Journal Entry #3

Chapter 31:

p.194: "...and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now..."

Comments and Questions:

There was a quote similar to this one earlier in the story, but it was said by Jim. This quote was said by Huck and I found it interesting because he worded it almost the same way Jim did when he said these words previously. I believe this was put in the story twice by two different people in order to emphasize it. It also reveals more about Jim's character and how close the two of them really are to each other.

Chapter 34:

p.211: "Well, one thing was dead sure; and that was, that Tom Sawyer was in earnest and was actually going to help steal that nigger out of slavery."

Comments and Questions:

Tom Sawyer is a new character who arrives in the story. He was mentioned earlier in the novel a few times but he arrives later as a major character in order to save Jim. I chose this quote because it shows who Tom Sawyer is as a person and what he believes is right during this time period of slavery.

Chapter 36:

p.222: "This ain't no thirty-seven year job, this is a thirty-eight year job, Tom Sawyer."

Comments and Questions:

I was trying to determine what Huck meant when he was speaking this to Tom. This happened when they were discussing how to steal Jim out of slavery. They were thinking of a plan together that could end up working eventually, but it would take much time. However, I do not know why Huck thinks the job needs thirty-eight years instead of thirty-seven. I figured it must be a saying.

Chapter 38:

p.238: "...made it more trouble and worry and responsibility...that Tom lost all patience with him...and said he was loadened down with more gaudier chances than a prisoner ever had in the world to make a name for himself, and yet he didn't know enough to appreciate them, and they was just about wasted on him."

Comments and Questions:

This is another quote that shows both Tom's character and Jim's character. While determining a plan for Jim to escape, Jim is not able to understand what they want. He is afraid of many of the ideas they have and is coming up with excuses for all of it. Tom begins to get irritated and basically says that there is no hope to help him escape and they are just wasting their time on him.

Chapter 39:

p.240: "It was very curious. But Tom said all women was just so. He said they was made that way; for some reason or other."

Comments and Questions:

I personally liked this quote because it is a quote Huck is saying about women and their nature. Huck is still fairly young so he has not gotten the ability to get to know very many women yet. This quote specifically arose when Huck was talking about Aunt Sally and how she would always worry and get scared over the littlest situations.

Chapter 40:

p.247: "We was all glad as we could be, but Tom was the gladdest of all, because he had a bullet in the calf of his leg."

Comments and Questions:

I did not understand this quote very well; the guys were very glad after Jim had escaped, however Tom was the most glad because he was shot? Is it because Tom felt adventurous and as though he did a lot of work through the process? Or maybe they were all just too happy they saved Jim successfully that Tom couldn't even be in much pain?

They Say, I Say post#2

Summary 1:

In Zinczenko's, "Don't Blame the Eater", he argues that fast food is much cheaper and easier to find than healthier foods in grocery stores. However, there are quite a few different alternatives we could use to provide a nice, healthy meal for ourselves without spending too much money. There are, in fact, cheap items such as fruits, vegetables, salads, and even more that we can find in grocery stores that are still tasty and don't cost very much. There are also other possibilities such as growing gardens and cooking your own food at home. These are easy, cheap, yet still tasty ways to eat without having to buy from fast food.

Summary 2:

In America, many people give us the stereotype as "fat, lazy, Americans", which I sadly believe is true for a lot of people. However, being overweight can be a medical problem as well. I know many people with type 2 diabetes, but that is from being overweight. Although, these people are in my family and obesity, unfortunately is genetic for us. Unlike some people, we have to watch our weight a lot more than others do. I also have friends who eat nothing but healthy food and exercise all the time but they just cannot lose weight! These are genetics and medical issues of being overweight. If us Americans watched what we ate more and exercised regualrly, we would not have this stereotype as "fat, lazy, Americans."

Huck Finn: chapters 16-30

Chapter 16:

p.83: "I's a free man, en I couldn't ever ben free ef it hadn' ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won't ever forgit you, Huck; you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de only fren' ole jim's got now."

Comments and Questions:

I really liked this quote because it shows the friendship between Huck and Jim, regardless of their race. Huck has been a great friend to Jim and he doesn't care that Jim is different than he is. This quote also shows how grateful Jim is for the friendship Huck is offering him and how much he relies on him. This passage also brings out a sensitive side in Jim, revealing more about his character.

Chapter 19:

p.115: "But I never said nothing, never let on; kept to myself; it's the best way; then you don't have no quarrels, and don't get into no trouble."

