As a teacher, I would teach Huck Finn as a novel about coming of age and maturing into teenage years. Throughout the novel we see this in Huck, and I believe it is a big part of the novel. As the teacher, I would have the students start with a free-write about their own experiences as a teenager growing up to whatever point they are (ex: they may only be sophomores in HS but I would have them write about their experiences up till that point). I would have them write about any experiences that they felt made them feel older or more mature. Are they at the point yet where they no longer feel like a child, but more like an adult? I would let them take the exercise in any direction they wanted as long as they kept it related to the task.
I would also ask my students to brainstorm how their personality and life would be different if they had different parents, lived in a different country, in a different time period, etc. This would get them thinking about the various paths that a person's life can take from childhood to adolescence to adulthood based on their surrounding environment. I feel this would be a great way to get the kids started on Huck Finn and thinking about it in terms of a coming of age book.
As we dove more into Huck Finn I would create different exercises, but that is how I would start the kids off with Huck Finn.
I particularly like the theory behind your thinking:
ReplyDelete"I would get them thinking about the various paths that a person's life can take from childhood to adolescence to adulthood based on their surrounding environment....."
It seems like you're getting at the larger idea of how societal influences shape and dictate our lives.... a major theme in huck.....in this light, is the river the means of escape? or can one never really escape those influences and the grip of society?