Meaghan Fritz Eng 270-2, TA Lesson Plan 28 February 2013 Objectives: Students will… 1) Construct arguments regarding Huck’s moral development, or lack thereof, in Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 2) Collaborate with other students to synthesize an argument in favor or against Huck’s moral development to debate with the class. 3) Distinguish both sides as acceptable readings of the novel, particularly considered through the Twain/Huck voice. 4) Interpret the “evasion” at the end of the novel. Thursday Email: Hello Section 61/63! I’m greatly looking forward to reading your essays tomorrow; keep pushing- you’re almost there! For tomorrow, I’d like for us to debate Huck’s moral and ethical development in the text. Please read in careful detail the passage where Huck commits to going to hell (starting near the bottom of p. 260 when he goes into the wigwam on the raft to think, to the middle of p. 262 where he decides he’s going to “go the whole hog.”) Please come to class with 2 arguments (and evidence from the text) that support ONE of the following claims (you HAVE to pick a side! ): 1) This passage represents an ethical turn, perhaps even a growth, in Huck Finn’s morality. 2) This passage represents Huck Finn’s inability to question or challenge the proslavery system in which he was raised. His morals do not change or grow in the novel. We will also review the ending of the novel, so be sure to skim those chapters again as well! Looking forward to section, Meaghan Materials: • Grade book • Dry erase marker • Folder/attendance book • Cookies for students • 24 copies of handout

Fritz 2 Lesson Plan: Housekeeping (5 minutes): • Papers returned by next Friday in section, or by Monday in lecture at the latest. • Our tip for studying for the exam: go through keywords list and make sure you can define all the terms, tie as many texts as you can to each term, then review the texts in the contexts of the terms. • Extra review section Friday, March 15th, 1:00, Parkes Hall #213. RSVP to get a keyword. Huck Finn, an Ethical Debate (25-35 minutes): Transition: Debate in the TA meeting over the ending of the novel, Twain’s intentions, whether Huck develops or not, and I thought it would be fun for us to have our own kind of debate on the moral and ethical development or lack thereof in Huck Finn. Thinking of the novel as a picaresque, a novel made of disconnected episodes, that documents the adventures of a roguish character, and that resists narrative growth of a character, I’m wondering what you all think about Huck’s character now that we’ve finished the novel. Does he develop? • Have students sit on side of room based on their position. Work in groups to pull together 4 arguments in favor of their position. (5 minutes) • Groups trade off sharing their arguments, while I keep track of their points on the board (10 minutes). • When both groups have presented, ask if there are more points they would like to share. Then give them five minutes to prepare a rebuttal. (5 minutes). o Points they should hit: Pro-ethical development: 1) He’d got to be a slave- p. 260, questioning slavery here. 2) p. 260, “they’d make Jim feel it all the time” seems to sympathize with the feelings of Jim. 3) p. 261, he recognizes his true belief that Jim should be free. 4) Humanizes Jim, p. 261-262. 5) “Never thought no more about reforming,” p. 262. o Anti-ethical development: 1) Repeatedly characterizes Jim’s running away as bad, p. 260. 2) p. 260: people naturally despise slaves. 3). HF is ashamed of his actions. 4) Sympathy with Miss Watson- she didn’t do anything wrong, etc. 5) HF’s awful ego, p. 261, 262. 6) Stealing Jim as wickedness, p. 262 • Present rebuttals. (5 minutes). • Conclusion: What is happening with the Huck/Twain voice here? What is Twain ironically saying through Huck? o Total satire on proslavery ideals; points out the absurdity of slavery, the convoluted morals of slavery, Huck’s ignorance of the cruelties of the slavery system, making fun of the Christianity Huck has been exposed to (Sunday school). P. 262: Hilarious comment on deciding between two things, not slavery, but going to hell. The Evasion (10-15 minutes): • P. 308, the “evasion.” See handout. • Stockholm syndrome, Tom Sawyer syndrome, Minstrelsy, Lawrence Holland: the novel is a burlesque, the conclusion shows the flopping around of failures of Reconstruction when what needs to be done is really simple, formal evasion (Twain leaving the manuscript for years).