A Knight in Camelot NR, Drama, 1998 (96 minutes) ABC, Sunday, Nov 8 7:00PM A 1990s scientist lands in King Arthur's court, where her technology clashes with medieval ways. Adapted from Mark Twain's ``A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.'' (Premiere, CC, Stereo) Director: Roger Young Executive producer: Norman Rosemont Producer: Nick Gillott Actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Michael York, Amanda Donohoe, Ian Richardson, James Coombes, Robert Addie, Simon Fenton, Paloma Baeza Š1995-8 Excite Inc., Tribune Media Services,========================================================================Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 13:02:08 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Diane Peterson <[log in to unmask]> Organization: Queen City ISD Subject: HUCK FINN in the movies MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In addition to the PLEASANTVILLE reference, check out the scene in DEEP IMPACT where Robert Duvall reads to the blinded astronaut. The younger guy talks about how he's from the TV/video generation, something like that. Duvall responds, clasping a copy of HUCK FINN and MOBY DICK. Although he reads from the latter, it was a nice plug for the work. Diane M. Peterson Queen City High School ========================================================================Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 00:34:23 EST Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Arthur Tegger <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Accurate quote Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit What is the correct version of MT's "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco"? Art ========================================================================Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 09:56:47 -0800 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: JOSEPH B MC CULLOUGH <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Accurate quote In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I do not believe that there is any evidence that Twain edver uttered these words that are frequently attributed to him. Ralph Keyes, in his engaging book, _Nice Guys Finish Seventh,_ points out that even San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen thought that Twain said this. But to my knowledge no one has ever documented Twain's ever saying this. Keyes suggests that its genesis may be an 1879 letter in which Twain quoted a wag who, when asked is he'd ever seen such a cold winter, replied, "Yes. Last summer." Concluded Twain: "I judge he spent his summer in Paris." But I may be wrong. Joe McCullough ========================================================================Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 10:29:18 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: terry oggel <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Accurate quote In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Rob Browning, of the MTP, published a short piece some years ago on this saying, concluding that probably MT didn't say it--no one knows for sure. But Joe Mc's formulation is essentially the same as Browning's (Bancroftiana, 1981), except that Browning says the summer was '79 while the letter was 1880. Terry Oggel ========================================================================Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 10:10:18 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Jane Tomaszewski <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit As a twenty-seven year veteran English teacher, I now must defend including Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in my eighth grade curriculum. The rookies on the staff feel that Tom Sawyer is too elementary for eighth graders and dated beyond relevance and Huck Finn is too difficult for this level. Please help me save Tom and Huck. I'm just an over-the-hill, biding-my-time English teacher lost in the past unwilling to change. I'm hoping to amass the support of experts to support my cause. Thanks, J Tomaszewski ========================================================================Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 21:09:06 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Ed Rash <[log in to unmask]> In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Please consider the idea that Huck Finn is a terrific example of a defender metaphysical morality! The whole novel leads to the point where Huck must make a decision about Jim. He is "lobbied" by the notion that it would be a "sin" to allow Jim to escape being returned to his owners because that would be equivalent to stealing property legally owned. Huck was told that he be damned if he let Jim go. One would think that this would be pretty powerful stuff for a young fellow such as Huck. ( I never have known how old he was supposed to be.} But, even at his young age, he was able to make the correct moral choice in the face of everything that he had been taught, and say I guess I will just have to go to hell and let Jim go. I vote in favor of teaching this book to young people for this very reason. By the way, I think that Ernest Hemingway may have had similar comments about Huckleberry Finn, saying that the actual end of the novel was tha point where Jim was let go. The rest was a continuation of a "travelogue" that was usually a part of many of Twain's writings because his audience did enjoy his ability to take them to places that they would never go! ========================================================================Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 07:00:36 -0700 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Mark Coburn <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Huck's age MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit As a dozen other people will probably also inform Ed Rash, Huck does tell us his approximate age: "Buck looked about as old as me--thirteen or fourteen or along there, though he was a little bigger than me." --Chapter XVII (start of the Grangerford episode) But Twain does some cheating here. Huck is awfully savvy for his age (maybe for ANY age!) in many ways, yet in other ways very naive. Most obviously--as countless critics have noted--Twain plays to genteel values by keeping him nearly pre-sexual. He's much fuzzier about the boys' age in THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. So much so that I've wondered if he was deliberately aiming at the most diverse possible audience of children. In the opening pages Tom seems about 10, or maybe younger. In the closing scenes he seems about 15, and the narrator tells us he's nearly a man. Yet the action spans one endless summer. Mark Coburn ========================================================================Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 10:24:35 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Diane Peterson <[log in to unmask]> Organization: Queen City ISD Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Jane, In response to your plea for support, I offer this: 1. The first time I read TOM SAWYER was in a graduate level Twain class. Yes, it can be viewed as an entertaining children's book, but it can also be examined as a text that illuminates points of Twain's style, biographically-motivated choice of subject matter, and excellent methods of characterization (an area very appropriate for analysis with your age group). 2. As to the relevancy of the text, you might offer your colleagues some of the following views: "To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?" --Cicero, ORATOR "Every fact and every work exercises a fresh persuasion over every age and every new species of man. History always enunciates new truths." --Nietzsche, THE WILL TO POWER "We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present." --Adlai Stevenson, speech Now, I'm not claiming that TS and HF are authoratative historical pieces. However, they offer insight as to motivations and societal constraints and freedoms. 3. HUCK as too advanced...perhaps. I choose to teach it to my 11th grade classes, and we openly discuss the areas of race, class, familial dysfunction, and book censorship. I can see how HUCK could be a flexible teaching tool if you chose to emphasize other aspects. The novel is definitely a rich one that could lend itself to other approaches. I hope this helps. Also, check out www.ala.org for the "Freedom to Read" statement. Place a copy of that in everybody's boxes! Diane M. Peterson Queen City High School ========================================================================Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 08:30:09 -0600 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Jocelyn Chadwick-Joshua <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jane, I am a Twain scholar, an African-American woman, who believes sincerely in keeping the novels in the classroom. I jusr published a book on Twain, _The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn_. I will help you in any way that I can. Jocelyn Chadwick-Joshua ========================================================================Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 14:07:03 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Anton Verhulst <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Books about Twain MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit And I just ordered it from Amazon.com. I know that your note can be construed as an advertisement but, thank you. While on the subject of books about Twain, a recent reading of Ms. Fishkin's "Lighting Out for the Territory" made me want to buy "Was Huck Black?;...". Unfortunately, the font size of the paperback edition is way too small for my aging eyes (and for other eyes not so aged, I suspect), so I decided to get the hard cover instead. To my surprise, Amazon reports: Was Huck Black?; Mark Twain and African-American Voices by Shelley Fisher Fishkin Our Price: $30.00 Hardcover - 270 pages (April 1993) Not Yet Available: You may still order this title. We will ship it to you when it is released by the publisher. A book published in 1993 that is "Not Yet Available"? What Gives? Tony V. ========================================================================Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 17:22:57 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Books about Twain In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> from "Anton Verhulst" at Nov 10, 98 02:07:03 pm MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Tony, It sounds like "out of print" in hardback to me. You shouldn't have a lot of difficulty finding it in a used book store in a university community. thanks, larry ========================================================================Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:35:54 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: John Bird <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Huck in 8th Grade MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit As much as I support the right to teach controversial works, I'm going to have to weigh in against teaching _Huckleberry Finn_ in 8th grade. I will preface by saying that, even though I'm now a college English professor, I have taught in the public schools: 7th grade, 10th, 11th, and 12th. I think Huck is too advanced for most 8th-graders. The language poses a problem (the vernacular, I mean), and the dialect really does (especially Jim's). Then there's the repeated use of "nigger," which some but not most 8th-graders would be mature enough to handle. Most of all, the issues and pervasive irony are, I think, best perceived by older, maturer readers. A devoted, experienced teacher (as I am sure Jane is!) could probably pull this difficult task off. But I would still say Huck is best left for a few years later. I don't mean that someone in the 8th grade shouldn't be able to read the novel by herself or himself--I think I first read it (with small understanding) in the 5th grade. But for a class, other works would be better. I think teachers try to rush students sometimes. I get so many college students who are turned off to a novel like _The Scarlet Letter_ or _Huckleberry Finn_ because they were forced to read them at too early an age. On the other