HUCK FINN TEST REVIEW

Mark Twain

The author who lived from 1835-1910, known for his stand-up comic style and moral satire.

Moral Satire

A literary approach that deals with serious matters through humor and irony.

Mocking Wealth and Society

Twain's critique of the wealthy, despite his own desire for wealth.

Agnostic

A person who believes that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable; Twain transitioned from a Calvinist to an agnostic.

Picaro

A vagabond or a young man on the run, often the protagonist in picaresque literature.

Picaresque

A genre of fiction involving a roguish hero and their adventures.

Denouement

The resolution or conclusion of a literary work, where conflicts are resolved.

Deus Ex Machina

An unexpected power or event that resolves a seemingly unsolvable issue in a plot.

Misanthropist

A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age story that follows the moral growth of a character.

Innate Depravity

The belief that humans are born with a tendency towards evil, exemplified by Huck’s internal conflict over helping Jim.

Narrative Persona

The character through whose perspective the story is told, in this case, Huck.

Narrative Distance

The emotional or intellectual gap between the narrator and the reader.

Satire

A technique that uses humor, exaggeration, and ridicule to criticize society's flaws.

Parody

An exaggerated imitation of a particular style used for comic effect.

Malapropism

A humorous misuse of a word, often creating a comic effect.

Themes in Huck Finn

Includes Huck's moral sensibility and the fugitive good, where he tries to do the right thing in an unaccepting society.

Freudian Personality Description

Describes the id, ego, and super-ego as aspects of human personality influencing behavior.

7 Deadly Sins

A classification of vices including pride, greed, wrath, gluttony, envy, sloth, and lust.

Imagery

Descriptive language that evokes sensory experience, such as Huck's depiction of the Mississippi River.

Truth vs. Lies

A conflict central to Huck's story, where he navigates between dishonesty for the sake of Jim's freedom and the truth.

Nature vs. Society

The struggle Huck faces between his love for nature and societal expectations.

Good vs. Evil

Huck's internal conflict between societal norms and his own moral beliefs.