The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage-full text
After reading the novel, answer the following questions using quotes whenever possible.

1. Compare and contrast Henry, Wilson, and Jim. What does each character seem to represent? How does Crane’s focus on the inner workings of Henry’s mind give the reader a picture of Henry different from that of any other character?
2. Analyze the effect of Crane’s frequent use of descriptive tags—such as “the youth,” “the tall soldier,” or “the loud one”—to refer to the characters, rather than the use of their actual names.
3. Thinking about Crane’s portrayal of the Civil War as a large historical phenomenon, how does Crane depict the different armies? What differences, if any, does he draw between them? What is his approach to the moral element of the struggle?
4. Consider Henry’s flashback to his conversation with his mother in Chapter I. What is his mother’s attitude about his enlisting in the first place? How does her advice foreshadow the main themes of the novel?
5. In the author’s point of view, is it wrong for Henry to run from the battle? Is it wrong for him to abandon the tattered soldier? More broadly, does The Red Badge of Courage have a moral center, or does it deny that moral categories such as “right” and “wrong” can exist in an indifferent universe?

Huck Finn Reading Questions

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-full text.

Answer the following questions as you read and finish the novel. Use quotes whenever possible.

1. Huck Finn is a thirteen-year-old boy. Why does Twain use a child as the center of consciousness in this book?

2. Discuss Twain’s use of dialects in the novel. What effect does this usage have on the reader? Does it make the novel less of an artistic achievement?

3. Discuss the use of the river as a symbol in the novel.

4. Lying occurs frequently in this novel. Curiously, some lies, like those Huck tells to save Jim, seem to be “good” lies, while others, like the cons of the duke and the dauphin, seem to be “bad.” What is the difference? Are both “wrong”? Why does so much lying go on in Huckleberry Finn?

5. Describe some of the models for families that appear in the novel. What is the importance of family structures? What is their place in society? Do Huck and Jim constitute a family? What about Huck and Tom? When does society intervene in the family?

6. The revelation at the novel’s end that Tom has known all along that Jim is a free man is startling. Is Tom inexcusably cruel? Or is he just being a normal thirteen-year-old boy? Does Tom’s behavior comment on society in some larger way?

7. What techniques does Twain use to create sympathy for his characters, in particular, Jim? Are these techniques effective?

8. Discuss the place of morality in Huckleberry Finn. In the world of the novel, where do moral values come from? The community? The family? The church? One’s experiences? Which of these potential sources does Twain privilege over the others? Which does he mock, or describe disapprovingly?

9. Why might Twain have decided to set the novel in a time before the abolition of slavery, despite the fact that he published it in 1885, two decades after the end of the Civil War?

10. Is this a racist book? Should students read it in high school?

A Growing Nation-Reading Questions

Answer the following questions using quotes whenever possible.

1. Give a brief (no more than one paragraph of 5-8 sentences) summary of the philosophical movement known as Romanticism.
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2. How do the elements of Romanticism show up in each of the readings assigned from this unit (1 paragraph for each reading selection)?
3. After reading The Philosophy of Composition, summarize Poe's philosophy in one hundred words.

The Revolutionary Period

Answer the following questions using evidence from the text whenever possible.

1. In his autobiography, what overall impression does Franklin create of the structure in his daily life? How does Franklin's use of syntax and overall narrative structure help to create this impression?
2. Jefferson's The Declaration of Independence, Paine's The Crisis, number 1, and Henry's Speech in the Virginia Convention are all persuasive documents. What are some literary and rhetorical devices used by each author to persuade his audience?
3. Why do you think Crèvecoeur chose the epistle—an essay written in letter form—to convey his point of view in Letters from an American Farmer?