hand, I think _Tom Sawyer_ is not too elementary or dated for 8th-graders. When I taught 7th grade, I read the novel aloud over the course of the year (a little Friday treat every week, something a teacher of mine had done that left a big impression on me). Students at that age really enjoy reading about Tom's rebellion, his adventures, and his love life. Just my two cents! ========================================================================Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:47:03 EST Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Kathy O'Connell <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Books about Twain Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Tony-- Since I end up trying to get at least half a dozen out of print books a year, I've found university bookstores to be very helpful. But right here in Hartford we also have a terrific resource for Twain: the aptly-named Jumping Frog Bookstore, 585 Prospect Ave., West Hartford (okay, so it's West Hartford, a town distinguished only by being Noah Webster's birthplace and its law prohibiting outdoor clotheslines). The number is 860-523-1622; hours are 12-8 daily. Kathy O'Connell ========================================================================Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 16:20:11 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Lawrence Marshburne Jr <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Huck in 8th Grade In-Reply-To: John Bird <[log in to unmask]> "Re: Huck in 8th Grade" (Nov 11, 9:35am) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Well, how about including the powerful "A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It"? Of course, it does have the n-word about 11 times while the teachable _Tom Sawyer_ only has about 9. thanks, larry ========================================================================Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 23:22:45 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Carol J. Peiffer" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Depending on the students, I think Huck Fimm is suitable for any age, as long as students can make sens of it. I know the language is difficult for some. In the middle school where I teach art, one team of 7th graders read Huck Finn. The teachers created an interdisciplinary unit. The Social Studies teacher started by teaching about slavery and the climate of the day. They discussed the "nigger" references in an historical light. The math classes calculated mileage down the Mississippi. I can't remember the Science tie-in, but those classes did some related project or assignments. The Language Arts classes had the gifted students read the entire book. Regular students read an abridged version. Students with learning disabilities read summaries. The students wrote a play based on Huck Finn. Parents were invited to see the performance. The music classes performed songs from the pre-Civil War era during scene changes. As far as I know, there was not one parent complaint about using the book ---and I work in a school district where one vocal parent can result in immediate changes in policy. C.J. Peiffer ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:41:51 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Diana D. Reynolds" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I did not encounter Huck Finn until almost 40 years-old--I started college when my "baby" was in 2nd grade. I read it a second time in a senior seminar on Twain. This novel, in my humble opinion, is THE greatest novel written in the English language and I encourage my high school kids to read it. When my 15 year-old had to pick a book from a list in his honors english class, I told him I would only help him with it if he chose Huck Finn. (I use my power whenever I can!) He DID have considerable problems with the language, and I often had to read passages aloud to him--then he would "get it." He still enjoyed being read to--which surprised me. Maybe this is one way educators can get around the language problem. By the way, kudos to all who teach our kids in middle and high school and are fighting to keep these books in our kids' hands--I, as a mother, applaud you. Diana D. Reynolds Student, MA in English, IUPUI ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 07:28:56 -1000 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: MacKinnon Simpson <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You bring up an interesting point. Years ago I read somewhere that Abraham Lincoln read everything aloud (must have been hell in a restaurant!) Supposedly, comprehension increases dramatically by reading aloud. Even people who moved their lips--for which we were literally beaten as kids--had better comprehension than those of us who did it "right." I always read poetry aloud and encouraged my children to do the same. On difficult poems I would read aloud to them and then discuss it. For Shakespeare we would literally divide up the parts and read the play. They seemed to both enjoy it and understand the material better. My questions to the educators on the list: Where does this stand now? Is lip-moving approved or still frowned upon? Are students encouraged to read aloud? Do teachers/professors read passages to students in higher grades? Aloha, Mac Simpson ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 13:58:49 -0800 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Renee L. Gross" <[log in to unmask]> Organization: Corning Community College Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit What an intriguing post (and so appropriate for a Twain list -- master of dialogue/dialect) When I teach literature to my community college students, I ALWAYS read ALL poetry out loud to them -- and I can't tell you how many journal entries I've read where the student says, "I just didn't get this poem at all when I read it, but when you read it out loud in class, I understood it/it made sense." Poetry, and especially Shakespeare, was meant to be heard, not read (although many poems are visually stimulating as well) and I think the same can be said for a lot of literature (a.k.a. novels, short stories, essays), ESPECIALLY Twain. After all, isn't it all about language and how the words sound together? I know that even those students who are visual learners will benefit from reading along and hearing the material. Personally, I move my lips when I am reading something slowly that I really want to understand and take notes about -- fiction is another story. How awful to be told not to do that and take advantage of connecting all the parts of our language -- verbal, auditory, written -- together. Again, just my two cents. Thanks! Renee L. Gross Corning Community College ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 15:21:38 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Mervin Nicky Huffman <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Teaching Huck Finn to the masses. