Pudd’nhead Wilson
by Mark Twain; ISBN: 0-553-21158-7
While reading the novel, please annotate the text for examples of the terms of culture on the handout entitled “What is Culture?” under the section “Terms to Know.”
Content Standards:
RL.10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.10. 2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.
RL.10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone
W.10.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Respond to one of the following prompts in a five-paragraph essay.
1.
A major theme of the book is the arbitrariness of racial classifications. In a five paragraph essay, discuss this theme and how it relates to at least ONE term of culture.
Be sure to cite evidence.
2.
A question posed by the novel is whether "nature" or "nurture" is the controlling factor in what type of person an individual will become. Does Twain conclusively favor one theory or the other? In a five-paragraph essay, make an argument and support with textual evidence.
3.
Does Twain's tone in this novel seem racist or anti-racist? In a five-paragraph essay, make an argument and support with textual evidence.
Note: All essays must be typed in MLA format.
Papers are due on the first day of school. NO EXCEPTIONS. This essay will count as a project grade for the first advisory.

What is Culture?
Humanities II
(all definitions taken from the article “The Case for Multicultural Education”)
A number of anthropologists define culture in different ways. Read each.
Edward B. Tylor: Culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (46).
James P. Spradley and David W. McCurdy: Culture is “the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and to generate social behavior” (46).
Ward Goodenough: “A society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves. Culture, being what people have to learn as distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of the end by-product of learning: knowledge . . .” (46).
Robert Levine: Culture is “a shared organization of ideas that includes the intellectual, moral, and aesthetic standards prevalent in a community and the meanings of communicative actions”
(47).
A recent definition: Culture is “a system of shared knowledge and belief that shapes human perceptions and generates social behavior . . . “(47).
TERMS TO KNOW
Subjective culture: The way a cultural group perceives its environment, including stereotypes, role perceptions, norms, attitudes, values, ideals, and perceived relationships between events and behaviors.
World View: This is another way of saying “subjective culture.” World view is the way a cultural group perceives people and events.
Concrete culture: The objects and artifacts of a culture.
Macroculture: In a mixed cultural setting, the macroculture is dominant. Most, including those in the subculture, follow the beliefs and patterns of the macroculture.
Microculture: A subculture that exists within the macroculture. This group usually has its own specific beliefs and behaviors that differ from the macroculture, but it coexists in some ways with the dominant group.