Samuel Clemens(1835-1910), who used the pseudonym Mark Twain, was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. He served in the Confederate militia during the Civil War, and he later worked as a typesetter, a Mississippi steamboat pilot, and a newspaper reporter. In 1884, Twain published the novel about Huckleberry Finn.
The novel begins where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ended, sometime between 1834 and 1844. Huckleberry is living in St. Petersburg, Missouri, with the widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, who ‘adopted’ him and are trying to civilize him.The adventure begins when Huck’s dad, Pap, kidnaps him. They begin traveling up the river to Illinois. Huck escapes from Pap (who has locked Huck in a cabin) and fakes his own death. While hiding on Jackson Island, Huck meets Jim, a runaway slave. Traveling down the Mississippi River together, Huck and Jim are joined by two con men, the King and the Duke. They meet others along the path as they learn more about the sometimes unfairness of Southern culture.
For an introduction to Huck and his friends, watch An American Classic: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by
Peggy Whitley (approx. 5 minutes; requires QuickTime. Note: this may take a few minutes to load.)
Librarian talk . . . About Getting Started!As you begin, narrow your topic to a size that you can manage. Consider keywords that will help you find the information you need. These can be names of people, literary works, events, or broader identifying terms. Use these keywords for locating information in the library catalog, electronic databases, and on the internet.
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Huckleberry Finn offers many interesting topics
for the researcher. Talk with your instructor about this.
Some suggestions: Freedom for Jim, the runaway slave Huck’s struggle with his conscience Race and racism | The contradiction between Southern beliefs and religion |
Librarian Talk . . . About Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles!Electronic databases are purchased by the libraries for your research use. To find articles in newspapers and journals, letters, reference books, illustrations, photographs and more, use your updated library card to login to the following databases. If you find an interesting article that is not full-text, please give the correct bibliographic information to our Reference Librarians and they will see that you get the article. They will need full bibliographic information - and your name and address. Send your phone number as well, so they can contact you if they need to. There is some overlap of articles in the following databases. However, we encourage you to use more than one. All are excellent sources for this topic. HINT: For a full list of article databases, go to http://Library.LoneStar.edu and use your library card for login. |
The
following databases are available for students to access articles of literary criticism about
the novel. Please select ‘peer reviewed’ or
‘scholarly’ articles. Many articles are full
text.
Keywords: Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, Huckleberry Finn and see topics above for additional keywords.
Search the Library Catalog. Online books are available at NetLibrary. Browse the collection's more than 40,000 books. You can create a free account to save notes and favorite book titles, and you can search the contents of the books electronically to find information about your topic. You may also find criticism within books on other topics by using Literature Resource Center. Some examples are:
Most books about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will have call numbers between PS1302 and PS1342.
REFERENCE BOOKS are particularly good for overviews. You might use them to give you ideas before deciding on your topic.
The Critical Reception: Contemporary Newspaper and Magazines Reviews. Compiled by the University of Virginia.
Huck Finn Teachers Guide from PBS Written especially for teachers, this site can be very helpful for resource gatherers.
Citing Sources Using the Library MLA Style Guide | Lone Star College-Kingwood Library guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
Avoiding Plagiarism | Excellent information and guide on how to avoid plagiarism from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.
University of Texas Copyright Crash Course | This helpful guide on copyright is suggested by Lone Star College-Kingwood Teaching and Learning Center.
Learning Center | Check our hours for in-house tutoring.
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Page by Shielda Welling, Librarian. | Revised, 6/2008 S.Schilling.
