Character Analysis
of Huck Finn
Step I:
Brainstorm what you know about Huck Finn.
Appearance
Background
Personality
Relationship
Conflicts
Character Changes
Step II:
Take a good look at your brainstormed information about
Huckleberry Finn then choose ONE of the following topics about
which to write a formal paragraph:
- Discuss the qualities Huck possesses that are necessary for survival on the frontier.
- What is "civilization" in the mind of Huck?
- What is Huck’s primary motivation – greed, adventure, safety, or something else?
Step III:
Identify the topic of your paragraph in a topic sentence.
*Remember that the topic sentence should identify the character
Huckleberry Finn, the book title and author, and the point your
writing will make.
Ex. 1: Joe Schmo proves that a quality life does not have to include
the actions and beliefs held by most of society in It Was All My
Idea, a novel written by Judy Jackson.
Ex. 2: In John Smith’s classic tale The Life of My Brother, Kirk
Leonard depicts a man filled with greed and hostility.
Ex. 3: Brian Brandy, the protagonist in Gene Geoffrey’s What a Day,
demonstrates a strong will in his quest for survival.
Topic Sentence: _______________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Step IV: Identify, in your notes (brainstorm), those points about your
character that support the claim you make in your topic sentence.
Using those points, outline the structure of your paragraph into a
graphic organizer (next page). All points/evidence should work to
prove your topic sentence.
TS
SD1
SD2
SD3
EX & QUOTE
EX & QUOTE
EX & QUOTE
EXPL
EXPL
EXPL
CL
Step V:
Using your graphic organizer as a guide, write a rough draft of your
essay.
Peer edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation, organization, content,
and focus. REVISE
Peer edit for vocabulary usage, voice, and sentence structure. REVISE
Peer conference. REVISE – make FINAL COPY!
Parenthetical Documentation
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Punctuation
Example
- Jim questions, “Say—who is you?” (8).
comma
- “Well, I knows what I’s gwyne to do,” Jim tells the stranger (8).
colon
- Jim hears a noise and knows someone is near him, so he asks aloud
who it could be: “Say—who is you?” (8).
nothing
- Jim tries to quiet the noise and decides he “knows what I’s gwyne to do” (8).
Quoting 4
or more
lines
*block
*no quotes
*no endmark
When Tom Sawyer and the boys agree on the terms of their oath, Tom reiterates
their responsibility to one another:
It swore every boy to stick to the band, and never tell any of the secrets; and
if anyone done anything to any boy in the band, which ever boy was ordered
to kill that person and his family must do it, and he mustn’t eat and he mustn’t
sleep till he had killed them and hacked a cross in their breasts, which was the
sign of the band. (11)
As the leader, Tom…
Quoting a
Quote
Some of the boys wonder what family member of Huck’s they would kill: “Ben
Rogers says: ‘Here’s Huck Finn, he ain’t got no family—what you going to do
‘bout him?’” (12).
*Quotes are double spaced the same as the rest of the document.
Directions: Punctuate each of the following sentences that include internal documentation.
1. The boys pricked their fingers with a pin “to get blood to sign with” (12).
2. Tom Sawyer tells the boys “We ain’t burglars. That ain’t no sort of style. We are
highwaymen” (12).
3. All of the boys thought the oath was agreeable “Everybody said it was a real beautiful
oath” (12).
4. Huck arrived back home before dawn. He said he “clumb up the shed and crept into my
window just before day was breaking” (13).
5. Huck arrived back home before dawn. He said “I clumb up the shed and crept into my
window just before day was breaking” (13).
6. Huck arrived back home before dawn “I [Huck] clumb up the shed and crept into my
window just before day was breaking” (13).
7. Huck Finn contemplates what others tell him “I thought this over for two or three days, and
then reckoned I would see if there was anything in it” (17).
8. Huck Finn contemplated “…for two or three days, and then reckoned I would see if there was
anything in it” (17).
9. Huck Finn claims “I thought this over for two or three days, and then reckoned I would see if
there was anything in it” (17).
10. Huck is startled when he sees Pap sitting in his room “When I lit my candle and went up to
my room that night, there set pap, his own self!” (20).