Tom Sawyer second post

Now that you are most or all of the way through Tom Sawyer, you have seen how important some of the other characters are. Often characters are important in one of two ways: they either show the reader something about the main character or they move the plot forward in some way—that is, something they do or some reaction that the main character has to them causes something new to happen in the story.

For this post, think about how some character other than Tom Sawyer is important to the book. Although you could do this with any character, I want you to use one of these three characters: Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, or Injun Joe. Tell about the character, then tell how Tom reacts to this character—tell what sorts of things Tom does with and/or because of this character. Then give some examples of how that character affects the plot, telling which you think is the most important, or at least the most important so far in the story.

If you see that other people have posted on one character, post on a different one, so that we cover all the characters.

So that you have plenty time and access to the computers at school, I have changed the due date on this post to November 30.

Huck Finn third post

If you’ve been reading along steadily during the break, by now you should have come to the chapter that many people consider the climax of the book. This is chapter 31, called “You Can’t Pray a Lie.” In that chapter, Huck has an inner conflict, and it’s a very difficult one for him to solve.

Looking at this chapter, we see how Mark Twain uses humor to make a very serious point. It may be hard for us, reading this book over 130 years after it was written, to really understand Huck’s conflict. On the other hand, it may be easier for us than it was for the readers of the time to see how completely absurd the conflict is. Mark Twain meant for his readers to see that absurdity.

In this post, talk about Huck’s inner conflict in chapter 31. What is that conflict? Why is it a conflict? What does Huck decide, and why? Why does he think the way he does about this? What does he think he’s choosing by his decision? What is he really choosing? What do you think about this conflict? What do you think Twain’s readers at the time thought? What do you think Twain was trying to get people to think?

Twain uses the language of the time and of the characters, but of course we use the language of today, and we need to avoid offensive language.

To keep from having these posts repeat one another, I suggest that you focus on one or two of the questions and not all of them. See which questions have been answered in previous posts, and choose others, or respond to what your classmates say in their posts.

So that you have plenty time and access to the computers at school, I have changed the due date on this post to November 30.

Huck Finn second post

In the next two posts, we’re going to talk about the two novel forms that you can see in Huck Finn. In one way, Huck Finn is a novel that is episodic—that is, it takes place in a series of episodes, and each one is like a story in itself. In another way, the book uses a classic novel form—that is, all the different stories lead up to a final conflict that is resolved in a climax.

First we’ll talk about the episodic structure. There are lots of separate episodes in the book. You could think about them as stories you might tell about Huck or his adventures that would give a person who didn’t know him an idea of who he was or what was happening to him—for instance, “Let me tell you about the time that Huck wanted to find out what was happening on shore, so he dressed up as a girl, and . . .”

For this post, pick an episode that you thought was interesting or funny or told you something about Huck that helped you understand him better. Tell the story as if you were telling it to someone. Include why you chose this story (for instance, “So now I know that Huck was trying to . . .”)

Notice that we are going to be talking about the OTHER form in a later post—the final conflict and resolution. So be watching for that as you read.

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome, eighth graders! I hope you are enjoying your books, and I hope you will enjoy the chance to communicate with each other on the blog.

For the first post, both groups will be reading this same post and answering the same question. After this first post, the two groups will have different questions. Feel free, however, to read what your classmates in the other group have to say about their books. You’re also welcome to visit (and even to comment on) the seventh grade blog; you might find their posts interesting, especially if you read that book last year.

Here’s your first question. Mark Twain is considered a comic writer—that is, his work is meant to be funny. We will talk about this whole idea in class (and read an essay in which Mark Twain himself has something to say about being called a comic writer), but for now let’s look at one part of it. Mark Twain makes fun of lots of things. For instance, in “The Cat and the Painkiller,” a chapter from Tom Sawyer which you read in your reading book last year, Twain makes fun of Aunt Polly for her belief in quack doctors and fake medicine.

Choose one thing that Twain makes fun of and write a paragraph or two about it. You could tell how he makes fun, why he thinks it’s funny, or why you thought what he said was funny. Answer thoroughly—don’t just write a sentence or two.

Your posts will be graded on the following three criteria:

1. Does the post respond to the question? Does it do what was assigned?
2. Is there interesting content? Does it add something meaningful to the discussion?
3. Is the post mechanically correct—free of grammar and spelling mistakes?

When you post a comment, remember the blog rules:

1. Be nice. Don’t say anything negative about a classmate or any other person.
2. Posts must be signed with your first name only. (Remember: your name starts with a capital letter!)