Huckleberry Finn Argumentative Essay
Courtney Simich
English B4
12/19/12
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Bad for the Modern Student
For decades children and adults alike have been taught to refrain from using disrespectful racial slurs and treat one another as equals. One way this message is spread to the youth is through their schooling and education. What happens when material is presented in the classroom that in fact teaches just the opposite? This is evident in the teaching of the novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel uses racial slurs and derogatory language towards African Americans and takes place in a period in American history that has aspects that are best to be learned from. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be kept off the mandatory reading list because it is both outdated and uses racial …show more content…
He uses many slurs and hurtful statements continuously. Twain writes, “’ Ten cents a head, children and niggers free’” (Twain 120). Not only is the use of the racial slur unnecessary and hurtful, but also this excerpt is acting as though African Americans deserve their own special ranking that is below all other races. What Twain is basically saying is that African American people are nothing, even if they died it wouldn’t matter. Throughout childhood children are taught to value and respect each and everyone around them. Reading statements such as this in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn doesn’t exactly reinforce the concept of equality. The Untied States of America is a much different place than it was when The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written. Our country and society has made an enormous amount of progress since then in both technology and equality and respect between genders and races. When reading Twain’s novel we are bringing ourselves back to a time before these advancements and progress were made. Twain
English B4
12/19/12
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Bad for the Modern Student
For decades children and adults alike have been taught to refrain from using disrespectful racial slurs and treat one another as equals. One way this message is spread to the youth is through their schooling and education. What happens when material is presented in the classroom that in fact teaches just the opposite? This is evident in the teaching of the novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel uses racial slurs and derogatory language towards African Americans and takes place in a period in American history that has aspects that are best to be learned from. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be kept off the mandatory reading list because it is both outdated and uses racial …show more content…
He uses many slurs and hurtful statements continuously. Twain writes, “’ Ten cents a head, children and niggers free’” (Twain 120). Not only is the use of the racial slur unnecessary and hurtful, but also this excerpt is acting as though African Americans deserve their own special ranking that is below all other races. What Twain is basically saying is that African American people are nothing, even if they died it wouldn’t matter. Throughout childhood children are taught to value and respect each and everyone around them. Reading statements such as this in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn doesn’t exactly reinforce the concept of equality. The Untied States of America is a much different place than it was when The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written. Our country and society has made an enormous amount of progress since then in both technology and equality and respect between genders and races. When reading Twain’s novel we are bringing ourselves back to a time before these advancements and progress were made. Twain