1 / 11

Huck

Huck. The N-word. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2011/01/five_songs_that_huck_finn_guy.php. Andrew Peterson 4/7/10. What is All the Contraversy About? What does the n-word mean? What are its connotations? When the word “nigger is used, what happens?

anika
Download Presentation

Huck

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Huck The N-word http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2011/01/five_songs_that_huck_finn_guy.php Andrew Peterson 4/7/10

  2. What is All the Contraversy About? • What does the n-word mean? • What are its connotations? • When the word “nigger is used, what happens? • Is this an opportunity to learn something? • Does Twain’s use of the word reflect Huck’s racism or his own? • How does the word slave differ from “nigger?” What effect does it have? • How are teachers around the country facing with these problems • What are student reactions? • What to do from here?

  3. How does the replacement of “nigger” with slave effect the novel? • It suggests that understanding the truth of the past is ruining present readers, while really slave is ruining the truth of the past • Slave does not represent what the characters mean to say • Twain wanted the audience to be emotionally affected when reading • With slave instead of “nigger”, readers wouldn’t stop to think about it. • Slave as a substitute makes it sound as if all the offense is in the n-word, and not slavery

  4. What does “nigger” mean? • Slang coming from the word “negro” meaning black • (Does one word change Huck Finn?) • Derogatory word used against blacks in the times of slavery • (Does one word change Huck Finn?) • David Bradley says, “Im fine with being called nigger. I’m a CEO. Call me CEO nigger! But that’s not what it means. It means you will never be a CEO.” • (Huck Finn and the N-word) http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2011/01/30/the-n-word-becomes-sivilized/ Does one word change Huck Finn; Huckleberry Finn and the N-word

  5. Teachable moments in a learning environment • From college professor David Bradley • When students hear the word “nigger” said in class, “everybody goes oof!” • Teachers have to tell the students that the word is there, and now lets discuss it. • The word slave takes away the “oof” factor and ultimately the entire discussion. • Thus, the teachable moment does not happen, and the students do not learn. (Huck Finn and the N-word) Huckleberry Finn and the N-word

  6. Changing the n-word changes the meaning of Twain’s language • “Why are we reading a Shakespeare play or Huckleberry Finn? Well, because these works are great, but they also tell us something about the times in which they were created. Unfortunately, previous eras and dead authors often use language accepted language as normal sediments that we now find unacceptable.” (Jane Smiley) Does one word change Huck Finn?

  7. Why study Huck Finn in high school? • Emotional maturity is reached by high school • Elementary and middle school students have not matured enough to comprehend the emotion, history and meaning behind the novel. • By the time we reach college, our opinions and emotional responses are often already set in stone Huckleberry Finn and the N-word

  8. What is the true power of the word nigger? • What is your reaction? • Why do you have that reaction? • That feeling is the feeling Twain wanted you to feel when you read this book Huck Finn and the N-word

  9. Huck’s racism, or Twains? • The word nigger is used 219 times by the character Huck • By changing the word to “slave”, it alters Twain’s message • Does Twain’s repition of the word reveal his racism • OR • Is Twain sending a message to get our attention to these specific moments Sova 104,105

  10. What are teachers doing about this contraversy today? • Many teachers today are teaching the book with the n-word in it • Methods of getting by the negative connotations like saying the word several times gets the students used to hearing the word said out loud • Saying n-word instead of “nigger” makes some students more comfortable • Learning about the word’s history gives students more perspective on its use • Don’t give the word more power than it already has Does one word change Huck Finn

  11. Works Cited "Does One Word Change 'Huckleberry Finn'? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 05 Jan. 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. "Huckleberry Finn" and the N-word - 60 Minutes - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. Sova, Dawn B. Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds. New York: Facts on File, 2006. Print.

More Related