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In Twains novel Huck is forced to judge between society’s perception of morality and fairness and his overwhelming gut feeling of what is truly “right”, resulting in an outward conformity to typical white southerners such as the slave catchers and the scam artists. This collision of two worlds creates Huck’s ongoing struggle between right and wrong, and ultimately contributes to the novel’s overarching theme: the questioning of the morality of slavery.
"forced to judge" consider a different wording of what your trying to say, must choose between or something like that.
The first sentence is a bit wordy, I get what your trying to say but either make it into two sentences or find a way to condense it
Remove the end of the sentence, slave catcher and scam artist or find a better way to incorporate what your trying to say. The two examples are kind of forced almost into the end. I think you should write a separate sentence describing the result of Hucks outward comformity
I really like the ending, stating the theme clearly at the end I know where you will go with this paper and I hope you do it justice.
Nice work here greggy this is a good start, what you are trying to claim here is good but you need to trim it down and make the claims a bit more clear.
I look forward to your finished piece
Huck is regularly tempted to make a decision that goes against his morality and his loyalty to conform to the imposed social values and his upbringing.
well for starters, it's a good concise argument. you should say—> regularly tempted to make decisions that go, because in your essay i'm sure you will be talking about more than one decision. also, what do you mean by loyalty to conform? i agree there are social values he finds hard to stray from as well as influence by his upbringing, but i don't know if loyalty is the right word.
this thesis presents a good argument, so i'm guessing you will be including decisions that show him being influenced by social values and upbringing, and comparing them to decisions in which he goes against those influences.
you might want to be specific though and add some details in your thesis about what exactly is the social values, and who was the influence behind his upbringing.
I agree with Greg's assessment. However, I think you still have a bit of work to do to have an arguable claim. You need a "so what"? What's the significance of Huck's conflicted morality? Or what is Twain suggesting by showing us a character with conflicted morality? When you have that, then you will really have a complete thesis.
Sorry! I didn't mean "his loyalty to conform"…. I meant to say that Huck is tempted to go against his loyalty (and morality) AND to conform….
Thesis: Huck's repeated inward questioning followed by outward conformity suggests racism is so severely intrenched in society that is difficult to overcome
Grammar and structure looks fine. This thesis is the start of a good argument. You probably want to talk about Ch31, the use of the n-word, and Huck's attempts to reform. I'm not a hundred percent sure what the exact opposing argument would be… Maybe that racism was not the reason he outwardly conformed… But you could refute that with the use of the n-word even while Huck begins to see Jim as a human being. Definitely use Ch31. You could make your thesis more precise and refer to the passages you are going to use as evidence so that you will have a plan for what you are going to write…
I agree with Camille's assessment. This thesis is very strong. In your introduction you can give context and provide more precise details. A small note, the word is "entrenched." Go for it!
The river plays the role of facilitator in Huck Finn and is the character that challenges Huck throughout the novel's entirety. The river embodies the desires of Huck and Jim, and Twain characterizes the river as a calming, welcoming, symbol of freedom and a life entrenched in nature. However, the river develops into a character that not only facilitates Huck's movement, but facilitates the change in every aspect of life, challenging the established order of life. The river symbolizes that all things in life are fleeting, whether it be slavery, freedom, family, possessions, or maturity. While Huck, Jim, and others float down the river, the river remains the same, yet Huck’s entire world changes around him. Twain uses the river to teach that nothing in life is guaranteed to last, except for maybe the natural world itself.
a. I think, overall, your thesis is too long. You have a lot of ideas thrown into this paragraph/thesis. I think there are some sentences you could break into two separate sentences (example: The river embodies the desires of Huck and Jim, and Twain characterizes the river as a calming, welcoming, symbol of freedom and a life entrenched in nature." instead you might write: " the river embodies the desires of Huck and Jim. Twain characterizes the river as a calming, welcoming, symbol of freedom and a life entrenched in nature.") just shorten the sentences a tad to make it really concise.
b. You make a bunch of arguments in this thesis which make it feel like a ramble. Instead of saying that the river plays the role of the facilitator, embodies the desires of Huck and Jim, facilitates the change in every aspect of life, symbolizes that all things in life are fleeting, and that nothing in life is guaranteed, just pick one of those. Each of the above arguments are concise but, when put together into one thesis statement, it's turned into one vague argument with no clear direction for your paper. If you were to pick "the river is a facilitator", you could mention how it facilitates change in their lives and the freedoms it brings along with a certain maturity.
c. You are going to have to decide if you are going to focus on Huck's journey on the river or Jim's or both. Really focus on this transformation that takes place in their lives and how the river helps them do this (i.e. Jims journey to freedom from slavery and Huck's journey to freedom from civilization and social norms). You would really need to prove how the natural world stays the same while Huck and jim change concurrently. Where do we really see Huck's world changing around him? Besides the fact that he is changing locations
The river is also dangerous, presents obstacles.
River is a facilitator of his growing up?
Fleeting may not be the right word, precarious, changing?
river facilitates Huck's growing up; what is growing up but the recognition that nothing is permanent, things change; the river is a symbol of that changeability.