 Comments and Questions:

This quote was said by Huck after he realized that the king and dukes were just fake and pretending. I found this quote interesting because it takes a lot of self control and maturity to keep your mouth shut, especially at Huck's age. Maturity is something Huck definitely has, along with much knowledge; this quote also reveals that personality trait in Huck. Another reason I picked out this quote was because I figured it is a good life lesson outside of the book as well: staying out of trouble and keeping quiet in order to avoid trouble, unless of course it's completely necessary.

Chapter 21:

p.132: "Then pretty soon Sherburn sort of laughed; not the pleasant kind, but the kind that makes you feel like when you are eating bread with sand in it."

Comments and Questions:

This quote has a very interesting simile: "like when you are eating bread with sand in it." The author was trying to portray to the reader that Sherburn does not have a pleasant laugh. I like this quote because it shows the creativity within the author since I would have never thought of comparing a bad sound to the taste of bread and sand put together. Also, Huck is the narrator of the story so it shows a bit more of who he is as well.

Chapter 22:

p.134: "Your newspapers call you a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other people-- whereas you're just as brave, and no braver. Why don't your juries hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them in the back, in the dark-- and it's just what they would do."

Comments and Questions:

This quote is very interesting to me. It is saying that everywhere in the news, certain people are talked about as braver than the rest. However, Huck is saying that everyone is equally brave and just because you are made out to be braver than others, doesn't mean you actually are. Then he asks why we don't hang murderers; the reason is because their friends will go and kill you right back, so it won't do any good.

Chapter 26:

p.160: "It don't make no difference what he said-- that ain't the thing. The thing is for you to treat him kind, and not be saying things to make him remember he ain't in his own country and amongst his own folks."

Comments and Questions:

I like this quote because it is a good lesson inside and outside of the book. We should always treat people kind no matter what it is they say to us. The speaker is also saying how we need to not exclude others just because they are different or come from somewhere different than we do.

Chapter 27:

p.167:"I can't ever get it out of my memory, the sight of them poor miserable girls and niggers hanging around each other's necks and crying."

Comments and Questions:

This quote is another revealing of Huck's sensitivity and care toward people, especially toward women and blacks. In this time period, respect was limited, but only toward blacks mainly. So, the fact Huck can push away what everyone else does and be his own person shows great maturity.

Chapter 29:

p.181:"Set down, my boy, I wouldn't strain myself, if I was you. I reckon you ain't used to lying, it don't seem to come handy; what you want is practice. You do it pretty awkward."


Comments and Questions:

I found this quote interesting because Huck is almost being taught to lie. He has been doing it constantly throughout the book, pretending to be somebody he's not, but nobody has caught him. Lying may not exactly be part of who Huck wants to be, but he is doing it because he knows he almost has to in a way. He is not lying in a bad way perhaps, just to be a good friend and help Jim. And himself.

"They say, I say" post #1

Exercise 1 :

The term "smoking" tends to be synonymous with "relaxation" in some people's minds. They see smoking as a harmless habit used to relieve stress and lose weight. However, some people choose to smoke because they believe it looks "cool" and want to be accepted. On the contrary, smoking is very addictive, unhealthy, and can cause cancer and other life threatening diseases. For the truth is that it does not look cool or relieve stress. It causes people to age quicker, smell like smoke, turn their teeth yellow, and turn their lungs black. In this essay, then, closely examining a smoker with a non smoker, I can show the audience how harmful smoking actually is and what it can do to your body.

Exercise 2:

In the introduction to "They Say / I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to help students to be creative. Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer help students improve the creativity in their writing. As the authors themselves put it, the templates "will actually help your writing become more original and creative, not less." Although some people believe templates will cause everyone's writing to be similar, Graff and Birkenstein insist that it is actually just a tool to outline your work. In sum, their view is that your creativity will be improved if you use these templates as a skeleton to start your assignment.

I agree with Graff and Birkenstein; in my view, the types of templates that the authors recommend give me a solid base to begin from. For instance, this assignment seems much simpler since we have somewhere to go from. In addition, while reading other students' essays where they followed the same topic as I did, ours ended up very different from each other. Some might object, of course, on the grounds that they enjoyed free writing instead of being told how to write. Yet I would argue that by using these templates, our essays are much more organized, yet still creative in their own ways. Overall, then I believe Graff and Birkenstein's opinions are true--an important part to make given hile writing an essay.

June 24: Journal 1

Chapter 2:

p.11 "Yes, he's got a father, but you can't never find him, these days. He used to lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard, but he hain't been seen in these parts for a year or more."

