Essay #5

Throughout history it has been shown how women are discriminated against for their gender, they are said to be weaker and not as strong as men are. This has been shown throughout the years. And now it is even being translated into novels. A novel such as The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.I believe that The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is a book that was written in a matter that men dominate the story. The main characters of the book happen to be 2 males. Jim and Huck , and the whole novel revolves around both of them. All the women in the novel are women who are made to fit into the category that society puts them into.The critical controversy that I chose to read was the one by Nancy A. Walker , Reformers and Young Maidens: Women and Virtue in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. When I began reading the book I personally did not pay attention to all the main points that Walker brought up, but as I started reading her argument I realized that she was right.

A quote that I found very intresting by Nancy Walker was when she was staing what she felt aout the book. The object of praise, banning and veneration during the hundred years since it's publication, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has not commonly been considered a novel about women in the nineteenth century american society. Men occupy center stage in Huck Finn; women stand toward the back and sides of the novel, nagging, providing inspiration , often weeping or hysterical.(477)
I agree with what she is saying in this quote, in this book Twain made all the women stand back and made them seem annoying and not important. Both Miss Watson and the Widow Doulgas are the caretakers of Huck, and they both seem to give into society’s view of a womens role back in the day.

At the beginning of the book Huck always felt that Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas were always nagging him and wanted him to reform and try to fit in better. As we all know Huck is someone who has had a rough childhood, he grew up with a drunk father and falls a lot into peer pressure. In the book Widow Douglas plays the role of a women with a caring heart who really cares for huck, she just wants to make him a better person and make him have religious beliefs like herself.
The widow Douglas , she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer I lit out.(33)
He didn’t lke the idea of someone trying to help him become a better person, as he went on describing her he made her seem somewhat annoying. The role that she played was played out to be a women who just jkept nagging him, when in reality she was just trying to make him a better man.

And he did the same for Miss Watson.
Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and tooka set at me now, with a spelling book. She worked me middlinghard for about an hour, and thehn the widow made her ease up. I couldn’t stood it much longer(33)
Judith FetterleyAmerican literature is male. To read the cannon of what is currently considered classis american literature is preforce to identity as male.... Our literature neither leaves women alone nore allows them to participate.(477)

I still have more details and more paragraphs to add, and for some reeson the formating is not working right=(

Blog #10

My thesis would be- I believe that The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is a book that was written in a matter that men dominate the story.

Nancy Walker
The object of praise, banning and veneration during the hundred years since it's publication, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has not commonly been considered a novel about women in the nineteenth century american society. Men occupy center stage in huck Finn; women stand toward the back and sides of the novel, nagging, providing inspiration , often weeping or hysterical.(477)

Judith Fetterley
American literature is male. To read the cannon of what is currently considered classis american literature is preforce to identity as male.... Our literature neither leaves women alone nore allows them to participate.(477)

I agree with both the qoutes , the first qoute targets The Book huck Finn while the other qoute talks about gender roles in literature in general.

Blog #9

Last class we got to discuss the issue that Cotati dealt with a few weeks ago regarding one of the councel members that dressed in blackface and post it up on his blog. I was personally shocked that someone of such high power would go this far in an issue that has to do with race. This came of as racist to me, i feel that he went to far, painting his face a different color to try to appear as a black male, not only that but also wearing the afro. It was as if he was making fun of them, he showed disrespect to the african americans. Not even after Obama got eleceted president did people's mind of poking fun at other people change.

Peer REviwe For Essay #4

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that has caused a lot of controversy throughout the years. From the day that it was published until now. Mark Twain published this book in 1885, with the intent to let people now how life was back in the day. People are very skeptical when it comes to this book for the fact that it demeans African Americans by using the word “nigger” numerous times. Back in the day the word “nigger” was just a word that could be said without people giving you a second look. This word was mainly used by the whites towards their slaves. Slavery was big in the nineteenth century. I believe that Mark Twain knew all the controversy that this book was going to cause and he chose to still publish it for the fact that he wanted to maintain the realism and the historical accuracy of this period of time.
African American didn’t have an opinion or a voice, they were always told what to do and were unworthy. At times when I would read the book I would feel bad for the names that they were getting called. At times I felt that it was too harsh to be published but thinking about it it’s just informing us of how it really was. This is what really was being said and how they were really being treated.
Times have changed drastically, and it’s almost as if Mark Twain knew that this change was going to occur, like if he wanted us to get a real good look at how African Americans had to go through. Many people can take this book as being racist but it all depends how you look at it.
When schools allow students to read this book I think that it should be made clear to everyone that the word should not be interpreted as it is now, which now a days it is meant to be something demeaning and racist, but to understand the way Mark Twain wrote it. Which he was trying to tell us how it was used back in the days.



These are jsut like the main topics to my paragraphs i still need more details and examples=)

The N word

For my paper i will be writing of how i portrayed the N word being used. Back then this word took a lot of offense, it was a word used to categorize an african american person in a very demeaning way. I personally think that now a days people are more open to the word and have come to understand that it was a word that was used back then and shouldt be used now. Thats why i think that some schools are ok with the book. For the reason that Mark Twain wrote this book back in 1885. In my paper i will adress how many and in what ways the word is adressed.

Blog #7

The video that we watched was very upsetting to me. I realize that the police officer was doing his job but he didn't have any compassion to the situation what so ever. I feel that he really abused his power of authority. Once he heard what was going on he should have been understanding and let him go see his mother in law in her last minutes before she died. The officer was just telling him everything that he could do, like give him a ticket, tow his car, and even take him to jail. Instead of just giving him the ticket was was just provoking him to get more upset, because even after Moats was calm and not talking back the police officer just kept on going. I think Moats did a really good job with keeping his cool. Racism was definitely a factor in this incident, if this happened to be a white family i think that things would have ended a lot different. I am glad to hear that the officer has resigned.

Blog #6

A minstrel show is a show were white peopel paint there faces black and amuse other people by making fun of the black folks.I really dont think that Jim is a minstel. I mean there are times were his comments and beliefs are a little out there and i guess that is the only humourous part but other than that i dont condiser him to be portrayed as a minstrel. Maybe later on in the book there will be more incidents were Jim is shown as a minstrel. Right now Jim is portrayed as a characeter who is smart but in a way still very childish. Even though he is older than Huckleberry Finn, he is still being told what to do in a way.