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Some on the list have noted that Huck Finn can be read and studied on different or multiple levels. Any TEACHER can tell you that if it can be read on these various levels it can be taught on these various levels. Any parent can tell you that they teach sexual matters on a different level based upon age and maturity. What issues one deals with depends on the age and maturity of the child. Jane, develop what you wish to cover and the rationale for covering it with that age group and then stick to the sticking place. I teach the book in my C P English III classes, but I have no doubt that I or any other "real" teacher could justifiablely teach it at the 7th or 8th grade levels. ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 13:49:19 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Diane Peterson <[log in to unmask]> Organization: Queen City ISD Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I teach 11th grade English, an American lit. course. My students beg me to read to them, especially when we come to passages with complicated sentence structure or involved dialect. My East Texan accent lent itself to _Huck Finn_ rather well! Our previous principal had a real problem with this practice. He said he had been put to sleep by teachers reading aloud to him. I have found, though, that he must be in the minority. The consensus in our English department is that we procure the majority of our students' rapt attention when we read aloud to them. Reading aloud doesn't sustain a program, of course. While students must read aloud themselves and practice silent reading, the most interested reactions I receive come from the times when I read to them. My theory is that family life today is either too rushed or non-existent for my students. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dad reading _The Chronicles of Narnia_ to me. It met a vital need for sharing and communicating and attention. Perhaps my students get a little of that when I read to them. These are important processess no matter how old you are. Diane M. Peterson Queen City High School ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 11:10:46 -0700 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Kathy Farretta <[log in to unmask]> Subject: reading aloud In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII just a quick note inspired by diana's post. reading aloud is a great pastime at any age. a friend of mine and her husband read aloud to each other regularly (i think it sounds romantic!), kids generally love to be read aloud to even as tiny infants. in fact, before the age of television, i am under the impression that it was common for the family to gather by the fire in the evenings and listen to work read aloud. on a very wet and cold camping trip last spring a friend of mine read a book she had brought along aloud to me. and when i mentioned this to a friend of mine at work, she told me her family has been doing that for years, especially on camping trips. much of twain's work is especially enjoyable when read aloud, after all at his many lectures that's what he did--read from his works--for a large portion of the lecture. so--read early, read frequently, and read aloud!! kathy farretta northern arizona university ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 17:29:31 -0700 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Vern Crisler <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Roughing It in 8th Grade (Was: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade) Comments: cc: [log in to unmask] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In my own experience, I always had problems with Jim's dialect, too (as well as that of the characters in Joel Chandler Harris's stories). This is where I realized that I had learned English by the "look-say" method. :-) (I remember even skipping over Jim's dialogue when I first read HF.) One day, I happened to try some of the exercises in one of R. Flesch's pro-phonics books that help one learn to read phonetically. After that, I returned to Jim, and found it much easier to read his dialect. (An object lesson on the absurd methods of teaching English in our country!) On the other hand, hearing someone speak dialect is much more entertaining -- I think -- than reading it. When I was a kid, I enjoyed hearing my Mom reading Joel Chandler Harris out loud, but couldn't make any sense of it when I tried to read it for myself. Then again, you could be an outstanding public speaker, and maybe that's why your students want to hear stuff out loud! >Our previous principal had a real problem with this practice. He said >he had been put to sleep by teachers reading aloud to him. I have >found, though, that he must be in the minority. The consensus in our >English department is that we procure the majority of our students' rapt >attention when we read aloud to them. LOL! I remember that happening when listening to a book, but more often when the book was about algebra. >Reading aloud doesn't sustain a program, of course. While students must >read aloud themselves and practice silent reading, the most interested >reactions I receive come from the times when I read to them. > >My theory is that family life today is either too rushed or non-existent >for my students. