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Biography • Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain was an American author born in Florida, Missouri on November 10, 1895. Twain was the sixth child of seven children in his family. His mother was Jane Lampton Clemens and his father was John Marshall Clemens. At age four Twain and his family moved to Missouri to a town called Hannibal where he got the idea for the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.In March 1847 Twain’s father died of pneumonia and the year after Twain became a printer’s apprentice starting his writing career.
History • It was published in England in June 1876 • Was written in Hartford, Connecticut in the late 1860‘s • Twain had originally intended for the novel to follow Tom into adulthood and to conclude with his return to St.Petersburg after many years away, but he was never able to make Tom transition into an adult. • Twain based this novel off of his childhood memories growing up in Hannibal in the 1840‘s. • Most of the stories and adventures told in the book actually happened to Tom as a child.
Important Characters Tom Sawyer Judge Thatcher Jim Injun Joe Amy Lawrence Muff Potter Ben Rogers Dr. Robinson Alfred Temple Mr. Sprague Mr. Walters The Widow Douglas Mr. Dobbins Mr. Jones Aunt Polly Joe Harper Huckleberry Finn Sid Becky Thatcher Mary
Tom Sawyer • The main character and protagonist of the book • A mischievous 12- year old boy who spends most of his time in the book going on adventures and getting his friends in and out of trouble • Despite his mischief, he has a good heart and strong moral conscience • Throughout the book he develops a more responsible and trustworthy demeanor
Aunt Polly • Tom’s aunt and guardian • She is a simple, kindhearted woman who struggles to balance her love for her nephew with her duty to discipline him • Generally fails in her attempts to keep Tom under control • All she wants is to be loved and in control
Huckleberry Finn • The son of the town drunk • Huck is a juvenile outcast who is not liked by respectable society and adored by the local boys, who envy his freedom. • Like Tom, Huck is highly erroneous, and both boys are always ready for an adventure • Huck gradually replaces Tom’s friend Joe Harper as Tom’s sidekick in his shenanigans
Becky Thatcher • Judge Thatcher’s pretty, blond haired daughter • From the minute she moved into town Tom’s romantic sensibility gets stirred • Tom and Becky go through great lengths to make each other jealous
Joe Harper • Tom’s best friend and frequent playmate • a typical best friend • Though Joe mostly mirrors Tom, he diverges from Tom’s example when he is the first of the boys to succumb to homesickness on Jackson’s Island. • As the novel progresses, Huck begins to assume Joe’s place as Tom’s companion.
Injun Joe • A violent, villainous man • Commits murder, becomes a robber, and plans to mutilate the Widow Douglas • Half native American, half Caucasian causing controversy between the people in town
Summary The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is about a boy named Thomas Sawyer and his adventures around the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri where he lives with his Aunt Polly, half-brother Sid, and cousin Mary. Tom is always getting into trouble as you will see in the beginning of the novel when he decides to play hooky and go swimming instead of going to school. As punishment his Aunt Polly assigns him the chore of whitewashing the fence around their house, which he gets out of by convincing the neighborhood boys to do it. Soon a girl named Becky Thatcher moves into their neighborhood and Tom convinces her to get engaged to him which soon ends due to Tom telling her about his previous engagement to Amy Lawrence. One night Tom and his friend Huck take a trip to the graveyard where they planned to carry out a special ritual to cure warts. Soon after their arrival they hear the voices of Injun Joe, Muff Potter, and Dr. Robinson and soon find out that the men are grave robbing. The three men get into a fight and Injun Joe stabs Mr. Robinson to death.
