Although killing frogs is, indeed, a bad thing, we can also learn a lot
from the process.  In regard to literature, we can better appreciate the
humor and beauty of a work by examining it closely.  Twain himself
critiqued other writers with no small attention to detail.  His analyses of
James Fenimore Cooper offer two case studies in minute dissection.  We
should be careful of taking the Notice of _Huckleberry Finn_ too seriously.
 Looking for a motive, a  moral, or a plot is an integral part of reading
and learning.  Twain was a social satirist with an arsenal of weapons and
techniques at his disposal.  If we only chuckle at the surface (which is
usually worth quite a chuckle), then we miss many of those features that
reveal Twain's genius.

Joe


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joseph L. Coulombe
Assistant Professor
English Department
University of Tennessee at Martin
128 Humanities Building
Martin, TN  38238

http://fmc.utm.edu/~jcoulomb/homepage.htm
901-587-7291
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fax: 901-587-7276