Graphic Novel- Huck Finn

Background Information:

• Born Nov. 30 1835
• Birth name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
• Grew up along the Mississippi River.
• Never went outside as young kid because of his poor health.
• Found out his love for writing when he a printer and editorial assistant for his brother's newspaper at the age of 15.
• Liscensed River Pilot.
• The name "Mark Twain" was inspired when he was a river pilot, which meant "safe to navigate".
• Died on April 21, 1910.

http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?aid=108

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/index.php

Awards:

• Received a doctorate from Oxford University.
• America's most famous literary icon.

Other Books:

• Huckleberry Finn is the story about a 13 year old boy named Huck's adventure down the Mississippi River. Huck is adopted by Widow Douglas because he lacks parental guidance in life. His drunken father kidnapped him and took Huck to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, where his dad tries killing Huck. Huck faked his own death and escaped to Jackson's Island. After a few days on the island, Huck met Jim, slave that escaped from Ms. Watson. Immediately, the two made a raft and ventured down the Mississippi River. The two become close to one another and meet a lot of characters that try turning in the escaping slave. The story goes on about how the boy, Huck Finn, helps his friend Jim escape from slavery.

• Tensions between two different races will not break up a friendship. There were many race issues at the time period this book was written.

• Widow Douglas- Adopts Huck Finn.
• Ms. Watson- Widow's sister.
• Tom Sawyer- Huck's friend.
• Huck Finn-13 year old lacking ambition in life, but loves the outdoors.
• Pap- Huck's drunk father, who tries killing him. Also, he is the dead man in the floating house.
• Jim- Runaway slave of Ms. Watson.
• The Grangerfords- Been in a feud with another rich family and allow Huck to stay a few nights.
• The Duke and King- Act out scenes of Shakespeare on the raft and perform scams on strangers.
• Phelps Family- Tom Sawyer's Aunt and Uncle.

1. Pre-Reading

• Have the students pick 5 vocabulary terms they don't know for each chapter. The book uses heavy slang and some explicit language.
• Look up the meaning of slang terms.

2. During-Reading

• Make episodes: Organize a large body of information about specific events, including time and place, people, duration, sequence, and causes and effects of particular events.

3. Post- Reading

• Make inferences and draw conclusions about what the students read.
• Have a reflective class discussion about the book. See what the students liked or disliked about the book.
• Compare the graphic novel to the original version of Huckleberry Finn.

Resources

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/index.php

Activities in Classroom

Mark Twain

Overview of the Book

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Author: Mark Twain

By: Dave O'Brien

Plot:

• St. Petersburg, Missouri. Cairo, Illinois. 1840 along the Mississippi River

Reading Level/ Implications for Classroom Use

Setting:

Theme:

Characters:

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is appropriate for a middle school classroom.
• Middle School history.
• Covers key points of the southern lifestyle in the 1840's.
• This is a great book to use in history classroom to show students how racism impacted everyone's lives in that time period.