for themselves, but it is from the poin...
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...Book Banning I stand here today to address is the issue of book banning in school libraries. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials… of images, ideas, and information…on the grounds that there are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor”Though parents may choose to discuss what their children are exposed to the idea of removing it from access to the public is absurd. By removing books from school libraries concerned members of society are now limiting children and their potential to expand their horizons. I firmly believe everyone has the right to be exposed to knowledge. By limiting the literature that a young mind is exposed to limits the ability to understand and become open minded. On that note I understand that some books should not be hand to children until they have the mental capacity to comprehend the language and the meaning behind some books as not to see these books as simple stories or to be taken literally. I understand that people have reasons for their censors but it does not mean they are always right. There are four motivational factors that may lie behind a censor’s actions. Those factors are family values, religion, political views, and minority rights. On the basis of family values, the censor is usually threatened by changes in accepted traditional ways of life. They view sexual...
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...to convey information and build an effective argument regarding the chosen subject matter. As you plan, write and edit your essay, your main argument should remain at the heart of your work. Of course, the task of staying focused on your main idea may not be as easy as it seems. In addition, you will need to carefully handle other elements of the essay, such as the introduction, supporting evidence and conclusion. When dealing with a literature essay, you should offer a debatable argument about a literary work. For example, simply stating that “Mark Twain’s ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ is about the adventures of a young protagonist,” will not suffice as a debatable issue. You will need to produce a more focused and opinionated topic. Your personal stance, which will appear in the form of your essay’s thesis statement, can aim to analyze character development, debate the effectiveness of writing techniques employed by the author or even draw comparisons between multiple literary works. You must be imaginative and clear when brainstorming your thesis. After your thesis statement is in place, you will use the body of the essay to support your stance using facts and examples from the text. Direct quotes from the text can be especially useful as you try to persuade your audience. Finally, the conclusion of the essay will bring all of your evidence and main points together. However, you will also need to proofread and edit your work in order to make a novel essay complete. ...
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...of the Laureate Research Project. . Pacing: This map is one suggestion for pacing. Springboard pacing guides precede each unit in the “About the Unit” sections and offers pacing on a 45-minute class period length. Prentice Hall Literature – Use selections from Prentice Hall throughout the quarter to reinforce the standards being taught as well as the embedded assessments within the SpringBoard curriculum. QUARTER #1 SpringBoard Curriculum Pacing Guide August 23 – October 22 Standards and Benchmarks | Unit Pacing Guide | SpringBoard Unit/Activities | Assessments | SpringBoard Unit 1Literature * The students will analyze and compare significant works of literature and id relationships among major genres * Analyze the literary devices unique to the literature and how they support and enhance theme and main ideaReading * The student will use pre reading strategies and background knowledge of subject/content area to make and confirm complex predictions * Determine main idea and essential messageWriting * Pre write by generating ideas...
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...Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Advanced Placement English III First Six Weeks – Introductory Activities: ▪ Class rules, expectations, procedures ▪ Students review patterns of writing, which they will imitate throughout the course: reflection, narration and description, critical analysis, comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and persuasion and argument. ▪ Students review annotation acronyms, how to do a close reading, literary elements and rhetorical devices. Students also review the SOAPSTONE (subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, tone, organization, narrative style and evidence) strategy for use in analyzing prose and visual texts along with three of the five cannons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement and style. ▪ Students learn the format of the AP test, essay rubric and essay structure. ▪ Students take a full-length AP test for comparison purposes in the spring. Reading: The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing: Answer the following question in one paragraph. Use quotes from the novel as evidence. Some readers believe that the elaborate decoration that Hester embroiders on the scarlet letter indicates her rejection of the community’s view of her act. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your position using evidence from the text. (test grade) Writing: Write a well-developed essay addressing the following prompt. Document all sources using MLA citation. Compare Hester to a modern...
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...stories, folk tales, poetry, and plays. • Nonfiction excerpts include readings from reviews, essays, articles, speeches, biographies, business documents, and articles about the visual arts. The test consists of 40 multiple-choice questions. • 30 of the questions come from fiction readings. • 10 of the questions come from nonfiction readings. There are seven passages. • Three of the passages are from prose fiction (novels, short stories, and folk tales). • Poetry and plays have one passage each. • Nonfiction has two passages. There are three literary time periods. One passage comes from each of these periods: • Before 1920 • 1920-1960 • After 1960 The following reading skills are tested: • Comprehension—identifying the main idea, the purpose of a selection, supporting details, and using context clues to discover the meaning of unknown words 2 • • • Application—applying ideas to a new context Analysis—recognizing the way material is organized, including identifying inferences, figurative language, and knowing an author’s style or tone Synthesis—combining understanding of passage with extra information you bring to the passage, looking at an author’s style, tone, point of view, and purpose The number of questions you answer in each reading skill area is as follows: • Comprehension 8 questions • Application 6 questions...
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