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dad >reading _The Chronicles of Narnia_ to me. It met a vital need for >sharing and communicating and attention. Perhaps my students get a >little of that when I read to them. These are important processess no >matter how old you are. Can't go wrong with Chronicles of Narnia. (I wonder if anyone has read aloud the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, and has gotten a good reaction from it.) It was John Bird -- I think -- who said that younger folk don't really get the humor of HF (and I would add, even of that masterpiece, Tom Sawyer). I don't ever remember finding Twain funny when I was in High School but only when I was in college. I happened to be visiting my Mom for Christmas and found *Roughing It* on her shelf; started reading it; found myself laughing, and wondering if this guy Twain could keep it up through the rest of the book. I kept reading, kept laughing, and continued to read anything of Twain's I could get my hands on, as faithfully and as fanatically as I had done when collecting and reading comic books a few years earlier. So why doesn't anyone ever read *Roughing It* out loud? Cordially, Vern ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 17:17:16 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Mervin Nicky Huffman <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Mac, As a high school English teacher of thirty years, I find myself reading most of the passages that I am reviewing or covering with the students in certain classes because many cannot read. Some do not even recognize words that are very common that they know but do not recognize in print. Nick Huffman ========================================================================Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 21:19:45 +0000 Reply-To: Stanton E Nesbit <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "S. E. Nesbit" <[log in to unmask]> Organization: ECNHS Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Do teachers/professors read passages to students in higher grades? > > Aloha, > > Mac Simpson My 10th grade students are working with "Huck Finn" right now. We read about every other chapter aloud. I try to choose those chapters the students find particularly difficult, satirical, poignant, etc., based on my past experience. For example, the start of the Wilks episode can often be "too many" for some students. Many young people also struggle with the dialect, particularly Jim's and Nat's. Reading aloud eases the stress and increases the comprehension and fun. Still, I believe there is an intimacy one feels with a book read privately, so I leave many chapters for the students to experience in the privacy of their own minds. On a different thread, I choose to include "Huck Finn" in the curriculum right after "A Raisin in the Sun," so we have a strong background in dealing with racial issues with honesty and courage, not (like Lindner in the play) through avoidance and denial. Before we read even the first chapter of "Huck," though, we read an essay I copied from "English Journal" a few years back. It was written by an African-American girl from Bryn Mawr, (I believe her name is Delancy, but I don't have it with me at home right now), and does a fine job of emphasizing the offensive nature of the hateful word "nigger," while defining Twain's use of the word for realism and, moreover, for satire. Perhaps someone on the list has the issue of "English Journal" that was dedicated to dealing with "Huck Finn." I loaned mine out and never got it back. Stanton Nesbit Eau Claire North High School University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire ========================================================================Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 02:56:45 -0700 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Kathy Farretta <[log in to unmask]> Subject: reading aloud In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII over the summer i had a long commute so i listened to books on tape: _Roughing It_, and _Life on the Mississippi_, and some of Twain's short stories. Norman Dietz reads both of the novels for Books on Tape, i think, and does an awesome job. I laughed hysterically through most of _Life_ !! maybe if someone wants to use these ideas we've been discussing about reading aloud to their class...but they are afraid of the dialect, they can use a Books on Tape version. p.s. vern--it *was* _The Hobbit_ and _Lord of the Rings_ my romantic friends started out reading aloud to each other! :) ========================================================================Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 11:06:04 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: MaryLou Caskey <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: reading aloud MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have listened to a number of Norman Dietz' tapes. He works for Recorded Books, Inc. He is wonderful to listen to. He also does in person performances that are great too. If you would like to get him for a reading it is well worth it. We have had him here twice and he was a hit each time. He is very nice to deal with too. Mary Lou Caskey Mid-York Library System Utica, NY ========================================================================Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 14:10:41 -0800 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Gregg Camfield <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade Comments: To: Diane Peterson <[log in to unmask]> In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Do college teachers read out loud to their students? This one does, and, more, demands that students read out loud, too, not just the literature we're reading, but samples of their own writing. I hear them stumble constantly, not because they can't read, but because they've read so much bad prose that they've learned--indeed, they've often been explicitly taught--to skim. They need to be shown the value of each individual word, and reading aloud is the quickest way. Gregg ========================================================================Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 