The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapters 30-33 Think Aloud Activity
Objectives
I will model reading strategies/the ACTIVE reading
process by doing a think aloud.
Students will take notes as I do so.
Students will practice this active reading strategy
themselves by connecting a passage from the text to the
title of the chapter.
Students will need to be able to define important words
in the chapter in order to do so.
Reading Strategy Time!
Pre-reading strategies: Look at the chapter questions
FIRST!
No chapter questions? Some books have CHAPTER
TITLES!
Also helpful: Review the big ideas
What is the central conflict of the novel?
A disparity between “a sound heard and a deformed
conscience.”
Thinking about these things helps you to know what to look for!
Chapter 31: You Can’t Pray a Lie
What is Huck’s past experience with religion/prayer?
Widow/Miss Watson
The parson
Mary Jane Wilks
Why is he praying in this chapter all of a sudden?
Plot recap time!
What happened to Jim?
What dilemma is Huck faced with? (Connect to central conflict)
What does Huck decide and how does religion factor in?
Back to the text! Page 191
Context: his relationship with Jim so far
Re-read: The letter, the decision, Huck’s conclusion
“I was a-trembling because I’d got to decide forever betwixt
two things and I knowed it” (Twain 191)
What does “forever” mean to a kid like Huck?
“‘All right then, I’ll go to hell.’ It was awful thoughts and
awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and
never thought no more about reforming” (Twain 191).
“Forever” refers to his immortal soul. If he cares about this
enough to worry, he has developed/learned from his
experiences.
CONNECTION TIME!
If Huck feels helping Jim (the RIGHT thing to do) is at
the expense of his immortal soul, then he is obviously
conflicted based on what he has been taught.
This is a clear example of the central conflict.
SATIRE ALERT! Unfortunately, Huck still thinks he is
doing the wrong thing when it is clear to the reader
that his judgment is sound and firmly based on his
experiences with Jim (p. 190-191). This is a criticism of
society’s blindly accepted ideals.
Back to the Chapter Title
Why “You Can’t Pray a Lie?”
Why can’t Huck pray? Oh yeah, BECAUSE HE
DOESN’T MEAN IT.
Character development: Huck has learned the value of
spiritual ideas and cares when he is wrong. Huck sees his
inability to pray as an indication that he is damned.
Satire: Twain is highlighting hypocrisy in religion. The
reader can clearly see evidence of Huck’s sound heart
which is directly at odds with the organized religion of the
time. Twain saw organized religion as a method of
bullying/scaring people into blindly accepting even
blatantly morally questionable ideas.
Your Turn! Find a Partner
Ch. 33: “The Pitiful Ending of Royalty”
Re-read the paragraph on p. 206 that begins with “On
the road…”
What happened to the Duke and Dauphin?
How did Huck react/feel?
Consider: what does “pitiful” mean? (You may look it
up)
Hint: It can imply something BOTH about the subject
being described AND the speaker
Connect: What is the suggested meaning/connection
between the chapter title and the events in the chapter?
Exit Ticket
In light of the events described in chapters 3033, what is your current assessment of Huck’s
moral compass/character?
Give him a new rank from 1-10 (1 being completely
immoral, 10 being as moral as a person can get)
Explain your rating using specific details from the
text