The boys cant take knowing what happened to Mr. Robinson and decide to run away to Jackson Island. When the boys go missing the town concludes that they drowned and plan a funeral. Little do they know the boys would return the next day to attend their own funeral. Back at school the boys are envied by all the boys and Tom has yet to win back Becky’s heart, but Tom catches Becky reading the teacher’s book and startles her causing her to break it. The next day the teacher asks Becky is she broke it so Tom confessed for her winning her love and attention back. School is let out and the trial for the doctors death begins. Tom confesses all he saw and Injun Joe flees town. Tom gets scared that Injun Joe will seek revenge which they find out is true when Huck and Tom go to look for treasure and overhear Injun Joe and his accomplices plotting an attack. Injun Joe plans a sneak attack on Widow Douglas but the boys get there just in time to save her. The word of the near attack circulates around town. Becky and Tom go missing and fear they may starve to death. Luckily they find their way back and the town rejoices. Tom went to Huck with the great news that he knows where the treasure is. They go back to MacDougal's cave to retrieve it and then Tom comes back to town. Widow Douglas then takes in Tom and the novel ends in Huck and Tom discussing their futures of being robbers.
Personal Critique • I thought the book was a fairly easy read. It wasn’t the most exciting book I have read but it had its moments of suspense. I would not recommend this book to high school students mainly because its not a very fun book to read.
Style and Tone • Mark Twain’s style of writing isn’t easy to understand at times because the novels were written so long ago. The tone of the book is somewhat adventurous.
Huckleberry Finn • thirteen-year-old son of a notorious alcoholic • is mischievous and wild. He is the best friend of Tom Sawyer and is taken care of by Miss Watson and her sister; Widow Douglas • is open minded and skeptical about religion • is smart but not formerly educated and constantly gets him self out of bad situations. Miss Watson- lives with her sister; widow Douglas. She is very religious and strict with Tom. She is the owner of Jim.
Tom Sawyer • famous as the protagonist in the preceding novel • Huck’s best friend • opposite of Huck • is imaginative creative, likes to read and most of his acts of incredible stupidity and sometimes cruelty are things he is imitating that he read in novels
Miss Watson • lives with her sister; widow Douglas • is very religious and strict with Tom • is the owner of Jim
Widow Douglas • Lives with her sister Mrs. Watson • is less strict than her sister and more understanding.
PAP • Huck’s father and a drunk • He beats Huck regularly • In the beginning of the story he is a mess with white skin and beaten up clothes • is very uneducated and is furious when he discovers Huck is the first in the family to learn to read • is discovered dead by Jim who doesn’t tell Huck.
Jim • One of Miss Watson’s slaves • is extremely superstitious and is sort of a father figure to Huck at times • ran away from home after learning that he was probably going to be sold and wouldn’t see his family • plans to make it to a free state and save enough money to buy his family back or to have them kidnapped by abolitionists • For most of the story he is at the mercy of nearly all of the other characters, which forces him into ridiculous and often dangerous situations.
Setting The book is set between 1835 and 1845. Mark Twain stated the story takes place 40-50 years before it was published. They live in St. Petersburg Missouri on the Mississippi river. Then various locations down the river. Personal critique- I thought the book was very hard to understand. There were some elements I enjoyed. I like how Mark Twain addresses many of the problems of the time such as slavery and racism. Parts of the book were also really funny. I still however would not recommend the book simply because the dialogue was so hard to understand.
Style and Tone Twains style is very difficult to read. The book is narrated by both Twain and Finn. It also uses old southern dialogue. The combination of the two made it very hard for me to read. The tone of the book appears to be sarcastic. You can really pick up on some of Twains obvious jabs at religion in the book. He also makes fun of romantic novels and southern culture.
Literary Elements Symbolism: Mark Twain uses much symbolism in this story. I believe Miss Watson represents pre Civil War white culture. She is a good-hearted Christian, but she sees nothing wrong with keeping slaves. Jim represents slavery. Jim has no formal education, but he appears to be the only responsible level headed adult in the book. I believe this to be a slap in the face at white culture at the time. The Mississippi river is Jim and Huck’s last chance at a new life and freedom, so the Mississippi river symbolizes freedom.
