Lesson Title: Satire and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

By: Vivian Easton

 

Burning Question:

Can students apply what they already know and find humorous about satire to the more complex use of satire in Huck Finn?

 

Objectives:

After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

1.  Understand how using satire is different from delivering an overt message

2.   Understand Twain’s use of satire

3.   Understand the serious as well as humorous uses of satire

 

Context:

A high school class reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

Materials:

·         Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Puffin Classics). London: Puffin, 2008.

·         excerpts from The Daily Show or other comedy show that relies on satire for its humor.

 

Time Span:

One day for the introduction then ongoing throughout the reading of the novel.

 

Procedures:

·   Step one: introduction

a.       View an excerpt from The Daily Show

b.      Discuss why the show is popular

c.       Discuss the use of satire

d.      Discuss what might be construed as offensive and why

·   Step two: read Chapter one of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

a.       Identify what is funny in the chapter

b.      Identify the targets of satire

c.       Discuss Twain’s use of Huck Finn as narrator and how his use emphasizes the humor

·   Step three: writing

a.       Analyze a humorous passage in the book that employs satire and Huck Finn’s deadpan delivery. What is the target of the satire? Why is it humorous? What is the difference between what Huck says and what Mark Twain wants the reader to understand? Examples:

o   Chapter III Huck’s soliloquy regarding the efficacy of prayer

o   Chapter VI Pap’s rant about the “govment.”

o   Chapter XVII Huck’s elaborate description of Emmeline Grangerford

b.      Write an essay analyzing Twain’s satire on:

o   Organized religion

o   The Romantic tradition

o   Hypocrisy

 

Rationale:

Satire is an extremely complex type of humor. It takes a certain amount of sophistication to understand its nuances. By teaching students how Mark Twain’s use of satire from the gentle to the scathing, students will recognize its use by modern humorists. They will also come to understand when satire becomes sarcasm and crosses the line of propriety.

 

Resources:

·   A well-developed sense of humor

·   The Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/

·   The PBS web site which supports the video Born to Trouble, includes suggestions for teaching the novel as satire: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/

·   From Scribe is a lesson plan “Exploring Parody and Satire” http://www.scribd.com/doc/18150393/Parody-Satire-

·   Leonard, James S., Asa Tenney and Thadious M. Davis, Satire or Evasion? Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1992.