11 Honors English
Unit: Huck Finn
Study Guide/huck finn study guide
DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY GUIDE: You do not need to prepare any “formal
document” to hand in, except for those questions at the end of the packet that are marked
with a * [SEE PAGE 9]; THESE NEED TO BE WORD DOCUMENTS PREPARED TO
UPLOAD TO MOODLE ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS. content and vocabulary are
included to help guide your reading. You should prepare to discuss all of the following
questions. Please mark passages, do some re-reading and some thinking to prepare for an
intelligent exchange of ideas.
NOTE: In the original edition of the novel, the chapters were not given titles. However,
in later editions, Twain assigned a title for each chapter; therefore, some modern editions
are published with the titles included on this sheet, and some editions omit the titles.
"Explanatory" and Chapters 1-4 Vocabulary:
commenced
tanyard
middling
skiff
tolerable
genie
Providence
ingot
Explanatory:
1. What are the three main dialects used by Twain in this book?
2. What notice did Twain include? Why do you think this is included?
Chapter 1 - Discover Moses and the Bulrushes
1. Who is the narrator of the story?
2. Why does Huck claim to be rich?
3. With whom was Huck living?
4. Why didn't Huck want to hear about Moses?
5. What reasons does Huck give for wishing to go to Hell?
6. What are some of the superstitions that Huck mentions in connection with the spider
incident?
7. Who was waiting for Huck outside?
Chapter 2 - Our Gang's Dark Oath
1. What was Jim's duty?
2. What did Tom do to Jim, and later what was Jim's explanation for
what happened?
3. Where did Tom take the boys to make their oath?
4. Who did Huck Finn offer up to be killed?
5. What was to be the gang's line of business?
6. What do the boys think "ransom" means?
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Chapter 3 - We Ambuscade the A-rabs
1. What is the difference between the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson's religious thought?
2. Describe Huck's Pap.
3. Why did the boys resign from the gang?
4. What did the "Spaniards" and "A-rabs" turn out to be?
5. To what does Huck compare rubbing a "magic" lamp and ring?
Chapter 4 - The Hair-ball Oracle
1. What does Huck try to do to ward off the bad luck brought by the spilled salt?
2. What is the purpose of cutting a cross into a boot's heel?
3. How much was the interest on Huck's money?
4. What did he want to do with all the money?
5. Whose tracks were in the snow?
6. What did it take to make the hair-ball "talk" to Jim?
7. What was the "trouble" waiting for Huck?
Analysis Questions for Chapters 1-4
1. What contrast between Huck and Tom is established?
2. What is Huck's attitude toward Jim, and how is Jim presented?
3. What apparently is Twain's idea regarding religion? Through which character and events is
this attitude shown?
Chapters 5-7 Vocabulary
1. oracle
5. palavering
2. stanchion
6. shanty
3. nabob
4. infernal
Chapter 5 - Pap Starts a New Life
1. How old was Pap? Describe his physical appearance.
2. Why has Pap come to town?
3. Why wouldn't the new judge let the widow or Judge Thatcher be Huck's guardian?
4. What did the new judge try to do for Pap, and what was the result?
Chapter 6 - Pap Struggles With the Death Angel
1. Where did Pap take Huck?
2. Why did Huck decide to leave Pap?
3. When Pap got drunk, what did he criticize?
4. What upset Pap about the "free nigger . . . Ohio?"
5. Who is the "Death Angel"?
Chapter 7 - I Fool Pap and Get Away
1. What did Huck find floating in the river?
2. Why did Huck want an elaborate cover-up for his leaving?
3. What does Huck want people to think?
4. Where does he make his first landing?
Analysis Questions for Chapters 5-7:
1. What is Pap's attitude toward Huck and how does Huck react?
2. What is the significance of Huck's remark about the river - "The June rise used to be always
luck for me?"
3. What is the literal and symbolic importance of Huck preparing his own death?
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Chapter 8-11 Vocabulary
1. hogshead
5. pivot
2. carcass
6. prime
3. quicksilver
7. hank
4. vial
Chapter 8 - I Spare Miss Watson's Jim
1. What does the title of this chapter show about Huck's attitude toward Jim (and all black
people) at this point?
2. Why were the loaves of bread being floated on the river?
3. When Huck was chasing a snake, what did he see that frightened him? Why?
4. Why is Jim so afraid of Huck when he first sees him?
5. Why has Jim run away?
6. In what way does Jim consider himself rich?
Chapter 9 - The House of Death Floats By
1. Why did Jim and Huck move their things into a cave?
2. How had the man in the house died?
3. What reason does Jim give for Huck not looking at the dead man?
4. When Huck says "we got home all safe," what is home?
Chapter 10 - What Comes of Handlin' Snake-skin
1. Why doesn't Jim want to talk about the dead man?
2. What was the bad luck they had from handling the snake skin?
3. What were some of the "cures"?
4. Why does Huck want to leave the island?
5. How big was the fish they caught and what did they use for bait?
6. Where did they get the girl's clothes that Huck dressed in?
Chapter 11 - They're After Us!