15:58:45 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "David S. Barber" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Tom and Huck in the 8th grade In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sue Harris is probably right that controversy over Huck Finn is less than one might think, probably because the sites of controversy get publicized out of proportion to their numbers. And if in fact nine out of ten teachers are using HF in class, that may be encouraging. Then again, it may not. Although the recent contributors to the MT Forum on this issue all sound very conscientious, I'm not sure this is a representative group. I was a bit appalled, reading through articles relating to the Pennsylvania NAACP's campaign earlier this year to remove Huck as a required text, to come across some statements by teachers that suggested, at least, inadequate preparation. One teacher, for example, said regarding the use of "nigger": "The students know it had a much different connotation years ago than it does today". [Why then did Twain himself stop using it in public?] Another said, "The interesting thing is Mark Twain was anti-slavery," as though that was some big deal in the 1870-80s. Then there was Judith Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association in Chicago: "Samuel Clemens or Mark Twain wrote this book as a cry against slavery and he did it in the context of the world at that time," she said. "Jim's name is Nigger Jim in the book because that's exactly what he would have been called at that time." Talk about making pronouncements without knowing the book! And I don't see anyone taking seriously, even acknowleding, the arguments that Jonathan Arac has assembled in Huckleberry Finn: Idol and Target. The question of when and how to use HF in the public schools is still, I think, open, and I hope it is not taboo on the Forum to talk about it this way. [I'm a college teacher; I've never taught in the public schools, though I've sent five children through them.] Dave Barber U. of Idaho, Moscow, ID ========================================================================Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 01:45:26 -0500 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Carol J. Peiffer" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Huck's age Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I think Twain got the characteristics of that age group just right. As a teacher, I deal with students that are in the 13-14 age range. In some ways they act like 17-18 year olds. Then, they turn around and act incredibly naive, even childish. Some of the girls go to the prom with older boys, yet still play with dolls. The boys want to be treated like adults, yet they play with toys and will do just about anything for a piece of candy. Of course, to adults, it seems like they want to be adults when we want them to remain children and when we want them to act mature, they act like 3rd-graders. It's the nature of the beast. And Twain understood that. The savvy Huck had learned to take care of himself. The naive Huck was still a boy. C.J. Peiffer ========================================================================Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 11:21:53 -0800 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Harriet Smith <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Mark Twain letters databases now available Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I am pleased to announce that the Mark Twain Project's catalogs of letters by and to Mark Twain (formerly known as UCCL and UCLC) are now available on-line in a form that can be searched. Please visit us and take a look. Suggestions for improvement or correction are welcome, and may be sent directly to me at the email address above. You may go directly to the databases at http://library.berkeley.edu/BANC/MTP/database/ or use the link on our website at http://library.berkeley.edu/BANC/MTP/ And while you are visiting us, please take a moment to view the abbreviated on-line version of the exhibition currently open in the Heller Gallery of The Bancroft Library--Mark Twain at Large: His Travels Here and Abroad. Printed catalogs are also available, for $10. For further information, see the exhibition website. http://library.berkeley.edu/BANC/Exhibits/MTP/ Harriet Smith, Mark Twain Project ========================================================================Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 09:48:01 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Diane Peterson <[log in to unmask]> Organization: Queen City ISD Subject: Expurgated Text MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Does anyone know where I can find John H. Wallace's expurgated edition of _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_? I've tried amazon.com with no luck. It's for a research project...I'm not supporting it! Diane M. Peterson Queen City High School ========================================================================Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 05:03:58 EST Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Timothy Short <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Twain's Fascination with Language Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I am posting this in hopes of compiling responses for a project of mine. I am concerned with the sociolinguistic aspects (i.e., the relationship of language shaping society and vice versa) in Mark Twain's work. I ask, To what degree does Twain view language as a shaper of reality? Obviously, there is a decided fascination with dialect and lack of understanding in Twain's work. Another tangent: Does Twain see language as a pre-determined cycle or an undetermined aspect of human existence? If you do not want your name cited in my little project, please do not reply. Thanks, Tim Short Indiana University at Fort Wayne ========================================================================Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 08:26:07 -0800 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Gregg Camfield <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Twain's