Understanding Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn requires an understanding of the novel’s surrounding context and period.
When we visit The Mark Twain House and Museum this Thursday, your priorities should certainly be enjoyment and curiosity. Instead of taking copious notes, simply go in with an open mind and open ears. Make a list of some potential topics about Twain and the period in which he lived that you might wish to learn more about.
On Friday, we will utilize the libraries resources to identify potentially useful primary and secondary sources that pertain to Twain, Whitman, and this period in American literature and history.
Think of this field trip and the subsequent library visit as preliminary research stages. Remember that effective research begins before any specific thesis statement has been generated. Think back to some of the lessons on research and synthesis writing so far this year.