1. What does Huck first say his name is?
2. Who do people think killed Huck?
3. How does the woman know Huck isn't a girl?
4. Does he tell her the truth?
5. What is the reason for Jim and Huck leaving the island and on what do they leave?
Analysis Questions, Chapters 8-11
1. How does the title of Chapter 8 signal the major conflict which is to bother Huck's
conscience throughout the remainder of the novel?
2. What is the symbolic implication in Jim's belief that Huck is a ghost?
3. What is symbolic about the "floating house of death"?
4. What is significant in Huck's visit to Mrs. Loftus in disguise?
5. What is the irony of the "good luck" Huck thinks he has been favored with in visiting the
"house of death"?
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Chapters 12-16 Vocabulary
1. harrow
5. careened
2. texas
6. gaudy
3. starboard
7. thickest
4. berth
8. ell
Chapter 12 - Better Let Them Blame Well Alone
1. What had they forgotten to take with them?
2. What is a "towhead"?
3. What were some "improvements" they made on the raft?
4. What "big" city did they pass?
5. What reason did Huck have for going ashore every night?
6. Why did Huck want to go aboard the wrecked steamboat?
7. Why did Jake and Bill want to murder Jim Turner and how were they planning to do it?
8. What does Jim tell Huck about the raft?
Chapter 13 - Honest Loot from the "Walter Scott"
1. How did Huck and Jim get away from the wreck?
2. Why does Huck decide to try to get help for the three men on the wreck?
3. What does Huck tell the watchman on the ferry boat that makes him decide to try to rescue
the people on the wreck?
4. Why does Huck feel the widow would be proud of what he had done?
5. How is the last line of Chapter 13 like the last line of Chapter 11?
Chapter 14 - Was Solomon Wise?
1. About what did Huck read to Jim?
2. What bothers Jim about Solomon's "wisdom"?
3. What puzzles Jim about French people?
4. What is Huck's attitude toward Jim after their conversation?
Chapter 15 - Fooling Poor Old Jim
1. What were Huck and Jim's plans?
2. What frightened Huck?
3. How does Huck "fool" Jim?
4. How does Jim come to realize he had not been dreaming?
5. What is Huck's attitude toward Jim at the end of the chapter?
Chapter 16 - The Rattlesnake-skin Does Its Work
1. What was the problem finding Cairo?
2. What was bothering Huck's conscience?
3. What were Jim's plans?
4. What makes Huck uncertain whether he was glad he started out to tell on Jim?
Analysis Questions for Chapters 12-16
1. What is significant about the reoccurring death imagery in Chapter 15?
2. What is unusual about Jim's lecturing Huck?
3. What new knowledge of human nature has Huck gained?
4. How does Huck battle with his conscience?
5. Now that the two are heading deeper South, in what sense can Jim gain his freedom?
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Vocabulary for Chapters 17-20
1. reticule
8. tartar
2. galluses
9. lineal
3. pensive
10. Dauphin
4. impair
11. histrionic
5. pommel
12. phrenology
6. cavortin
13. contrite
7. scow
Chapter 17 - The Grangerfords Take Me In
1. What name does Huck give this time?
2. Who did the Grangerfords think he might be?
3. How old is Buck?
4. How does Huck get Buck to tell him the name Huck had given?
5. What was the subject matter of Emmeline's poetry?
Chapter 18 - Why Harney Rode Away for His Hat
1. How does Col. Grangerford dress "every day of his life"?
2. Where had all the people gone?
3. Why did Buck shoot at Harney and what was the Colonel's reaction?
4. How long had the feud been going on and what was it about?
5. When the men went to church what was the subject of the sermon?
6. What did Miss Sophia ask Huck to do?
7. What did Huck discover?
8. What had happened to the raft?
9. According to Buck who, in his family, had been killed?
10. What happened to Sophia and Harney?
11. What happened to Buck?
12. How did Huck get away?
Chapter 19 - The Duke and the Dauphin Come Aboard
1. Describe briefly the two men who were being chased by the dogs?
2. What had gotten them into trouble?
3. What was the younger man's "secret of birth"?
4. What was the older man's "secret"?
5. Did Huck believe them?
Chapter 20 - What Royalty Did to Parkville
1. Did Huck tell them the truth about Jim?
2. What were the Duke's plans for making money in town?
3. How much money had the "king" collected?
4. How had the "duke" earned his money?
5. What precaution do they take with Jim in order to run the raft in
the daylight?
