1.
Write a short paper in which you contrast
Huck’s and Tom’s approaches to the escape.
What do we see about the boys? About Huck’s growth as a character? About romantics vs.
realists??? (500 words; due March 6).
2. Vocabulary:
1.
Kitsch: Art or other objects
appealing to popular taste, as by being gaudy or overly sentimental.
2.
Litany: A repetitive recital or list.
3.
Lurid: Characterized by vivid
description or explicit details that are meant to provoke or shock.
4.
Machiavellian: Behavior or policy
characterized by expediency, cunning and deceit.
5.
Malaise: A general sense of
unease.
6.
Malinger: To fake illness in
order to avoid work or duty (or school).
7.
Mantra: A word or phrase that is
expressed repeatedly, as in reaffirming an idea or motivating someone.
8.
Maudlin: Excessively sentimental.
9.
Mercenary: Motivated solely by a
desire for monetary or material gain.
10.
Minimalist: Characterized by the
use of only the simplest or most essential elements, as in the arts,
literature, or design.
3. Writing: Write an essay in which you
discuss the book as a journey from point A to point B. You will define the nature of the beginning
and end points, the nature of the changes that take place, the significance of
the story for Huck and perhaps for American civilization in the “Gilded Age”
(1,000 words; due March 13).
4. Heads-Up!!!
Beginning
in April, you will be writing a 10 page magnum opus—a research paper on any
topic related to American history and/or literature of the 17th through 19th centuries. You should start thinking about your topic
NOW so that when the time comes, you will be ready to roll.
Talk to me about ideas—I LOVE brainstorming (and, of course, I
love you, too!)