Summary Huckleberry Finn is Tom Sawyers best friend. The widow Douglas, who lives with her sister Miss Watson, adopted him. Huck’s father Pap is a notorious alcoholic, who beats Huck even when he’s sober. Huck is very mischievous and doesn’t like living with the widow because she insists on him using manners, going to church and being clean. Pap reappears in the town demanding Huck’s money. Pap stays in town for several months harassing Huck and one day kidnaps him. Huck fakes his own death and escapes the cabin. He hides on an island on the Mississippi river. On the island he runs into Jim. Jim was one of the widows’ slaves and a friend of Huck. Jim ran away because he heard Mrs. Watson talking about selling him and he thought he would never see his family again. He wants to make it to Ohio where he can save money and buy his family or have them kidnapped by abolitionists. Huck however is still reluctant to help him because he considers it to be stealing, which he does all of the time.
Summary cont. They eventually leave the island when Huck hears talk in the town that they think Jim killed Huck and that he’s hiding on the island. On their way they rescue two con-men who claim to be an English Duke and the dauphin. They join Tom and Jim on their journey down the river. They pull scams all the way down the river. The two con artists scams become progressively worse and more selfish. Eventually they trade Jim for forty dollars. Jim ends ups being held by Tom Sawyers aunt and Uncle. Tom and Huck execute a lavish plan and free Jim, but Tom is shot in the leg, which he is excited about. Jim eventually sacrifices his freedom to get medical attention for Tom. When Tom gets up the next morning he tells Jim that Mrs. Watson died and he’s been free the whole time. Jim then reveals to Huck that he found his fathers dead body early on but didn’t tell him. Huck is relieved at the news.
Characters Hank Morgan is the protagonist of the book who ends up going back in time to the age of King Arthur and the Knights of he Round Table. He uses the solar eclipse of the time to convince the people that he has the power to block the sun. He also uses his assistance with Clarence to communicate with Camelot at all times. Clarence is Hank Morgan's right hand man. Most trusted by Hang Morgan. Clarence is like Hank’s eyes and ears. Merlin has issues with the protagonist Hank Morgan. Merlin uses tricks to convince the town that he is a wizard. After Hank Morgan sees this he decides he has to take down Merlin with his own tricks. Regardless of this Hank keeps merlin to keep him looking as wizard. Merlin represents the idiocy of the time where everyone was uneducated and believed almost anything.
Characters cont. Sandy is the wife of Hank Morgan. The two end up meeting when they are sent off together. She says that there has been some monsters hurting other people, so they go off to save them even though Hank knows it is all a lie. They end up falling in love and marrying each other. They have a child named Hello Central.
Setting • This novel takes place in the historic city of Camelot during the sixth century. Camelot is an ancient city with castles, houses, and long never ending landscapes.
Personal Critique • I thought the book was a good read, although it did tend to drag on. Mark Twains writing style was a bit hard to understand, I needed to go over certain parts at times. • The writers tone was that of a clash between science and superstition. The book had a lot of relations between Hank Morgan's knowledge of the 19th century and the ‘magic's’ of the time, which showed some humor in the novel as well.
Summary Mark Twain, the author and narrator of the novel is going on a journey to Warwick Castle, England. He meets a stranger who introduces himself as Hank Morgan from Connecticut. This stranger hands Twain a script that he says was written during the 6th century almost thirteen hundred years earlier, the script was about his life during that time. The stranger then explains that he was injured in a fight. After this he awoke in Camelot under the court of King Arthur. During the story he uses his 19th Century understanding of the world to shape the old world to his desire, after he gains control of the majority of the people of the time, that is. He does this by aweing the people of the 6th century by showing them his knowledge, which leads them to believe he is a magician. In the later end of the story Hank Morgan goes on many quests to try to keep the Church and the state separate. The book continues on as he tries to shape the 6th century to his liking.
Summary Cont. The story ends with Hank Morgan waking in 19th century England after spending several years trying to modernize the 6th century. After this he finds Mark Twain, tells his story to him both on paper and verbally. He soon dies and wishes to go back to the time he used to be in, which he ultimately realizes he loved dearly
Job Page The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Donald A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mitchell Tom Sawyer – Demi Power Notes, author Information, and slideshow presentation- Demi , Mitchell and Donald