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Analysis Questions for Chapters 17-20
1. Even though Huck is far enough from home to be safe from discovery, why does he continue
to use false names?
2. What is the significance of Huck saying there is "no home like a raft"?
3. What is the importance of the descriptive passages of the river at the beginning of chapter
19.?
4. Why does Huck, stating that "for what you want, above all things on a raft, is for everybody
to be satisfied and feel right and kind toward others" accept the outsiders ?
5. Why prior to the arrival of the Duke and King were the characters often naked on the raft?
Vocabulary for Chapters 21-23:
1. sublime
4. soliloquy
2. palings
5. rapscallions
3. parasol
Chapter 21 - An Arkansaw Difficulty
1. What Shakespearian plays are the "duke" and "king" rehearsing?
2. What did the townspeople like to watch for amusement?
3. Describe Colonel Sherburn.
4. What was the town's attitude toward Boggs?
5. What is the town's first reaction to the killing?
6. What do the people want to do to Sherburn?
Chapter 22 - Why the Lynching Bee Failed
1. What first quieted the crowd at Sherburn's house?
2. What does Sherburn tell the people their one mistake is?
3. What worried Huck at the circus?
4. What advertising "gimmick" is used to promote the "king" and
"duke's" show?
Chapter 23 - The Orneriness of Kings
1. Why do the people at the play tell everyone else in town to come
to the show?
2. How much money was made on the enterprise?
3. When Huck realized that Jim had been taking his watch, he says,
"it don't seem natural." What was it that didn't seem natural?
4. What had Jim done in the past which bothered him now?
Analysis Questions for Chapters 21-23:
1. Why does Twain describe the town so carefully at the beginning of Chapter 21?
2. Why does Twain call it a "lynching bee"?
3. What further aspects of Jim's character emerge in Chapter 23?
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Chapter 24-29 Vocabulary:
1. yawl
5. pallet
2. cipher
6. valid
3. obsequies
7. ingenious
4. garret
Chapter 24 - The King Turns Parson
1. What was Jim's disguise?
2. What does the "king" find out about the Wilks' family?
3. Who was the duke going to impersonate?
4. What was Huck's reaction to the two men's plan?
Chapter 25 - All Full of Tears and Flapdoodle
1. What did the letter that Mary Jane gave to the Duke and King say?
2. How much money was missing from the money in the cellar?
3. What did the Duke and King do with the money?
4. Who recognizes the two frauds as frauds?
5. What does Mary Jane do with the money?
Chapter 26 - I Steal the King's Plunder
1. Where is Uncle Harvey supposed to be from?
2. What begins to bother Huck about the treatment of the girls - and
why is this important?
3. What did Huck decide to do?
4. What upsets the King about the Duke's plan to leave town?
5. Where did the frauds ultimately hide the money?
Chapter 27 - Dead Peter Has His Gold
1. Where does Huck end up hiding the money?
2. What happens when the minister begins his sermon and why?
3. Why does the King say he'll take the girls home with him?
4, What becomes of the girls' slaves, and why is this important?
5. What do the King and Duke believe regarding the slaves?
Chapter 28 - Overreaching Don't Pay
1. What does Huck tell Mary Jane, and why does he consider it "not regular"?
2. Why does Huck say to call witnesses against the frauds?
3. Who does Huck say is sick and with what is the person sick?
4. Who shows up at the end of Chapter 28?
Chapter 29 - I Light Out in the Storm
1. Who is Levi Bell?
2. In what two ways are the Duke and King discovered?
3. Why do they dig up Peter Wilkses' body?
4. How did Huck escape?
Chapter 30 - The Gold Saves the Thieves
1. Who do the Duke and King blame for the money ending up in the coffin?
2. Who admits to stealing the money?
3. Why are the two men all upset about the deficit?
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Chapter 31 - You Can't Pray a Lie
1. Financially, what has become of the Duke and the King?
2. What is the name of the village?
3. What is significant about Huck's crying?
4. What has become of Jim and how did it happen?
5. Why does Huck have a hard time praying?
6. What does Huck plan to do for Jim?
Analysis Questions for Chapters 24 thru 31
1. Re-read the passages in chapter 31 that deal with Huck’s reaction to Jim’s situation.
Paragraphs being with “I felt good and all washed clean of sin . . .” and ends with “All right,
then, I’ll go to hell.” [page 206 in my book]. Explain the various important points connected
with this passage—what does it say about Huck, about society, about Twain?
2. Go back and look at chapter 15; how do Huck’s actions early in that chapter contrast with his
actions in chapters 30-31.
