Grammardog Teacher's Guide contains 16 quizzes for this satiric novel. All sentences are from the novel. Figurative language shows off Twain's skill at metaphor ("I was mere dirt," a nation of worms," "wide seas of memory," "he was but an extinct volcano"). Allusions include famous literary and historical adventures (Robinson Crusoe, Ivanhoe, Chaucer, Columbus, Northwest Passage).

Ranging from the laudatory to the openly hostile, 15 essays by prominent African American scholars and critics examine the novel's racist elements and assess the degree to which Twain's ironies succeed or fail to turn those elements into a satirical attack on racism. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Discusses how Mark Twain's novel "Huckleberry Finn" can help students learn more about slavery, racism, and freedom.

Mark Twain once claimed that he could read human character as well as he could read the Mississippi River, and he studied his fellow humans with the same devoted attention. In both his fiction and his nonfiction, he was disposed to dramatize how the human creature acts in a given environment—and to understand why. Now one of America’s preeminent Twain scholars takes a closer look at this icon’s abiding interest in his fellow creatures. In seeking to account for how Twain might have reasonably believed the things he said he believed, Tom Quirk has interwoven the author’s inner life with his writings to produce a meditation on how Twain’s understanding of human nature evolved and deepened, and to show that this was one of the central preoccupations of his life. Quirk charts the ways in which this humorist and occasional philosopher contemplated the subject of human nature from early adulthood until the end of his life, revealing how his outlook changed over the years. His travels, his readings in history and science, his political and social commitments, and his own pragmatic testing of human nature in his writing contributed to Twain’s mature view of his kind. Quirk establishes the social and scientific contexts that clarify Twain’s thinking, and he considers not only Twain’s stated intentions about his purposes in his published works but also his ad hoc remarks about the human condition. Viewing both major and minor works through the lens of Twain’s shifting attitude, Quirk provides refreshing new perspectives on the master’s oeuvre. He offers a detailed look at the travel writings, including The Innocents Abroad and Following the Equator, and the novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Pudd’nhead Wilson, as well as an important review of works from Twain’s last decade, including fantasies centering on man’s insignificance in Creation, works preoccupied with isolation—notably No. 44,The Mysterious Stranger and “Eve’s Diary”—and polemical writings such as What Is Man? Comprising the well-seasoned reflections of a mature scholar, this persuasive and eminently readable study comes to terms with the life-shaping ideas and attitudes of one of America’s best-loved writers. Mark Twain and Human Nature offers readers a better understanding of Twain’s intellect as it enriches our understanding of his craft and his ineluctable humor.

Like its popular predecessor, this critical edition is designed for "teaching the conflicts" surrounding Mark Twain7;s classic novel. It reprints the 1885 text of the first American edition (with a portfolio of illustrations) along with critical essays representing major critical and cultural controversies surrounding the work. The novel and essays are supported by distinctive editorial material 2; including introductions to critical conflict in literary studies, to Twain7;s life and work, and to each critical controversy highlighted in this edition 2; that helps students grapple not only with the novel7;s critical issues but also with cultural debates about literature itself. In addition to several new critical essays, the second edition includes an appendix on how to argue about the novel so that students may more effectively enter the critical conversation about its issues.

Grammardog Teacher's Guide contains 16 quizzes for this novel. All sentences are from the novel. Sensory imagery is characteristic of Realism: "the cracked bell of the small church began to ring" "she put her small hand upon his" "the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air" "the superintendent was a slim creature of thirty-five with a sandy goatee and short sandy hair" "a sumptuous breakfast of bacon and fish" "a bird called - another answered." Allusions include Robin Hood, Columbus, Richard III, George Washington.

These literary masterpieces are made easy and interesting. This series features classic tales retold with color illustrations to introduce literature to struggling readers. Each 64-page book retains key phrases and quotations from the original classics. Containing 11 reproducible exercises to maximize vocabulary development and comprehension skills, these guides include pre- and post- reading activities, story synopses, key vocabulary, and answer keys. The guides are digital, you simply print the activities you need for each lesson.