R. Dagnall, I don't understand your post. It's not like all references to Jim as "nigger" are *external* to the text itself. Also, I think that caving in to squeamishness over the "n-word" as a reason not to teach this book is cowardly. Better that our skin should crawl with discomfort than pretend that sanitizing our language of "nigger" would do one whit to halt the production of "niggers" by our dominant, institutionaliz ed discourses. michael mcdonald p.s. Maybe maturity is a factory here. I've only taught *Huck* once, in college, and the students handled this problem with great sensitivity. Of course, there were no African-American students in my class, and I imagine that the presence of such students might have drastically upped the discomfort level. While I do think it would be a shame to stop teaching *Huck*, I see no reason why this work should be deemed crucial reading for *high school students*. Does anyone have thought on *that* distinction? michael mcdonald