Fascination with Language In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Look at "The Secret History of Eddypus" for some of Twain's remarks on the shaping power of language and the difficulties of "translating" one person's ideas to another. Gregg ========================================================================Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 17:52:29 -0500 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Jim Zwick <[log in to unmask]> Subject: You Caught Me Dancing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I came across an entertainment listing today for an upcoming performance of a one-woman play about Katy Leary called "You Caught Me Dancing." It will be included with another one-woman show about painter Georgia O'Keefe in a Stage Theatre presentation at Krause House, 1300 Bulverde Road, Bulverde, Texas. Shows will be at 8:00 p.m. Dec. 12 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 13. For information, call (830) 438- 2339 or e-mail [log in to unmask] Coming from the Northeast, I of course assumed that Bulverde couldn't be more than a stone's throw away from anyone living in the Southwest so I wrote to Barbara Schmidt about it. She has compiled this additional information. The play was written by Bernard Sabath of North Carolina and was published by Dramatic Publishing 311 Washington St. Woodstock, Illinois 60098 Phone - 800-448-7469 They take credit card orders. The script is catalog number Y17 and costs $5.50 ($8.00 including 1st class postage). Bulverde is somewhere near San Antonio. I had never heard of this play before. Has anyone seen it? Jim Zwick ========================================================================Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 14:09:24 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Bill Cosgrove <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Terri Chale-Egan /Huck Finn Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Dr Cosgrove, if it would not be too much of an inconvenience, could you post >the following question on the TWAIN forum you are a part of? > > "I am looking for alternative theories or sources of information >regarding the reason "Huck and Tom Among the Indians" was never finished. I >have the article by Dr. Walter Blair from the 1968 Life magazine article, >and I have read all available notes and letters and can find very few >references to any of the sequels, but specifically to "Huck and Tom Among >the Indians". I would appreciate any information at e-mail [log in to unmask]" ========================================================================Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 10:21:39 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Ted W. Magnuson" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: texts of Mark Twain's Speeches MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In his day, Mark Twain was a noted lecturer. What are the best sources to consult to find the texts of his speeches? My suspicion is that his books weren't neccesarily the subject of these speeches. Did he speak more along the lines of "social commentary?" I'd be very interested in hearing responses from fellow members of the Forum on this question. Thank you. Ted Magnuson ========================================================================Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 13:22:48 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: jon s miller <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: texts of Mark Twain's Speeches Comments: To: "Ted W. Magnuson" <[log in to unmask]> In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Ted, Try Paul Fatout, ed., _Mark Twain Speaking_ (Iowa City: U Iowa P, 1976). It contains material from 195 speeches as well as a chronology of his speaking career. Jon Miller U. Iowa ========================================================================Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 15:53:21 -0500 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Jim Zwick <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: texts of Mark Twain's Speeches In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT The 1910 edition of Mark Twain's Speeches is online at: http://marktwain.miningco.com/library/speeches/bl_contents.htm There are also some great resources on his lecture tours online at Stephen Railton's Mark Twain and His Times site: Mark Twain On Stage http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/onstage/onstgehp.html Jim Zwick ========================================================================Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 12:17:44 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Shelley Fisher Fishkin <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Mark Twain Circle events at the MLA Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Happy Thanksgiving! The Mark Twain Circle is planning a number of interesting events at the Modern Language Association Convention in San Francisco, December 27th-30th. Here's the schedule: (*) On December 27th from 9:00-10:15 p.m.in the Yosemite Room A of the San Francisco Hilton, the Mark Twain Circle will sponsor a roundtable on "The Author as Public Intellectual," a discussion that will explore what happens when someone parlays his fame and recognition as a writer into a bully pulpit from which to engage the social and political issues of his day. Centered on Twain, and his engagement with such issues as imperialism and copyright, but branching out to explore the phenomenon in general, this session will include Jim Zwick (Syracuse University), Siva Vaidyanathan (Wesleyan Univesity), Fred Kaplan (Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center), the writer David Bradley, and Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Univ. of Texas, Austin) as chair. (+) On December 28th from 9:00-9:30 a.m.in the Mark Twain Circle Suite at the Downtown Marriott there will be a breakfast-hour session featuring Philip Fanning, a San Francisco-based independent scholar who has written an intriguing book manuscript on Twain and Orion; he will address the question, "Did