3. Describe at least 3 specific events showing Huck’s moral growth.
Chapter 32 - I Have a New Name
1. Who does Mrs. Phelps think Huck is?
Chapter 33 - The Pitiful Ending of Royalty
1. Who does Tom Sawyer claim to be?
2. What happened to the King and Duke?
3. What does Huck say about conscience and why is it important?
Chapter 34 - We Cheer Up Jim
1. What is Tom's complaint about Huck's plan?
2. Why is Huck surprised that Tom will help steal Jim?
Chapter 35 - Dark, Deep-Laid Plans
1. What has Tom Sawyer reverted to from earlier in the book?
2. Why is this change important?
Chapter 36 - Trying to Help Jim
1. What gets into Jim's hut as a result of the hole made by Huck and Tom?
Chapter 37 - Jim Gets His Witch Pie
1. What do Silas and Aunt Sally blame for things missing?
2. What is the purpose of the witch pie, the ladder, the plates and so on?
Chapter 38 - "Here A Captive Heart Busted"
No Questions
Chapter 39 - Tom Writes Nonnamous Letters
1. Why do the boys write and leave notes?
2. What do the notes warn?
Chapter 40 - A Mixed-Up and Splendid Rescue
1. Who has gathered at the Phelps' and why?
2. When the butter begins to melt, what does Aunt Sally think?
3. What happens to Tom Sawyer?
4. Why does Huck claim "Jim is white inside."?
Chapter 41 - "Must A' Been Sperits"
No Questions
Chapter 42 - Why They Didn't Hang Jim
No Questions
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Chapter the Last. Nothing More to Write
Nothing More to Ask
REQUIRED SUMMER READING QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED IN A WORD
DOCUMENT READY FOR MOODLE ON DAY ONE!
*1. Despite the author’s warning at the novel’s outset, most critics interpret The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn as a symbolic masterpiece. Consider the following and how the elements
work together to create an underlying symbolic significance to the novel: Huck’s faked death,
The Mississippi River, the raft and descriptions of life on the raft.
*2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire. What is satire—and how does this novel fit
into that category? What elements of society does Twain satirize? BE SPEICIFIC—
REFERENCE SPECIFIC SITUATIONS AND MARK SPECIFIC PASSAGES.
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is renowned for its use of language. Describe the
language in the novel and why its use should make the novel so famous.
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING 4, 5 or 6 to provide a written response.
*4. Huckleberry Finn is a character of great contradictions—while he is in many ways
innocent—he is not the typical innocent boy of bildungsroman novels. Explain how Huck Finn
is indeed a contradictory character--innocent, but experienced; childish, but wise.
*5. More about the character of Huck Finn. Some critics argue that Huck Finn is actually a
“cop-out.” What does this mean, and what evidence in the novel supports such a claim? What
evidence would you use to refute such a claim?
*6. Still more about the character of Huck Finn. Some critics believe that Huck Finn is a
modern version of the knight errant. What is a knight-errant, and how does Huck Finn fit this
type of character? AGAIN, REFERENCE SPECIFIC EVENTS.
7. Dramatic irony greatly enhances this novel—especially for modern readers. The conflicts,
the themes, and the humor in the novel are shaped by the use of this irony. Explain the
overriding dramatic irony in the novel and how it serves to shape conflicts, themes and humor.
8. Huck develops a strong morality as the novel progresses. Explain Huck’s moral progression
by referencing specific events showing Huck’s evolving morality.
9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has frequently been banned as a racist piece of
literature. Explain why people make this argument—then provide your own evaluation—racist
or not and WHY.
*10. This work falls can be seen as a Romantic work. Explain elements of Romanticism in the
novel.
11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, similar to many other works studied so far, shows a
split between country/wilderness and city/civilization. Describe/explain this presentation in the
novel.
EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES; CHOOSE ANY
TWO FOR WHICH TO PROVIDE WRITTEN ANSWERS.
1. trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren's en makes 'em ashamed.
2. It was fifteen minutes before I could . . . humble myself to a nigger [sic], but I done it, and I
warn't ever sorry.
3. I (Colonel Grangerford) don't like that shooting from behind a bush.
4. Most folks don't go to Church only when they've got to; but a hog is different.
5. There warn't no home like a raft . . . You feel might free and easy and comfortable on a raft.
6. It (inheritance scheme) was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.
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7. I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals (King and Duke) . . . Human beings can be awful
cruel to one another.
8. When I waked up just at day-break he was sitting there with his head down betwixt his knees,
moaning and mourning to himself. I didn’t take notice nor let on. I knowed what it was about.
Hew thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick;
because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as
much for his people as white folds does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so.
9. Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie . . . You can't pray a lie. . . All right then, I'll go to
hell.