Huck Finn, Chapters 1-6

Over the next few days, I'll be posting a few questions about Huckleberry Finn. These questions will be a mix of "Did you get it?" type questions and "What do you think?" type questions. The sole purpose of these posts is to help you sharpen your own thinking about the book. Some of the questions mention page numbers. I realize we're looking at many different versions of the book, so the pages numbers I mention might not match the pages in your edition.

Feel free to respond to these questions online or in your head or not at all. If you answer online, identify the question you're tackling by beginning your comment @1: or @5: or @whatever number you're working on. You're also welcome to answer a question with a question. Be sure to put your name in your comment.

Comments are moderated, so you won’t see your comment posted right away.

I hope you're enjoying the book!

1. What does Huck mean when he says the Widow Douglas would "sivilize" him?
2. What does "sugar-hogshead" mean?
3. Miss Watson says, "Don't gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry" (Twain 4). What on earth is she talking about?
4. What is the bad place? Why does Huck want to go there?
5. What is your first impression of Jim? Why does Twain want to create this impression?
6. On pages 8-9, we get a glimpse of Twain's definition of justice. What do the events on these pages teach us about Twain's view of justice?
7. At the end of Chapter III, Tom Sawyer tells Huck, "You don't seem to know anything, somehow - perfect saphead" (Twain 15). Do you agree with Tom? Why? Does Twain agree? How do you know?
8. Give some examples of superstitions in the first 18 pages of the book. Why does Twain offer so many examples?
9. Define the following examples of Jim's dialect: doan', a-gwyne, spec, en, dey's, uv, fust.
10. Is the hairball's prediction likely to come true? Why do you think so?
11. What is your first impression of Pap?
12. On page 20 and 21, we get another glimpse into Twain's definition of justice. What is the target of Twain's satire on these pages?
13. What does it mean when Huck says, "pap got too handy with his hickory" (Twain 23)?