The novel Huck Finn by Mark Twain provides contrasting family structures, all of which exemplify a lifestyle to Huck, as a means to show Huck the one in which he can truly feel comfortable with and at home. The various families illustrated in the novel lead Huck to where he truly belongs, out on the river with Jim, full of opportunity and freedom.
A) the first sentence feels long and choppy. I don't think you need a comma before as. You should probably restructure this sentence into 2 or use more concise language to get your point across. The ending of the second sentence is clunky. The part "full of opportunity and freedom" seems like it's tacked on, there is no verb and it doesn't really make sense. You could say something like, " where opportunity and freedom are plentiful".
B) you definitely have an argument that is arguable (you are saying that the families give him examples/ options on how to live his life, and this leads him to the river and the potential for a great life?). So will you talk about the widow, pap, and the grangerfords? You should consider the duke and king as well.
C) i would expect to see you argue how huck has been dissatisfied with each family structure that he has encountered. You will need to explain what each one is and why and how Huck chooses the river and jim instead of that particular family structure. Definitely include the parts where Huck feels like Jim is a family member (calling him honey, etc,) and the parts where Huck expresses his sheer comfort on the river. You might want to make a point about Hucks nonconformity to southern society. This is because Huck's view of family includes a black person, showing he believes in no subordination for blacks. Huck defies traditional family structure is another good point to go along with this.
Mark Twain demonstrates Huck's transformation from a young frivolous child, blinded by societal values, to an empathizing and understanding gentleman through the different choices he makes about Jim's freedom
I would argue that he isn't blind of societal values. In fact he is very aware of society and it almost influences him to turn in Jim. Maybe go into a little more detail about what choices he makes that allow him to undergo the transformation. It can also be argued that he transforms into a morally just man through his decisions and choices regarding Jim.
You should include in your body paragraphs each of which depict an instance when Huck learns and matures into a gentleman. Also include a paragraph or two demonstrating how huck is a kid at heart and to begin with, but as he winds his way down the river, he grows morally.
I said blinded by societal values not blinded of
The Mississippi river provides Huck with both dependability and opportunity for moral growth, each serving as parental influences on his life.
I like how your thesis is short and concise and gets right to the point of your argument. You maybe could be a little more specific when you say the river provides Huck with dependability because it's unclear of what. In your argument are you going to argue how the river provides Huck with dependability and opportunity for moral growth, or how those aspects of the river are served as parental influences for Huck? If you decide to argue both I feel you will have a solid paper. You will first need to prove how the river provides Huck with such aspects in his life and then how they are parenting for him.
Be stronger in your language. Don't be afraid to suggest the river is acting as a parent in this text.
Huck finds himself conforming to whatever situation he is thrown into in addition to his continual presentation of conforming to the entrenched racial sentiments in antebellum America . While he outwardly conforms, he is also incessantly questioning the validity of what others tell him to believe and his continual moral growth forces him to question the difference between right and wrong. Throughout Huck's journey, Twain attempts to portray the impossibility for an individual to outwardly question the social structure.
I think that this thesis contains lots of good ideas, but needs to have all of the ideas tied together by a common thread: Huck's internal struggle between morality and legality when struggling with social and racial conforms. Right now, there are three ideas for a paper in this thesis, when it should only read as one.
One word choice issue is "incessantly." repeatedly may be the better choice.
The argument for this paper would be that:
Society and its constructs challenge Huck to make moral decisions; twain portrays the impossibility of outwardly questioning societal norms, thus forcing Huck to make his societal and moral decisions in an introverted manner.
This is a strong argument you are making, but you must be certain to not blend your topic with morality versus legality, and instead focus on societal pressures forcing Huck to make his moral decisions in an introverted, rather than extroverted way.
In the novel, Huck is tempted to free Jim, a decision that goes against the social norm as well as the sense of morality that society has instilled in Huck. In making the decision to aid Jim in his escape to freedom, Huck casts away the morals and social norms that had been imposed on him by society and forms his own moral code independent from it's influence.
Differing societal ideas of morality, Huck's contrasting upbringings, and the experiences that shape Huck's view of both, all tug on huck in different directions when he is forced to make the decision to free Jim in chapter 31.
(prompt 1)
In terms of grammar and usage, everything is good but you might want to use a stronger verb than "tug". I also would hesitate to use the word "forced" when talking about Huck deciding to free Jim, since it was more of a choice for him, unless you were going to argue that he really was forced to do so.
This thesis is not just stating fact and is arguable, so that is good.
For an essay with this thesis, I would expect to see and exploration of the conflicting societies that Huck experiences. The essay should start out clearly defining both societies and Huck's relationship to them. Later, the essay should explain how the conflicting ideas effect his decision and explain which one he finally chooses to listen to and why when he decides to free Jim.
The thesis also mentions experiences, so it would also have to focus on Huck's growth outside of the upbringing he had in society. Some of the experiences to talk about could be is personal relationship with Jim or some of the episodes on the raft.