Comments and questions:

This passage is describing Huck’s father. The boys in the gang agreed if they hurt one another they would have to kill their own families; if Huck’s father is not around, it won’t be possible to kill him. This quote discusses how long Huck’s father has been away and shows his character by how often he is drunk and never with his son. This is also foreshadowing and contains irony because later in the story, Huck encounters his father again.

Chapter 3:

p.14 “Well, about this time he was found in the river drowned, about twelve mile up town, so people said…I knowed mighty well that a drowned man don’t float on his back, but on his face. So I was uncomfortable again. I judged the old man would turn up again by-and-by, though I wished he wouldn’t.”

Comments and questions:

Huck is talking once again about his father in this passage. His father made it seem that he drowned in the river so everyone would think he was dead; however, he really just escaped for a year where no one knew where he was. The tone of this passage is a little irritated at the fact his father may come back, because Huck did not want to see him again. This also reveals some about Huck’s character; Huck was able to determine that his father set up the entire scene on purpose which shows how observant Huck is.

Chapter 5:

p.21 “I’ll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You’re educated, too, they say; can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take it out of you. Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut’n foolishness, hey?—who told you you could?”

Comments and questions:

This quote was said by Huck’s father; they are having a conversation about Huck’s ability to read and write. His father is clearly not being supportive to him and making assumptions. He is selfish, inconsiderate, and does not deserve to be a father with the way he is treating his son. Instead of making assumptions, why didn’t Huck’s father ask him about his reading and writing? Then he also accuses Huck of thinking he is better than him.

Chapter 8:

p.38 “‘Stand away!’ and the cannon let off such a blast right before me that it made me deef with the noise and pretty near blind with the smoke, and I judged I was gone. If they’d a had some bullets in, I reckon they’d a got the corpse they was after.”

Comments and questions:

Since Huck ran away, cannons were being fired in order to find him; however, he planned nearly the same scheme his father did so people would believe he died. This passage has a powerful and semi-frightening tone. Huck was hit so hard by the sound of the cannon and the smoke from when it was fired that he thought he was dead. He concluded that if any more bullets were fired, the people searching for him would find him in the exact form they thought he was in.

Chapter 11:

p.58 “You do a girl tolerable poor, but you might fool men, maybe. Bless you, child, when you set out to thread a needle, don’t hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it—that’s the way a woman most always does; but a man always does it ‘tother way.”

Comments and questions:

This passage is when Huck dresses up like a girl and leaves Jim in order to find information. He comes across a house and meets a kind lady who plays along with Huck attempting to be a girl at first, but says this quote once they finish their conversation. This quote displays a tone of women power and how much smarter women can be than men. The lady in the house gives great comparisons to Huck about how men and women take action differently. However, the lady still does not know that she is talking to Huckleberry Finn, the boy everyone has been searching for.

Chapter 12:

p.66 “...there’s a gang of murderers in yonder, and if we don’t hunt up their boat and set her drifting down the river so these fellows can’t get away from the wreck, there’s one of ‘em going to be in a bad fix. But if we find their boat we can put all of ‘em in a bad fix—for the Sheriff ‘ll get ‘em.”

Comments and questions:

Huck is telling Jim his smart plan of blaming the gang for the wreck; they will do this by letting their boat flow down the river so they cannot escape. Then the Sheriff will catch them and they will all be in trouble. Although I was wondering, what was Huck’s purpose for wanting to do this? I may have missed a part in the story or need clarification somewhere to help me understand. Is it possible Huck did not have a purpose at all?

Chapter 14:

p.72 “Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head, for a nigger.”

Comments and questions:

Huck said Jim is always right, even while being a black man. I found this quote unique because during the time period this book took place in there was much slavery and segregation toward black people, so Huck is still friends with and is kind to Jim although he is different than he is.

About me

Heyyy I'm Jessica and I've been at U-Prep since the 6th grade and have loved it ever since! I've made so many great friends here, participated in the musicals since Freshman year, been in the dance program since the 6th grade, and just recently participated in the dance competition where we placed 3rd in Davis! I also love to sing and act, but dancing beats them all. I enjoy school and learning new things and absolutely love meeting new people. I'm sort of loud, but you'll get used to that, hopefully... I also laugh a lot and can be kind of crazy sometimes, but I believe happiness is contagious and there's nothing better than bringing positive energy to anyone that's around. I'm really looking forward to Junior year and taking my first AP English class; which reminds me, I'm always up for new challenges. I would say my strengths are responsibility with my work and staying organized for the most part, while a weakness I have would be laziness sometimes (to be honest). I wouldn't say I have a favorite subject in school because there's something different I love about each one. Although it's been a great year, I cannot wait for summer. :)