Huck Finn Book Circle Work: Day 1 

Please answer the following questions before reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

What is satire? Please write a personal definition (one that goes further than and is more
meaningful than a dictionary one) right here.

Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer from the 1700s. He was disturbed by the treatment of the
large number of poor women and children in Ireland, so he wrote a series of arguments for why
the government and society ought to treat them better. These had little impact, so he then took
a different approach and wrote “A Modest Proposal.” Please read the excerpts from “A Modest
Proposal,” and then answer the following question: What points is Jonathan Swift trying to make
and how is he striving to make them?

When do you suppose satire is more effective at making a point than direct argumentation?

Call over Matt

Now read Ch. 1-4.

What are at least three moments of satire that we see in chapters 1-4?
Huck Finn came out in 1885. This was an era where most people in the North and South
believed that the races weren’t equal, and viewed interracial marriage, neighborhoods, and
even interaction as negative. Twain clearly disagrees with this viewpoint, but like Swift he
understands the limits of direct argument, so he uses satire and subtext to make his point. This
begins with an old trick pioneered by Shakespeare where he gets his audience laughing at Jim,
a slave who we are introduced to at the beginning and who plays a ​major​ role later, only to flip
these stereotypes and the laughter that he evokes on their heads later. Please list the
stereotypes of African Americans that we see in Jim.

Once you are done, create a reading calendar that you share with Matt and continue reading.
You will be allowed choice reading time to work to do the reading, if needed.