Mark Twain and Philosophy

Learn it, Live it.  HERE . 

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.

If you'll get to the end of Chapter 21, we'll have plenty to talk about, and some good quiz material, too!

Ok, get to the end of Chapter 18.  (Again, not many chapters, but many "philosophy" moments.) Listen...I feel a little sheepish about our conversation today.  I feel like I was kind of harsh about pizza.  It led to a lot of reflection, after class.  I replayed our exchanges over and over in my head, and I find that I did not act well.  I wish that I could do it all over again.   I should have been much much harsher. Don't get me wrong--you can make anything you want to make out of a pizza. Just don't call it pizza . I have realized that a wrap is, properly speaking, is a genus of the species "sandwich."  Sort of like a hammock is a kind of bed...  Anyway, I never mind admitting when I'm wrong, as I think I have shown at least once per class meeting. Tom Sawyer, by RUSH  HERE A cover version HERE  

Read carefully up to the end of Chapter 14.  Lots there. 

Lets get to the end of Chapter 9, with the same great care as usual! 

OK, so read the last part of Connecticut Yankee , as carefully as always. Then read the first five chapters of Huck Finn .  And here's something I meant to say about that:  If you have read this book before now, pretend that you haven't.  Try to read it as if you have no idea at all about the story.  Carefully and alertly.  OK, the link HERE . These talks we have about power and gender and inequality may seem like digressions at times.  But they may be the most important things we think about together--and after all, it all connects with what we're reading.  There will of course be a quiz. 

OK, the plan is to split the end of this book up between Wednesday and Friday.   Which means that the assignment for Friday will be the very end of this book plus the very beginning of Huck Finn. It's awkward, but I'm trying to stick with our deal--I give you shorter readings, and you come ready for in-depth conversation. So, for Wednesday:  Read to the end of chapter 42.  Very eventful.  Keep up with the good notes. 

OK...so...  I hereby permit you to skip chapter 33.  If you want to.  It's a lot about money stuff.  But here's the one thing you need to know about that chapter.  It ends with Hank tricking Dowley into admitting that he (Dowley) sometimes overpays his help (by a tiny amount).  This is illegal, because at the time all wages are fixed.  And since Hank is a stranger in the neighborhood, there is an instant fear that he will report on them.   It's a seriously dangerous situation--will they kill him to keep him quiet?  That will get you into chapter 34.  Read up to the end of chapter 37.  With quizzable care. Once again, excellent observations today.  Good work.

OK, so just get, carefully, to the end of Chapter 32.  Great discussion today.  I think the question that I keep pondering in my mind:  Is governing a distinctive technical expertise, like sailing a sailboat?  Or is it more like planning a road trip:  something that a cooperatively minded group of people can figure out, even without any special skill? It'll come up again.  And so much more about all the slavery stuff, and how it connects to the rest of Twain's ideas.

OK, I feel like there's a lot to discuss here, and you guys are doing a great job at discussing it.  I'm inclined to slow down a little, temporarily--so that we can bring some old threads forward. We'll still quiz. But this time just read four more chapters .  So just up to the end of Chapter 28.  Recap of Today: Olivia and others were suggesting that Hank is criticizing slavery, but not necessarily from a _moral_ standpoint.  That would be important.  Because if he is criticizing it from a moral standpoint, he's open to the charge of inconsistency. So then we talked about what standpoint he could be speaking from.  If one point is that slavery kills off certain important sensitivities, perhaps he means to be saying that it is not normal.  Or maybe not natural. My hunch at the moment is any non-moral term we try is going to morph back into a moral one, eventually.  But we'll see.  If Twain can't be courageous, at least he mig...

OK, to the end of Chapter 24, carefully enough for the quiz!

I'm going to start assembling some clips of people who have won the Twain Award over the years.  So I'll post this, and update it from time to time. (Please note:  this is not required watching on your part.  Much of it is genuinely profane, and a lot of it is really offensive to many people.  In particular there is blatantly racist and sexist stuff.  I don't endorse any of that, of course.  My goal is not to admire these moments, it is to assemble them, and to think about what they say about our culture, and about what celebrating them with an award says about our culture.) Just a sampling, no special order at the moment. Richard Pryor HERE. HERE  

On to the end of Chapter 18.  This is not longer than earlier readings, but it's an eventful stretch.  Take good notes.  We're back to quizzes on Friday.

Steel Center Stories, Cider and Sweet Treats   Students, Faculty, Staff and Hendrix Families - join us for story time  with Little Red Riding Hood, hot cider and all sorts of sweet treats!  A come and go event in Ellis Hall from 6- 7:30 p.m. tonight hosted  by the Marshall T. Steel Center. Costumes encouraged!