Mark Twain Get his Anti-Slavery Views from Orion?" (+) On December 28th from 5-6:l5 p.m.in the Mark Twain Circle Suite at the Downtown Marriott there will be a cocktail-hour session at which 1) Gregg Camfield (University of the Pacific) will speak with us briefly about Twain in San Francisco and promises everyone interested in doing a self-guided walking tour of Twain's San Francisco all they need to know; and 2) Robert H. Hirst, General Editor of the Mark Twain Project, will catch us up on what's going on at the Mark Twain Project. (+) On December 28th from 9:00-10:00 p.m.in the Mark Twain Circle Suite at the Downtown Marriott we look forward to a conversation with Hal Holbrook after we honor him with an award from the Twain Circle. (If there are any last-minute changes in Holbrook's schedule, I will post something on the Mark Twain Forum). (+) On December 29th, from 5-6:30 there will be a cocktail-hour session in the Twain Circle Suite at the Downtown Marriott featuring a paper by Debbie Lopez (University of Texas, San Antonio) and Joe Towson (Spartanburg, SC) entitled "A Portable Mississippi: The Metaphor of the Market in Twain's Short Fiction. (*) On December 30th from 8:30-9:45 a.m. there will be a session on "Mark Twain: New Perspectives on Established Works" in the Union Square 12 room of the San Francisco Hilton. Chaired by Laura E. Skandera-Trombley (Coe College), the session will feature the following papers: 1. "Mark Twain as Western Outlaw: Language and Manhood in Roughing It and Life on the Mississippi," Joseph L. Coulombe (U of Delaware) 2. "'a man nobody wouldn't be ashamed of': Drinking and Temperance in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Rosemarie L. Coste (U of Texas) 3. "'The Crying Defect of My Character': Hank Morgan, Mark Twain, and the Business of Determinism," Susanne Weil (Whittier C) Events marked with (*) are part of the formal convention program (sometimes the MLA is rather vigilant about requiring convention registration for attendance.) Events marked with (+) are in the Mark Twain Circle/American Humor Studies Assn. Suite and do not require convention registration. [The San Francisco Downtown Marriott is on Fourth St. between Market and Mission. The room number for the Mark Twain Circle/American Humor Studies Association suite won't be assigned until the convention. To find out the room number, look for signs in the MLA registration area or call Shelley Fisher Fishkin either at Marriott's main number or from a house phone in the Marriott when you arrive. It is not necessary to be registered for the Convention to attend events in the Mark Twain Circle Suite]. I look forward to seeing many of you in San Francisco! Shelley Fisher Fishkin University of Texas ========================================================================Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 12:16:59 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Shelley Fisher Fishkin <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Mark Twain Circle to Honor Hal Holbrook in San Francisco Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Happy Thanksgiving! I am delighted to report that at this writing Hal Holbrook is planning to come to San Francisco on December 28th to be honored in person by the Mark Twain Circle of America with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented the night of December 28th at 9:00 P.M. in the Mark Twain Circle Suite in the San Francisco Downtown Marriott. The presentation will be followed by an informal conversation with Holbrook about his forty years of portraying Twain on stage. I loook forward to sharing this special occasion with you! (The San Francisco Downtown Marriott is on Fourth St. between Market and Mission. The room number for the Mark Twain Circle/American Humor Studies Association suite won't be assigned until the convention. To find out the room number, look for signs in the MLA registration area or call Shelley Fisher Fishkin either at Marriott's main number or from a house phone in the Marriott when you arrive. It is not necessary to be registered for the Convention to attend events in the Mark Twain Circle Suite). Shelley Fisher Fishkin University of Texas ========================================================================Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 15:49:11 -0800 Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: "Ted W. Magnuson" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Recent request for cites on texts of Mark Twain's Speaking Engagements MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you everyone who offered cites on Twain's speeches. I'm contacting U Iowa post haste to see if they've got a dusty copy of their 1976 book laying about. Ted Magnuson ========================================================================Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 11:54:25 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Twain's sexual identity For ALA in May, I am hoping to submit a paper on my findings regarding the US cultural response to Andrew Hoffman's controversial thesis about Twain's possible gay sexual activities out west. My paper is not interested in either confirming or eschewing the historical activities of Twain; instead, I read the wildly uneven response in terms of the current atmosphere of the culture wars. Does anyone know of any analytical pieces/ essays about Hoffman's gay thesis, particularly ones that view the episode as culturally revealing? Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr. Saint Louis University ========================================================================Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 11:55:25 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> From: Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> Subject: ALA CFPapers Here is a simple question -- I am not able to locate a call for ALA, if indeed one has yet been issued. I would greatly appreciate it if a LIST-member could send me privately the Call for Papers for the Mark Twain Circle's sessions at May's ALA conference in Baltimore? Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr. Saint Louis University