Question #1: Mark Twain once described The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a novel in which “a sound
heart & a deformed conscience come into collision & conscience suffers
a defeat.”
Using the novel, explain what you think Twain means in this
statement and why this conflict is important to the book as a whole. Be sure not to ignore or smooth-over what is
complicated about Huck’s inner self. To
put it another way: why is it not always clear if the heart or the conscience
should be trusted? Select scenes and
quotations to help illustrate your argument.
Question #2:
In the novel The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the film Modern Times, the main character is an outsider who can not fit
into the society of his time and is forced to wander restlessly, without a
clear goal. In a well developed essay,
explain how the characters’ journeys are used to either a) show a development
or change in the characters that is meaningful, or b) reveal significant truths
about the characters’ social environments.
An excellent response will use specific details and scenes from the
novel and the film – not just those discussed in class – and will explain why
the characters’ reactions to their environments are meaningful.
