Mark Twain and Philosophy

Again, great semester, folks.  I am grateful to you. OK, Pick one of the options below.  JUST ONE .  And then follow the directions.  Carefully.  Your goal is to work with Twainian themes as much as you can.  None of my questions are about Twain's actual biography or personality or circumstances, etc.  We're looking at his network of ideas, not his life.  Also, no outside research on this.  I want your views, drawn from our class and readings.  And this is to be purely your own work. Your response is due on 12/18, at noon, via EMAIL . 1)  Read this unfinished sequel to Huck Finn.  HERE . Write a short (2-4 pages) response to this prompt:  If we can say that Huck Finn does some serious reflection and growing up in the book named after him, this sequel seems to be Tom's chance to reflect and grow up.  Huck's mature judgment, recall, is that "sivilization" is to be left behind.  What may Twain be hin...

Brief description of the heraldry bit:  HERE .

OK, finish the book.  Try to start early.  Lots of good moments. Also, just fyi:  we will NOT meet during final exams.  There will be a short last assignment, but you will be able to email that to me. 

We need to get to the end of Chapter 28.  Like I said, it reads well--lots of action.  But try to notice as much as you can along the way Very good discussion today.  I think I put several things very unclearly, but maybe they got clear eventually.  Maybe one thing I struggled with is actually very simple:  Twain's "courageous man," you know, of the sort that can dispel a lynch mob, is not necessarily a good man.  That's worth pondering.

Airshow Version:  HERE . George Carlin in a Twainian mood:  HERE .   (Offensive Content, not required watching)

Get at least to the end of Chapter 23.  We will do some in-class writing about the three or four big topics in that stretch.  But also, feel free to keep reading--we have to take some bigger strides now, to get to the end.