Slavery has been a controversial topic since the early nineteenth century and continues to be a touchy subject today. This problem is only exacerbated once children and their education become involved. There has been debate whether novels and similar material depicting slavery is acceptable in the high school curriculum. People are often most opinionated and stubborn with their views in regards to race and discrimination. As a result little progress has been made on the topic. People’s views range from either extreme on the spectrum. Some support an all-out ban on books depicting slavery and discrimination in an effort to shut out the past. Others fully support the use of the book as a learning tool for the future. Most people would agree that the latter group have a more rational approach. I am one of those people that believe literary works such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Twelve Years a Slave are necessary material for the high school English curriculum because they bring attention to an important part of American history which is commonly shunned by society and they are some of the most important books in American literature and students deserve to decide for themselves whether they accept them or not.
The slave era was one of the darkest parts of American history. Because slavery was so damaging to an entire race and contributed to further racism which persists to the modern day, many people try their best to shun that entire time period and by doing so they think that they are protecting their children from the hate and damaging effects of discrimination. However, in reality it is impossible to ignore history. The article “Forgetting Slavery” says:
It’s vitally important that Ame...
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...466-70. Print.
“Finding Jim Behind the Mask: The Revelation of African American Humanity in Mark Twain’s
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Fgcu.edu. n.p. 13 Jan. 1998. Web. 4 Jan. 2014.
“Forgetting Slavery.” The American Prospect. n.p. 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Jan. 2014.
Peaches, Henry. “The Struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn.”
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. eds. Gerald Graff, James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2004. 382- 404. Print.
Smiley, Jane. “Say It Ain’t So, Huck: Second Thoughts on ‘Mark Twain’s Masterpiece.”
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. eds. Gerald Graff, James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 456-66. Print.
Stowe, Harriet B. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics,
2003. Print.
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
2004. Print.
Kaplan, Justin. "Born to Trouble: One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn." Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Eds. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: St. Martin's, 1995. 348-359.
High Schools in the United States should not ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book is one of the most important components of American literature in our libraries today, it throws the reader into a time when slavery was lawful and accepted, and gives the reader a new perspective on slavery in general. Until civil rights groups can come up with a better argument than the word “nigger” creating a “hostile work environment”(Zwick) it should not be taken off the required reading list of any High School in the country.
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." SparkNotes Mobile Web Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
From the period of Antebellum America up into the present time, many documents and pieces of work have been published regarding the abolition of slavery and slavery in general. Regarding the abolition of slavery, slave narratives were one of the ways to get readers first hand look at accounts of slavery and in turn were a big part of abolitionist movements. In class we have read three of the great slave narratives and there are abolitionist themes that can be traces through all three of them. These themes argued against slavery and were used to persuade their readers to support the abolition of slavery. Although there were many similar themes through out the narratives I will be focusing on just two of the most effective ways that argue for the abolition of slavery: slavery seen as a slow poison, and emotion through extreme cruelty and suffering.
...cal Edition, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. and Trans. Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beaty, E. Hudson Long, and Thomas Cooley. New York: Norton, 1977. 328-335.
In 1865 Mark Twain wrote what would become one of the most controversial books in American history, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” He wrote this novel with brazen confidence. This novel became a very difficult, controversial topic with many different views and opinions. The most common side taken for this topic is the side that: Yes, it is a racist book, but that was the norm for the time. Addressing people by the “N” word was socially acceptable, and usually was not even done in a hateful manner, because it was the vernacular of this time. Many people’s aversion to this book makes this topic and discussion so much more interesting and in today’s standards, it is definitely racist. No doubt. But how are we going to learn from our mistakes in the past if we aren’t being taught them in the first place. It allows the readers, or in this case students, to see what intolerance is and how things have changed from then to today. Many of the novels in this time period are now considered racist, but were once were completely normal. There are many arguments as to why this novel should be banned from public high schools, but for every argument there is a reason as to why it is false and should still be taught.Due to these facts, the novel Huckleberry Finn should be taught in public school systems without question.
Gaither, J. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013. Morrison, Toni. Introduction. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Dlackley.org. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
"The Debate over Slavery in the United States." The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 108-149. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 May 2014.
...ke." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. Sculley Bradley, et al. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1977. 421-22.
James, Pearl. “Overview of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” EXPLORING Novels. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003.
Twain, Mark. “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. New York: Norton & Company Inc., 2012. 130-309. Print.
Twain, Mark, and Cynthia Johnson. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2008. Print.
Twain , Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.
[1] In the movie Sankofa, Haile Gerima does not hesitate to show the audience the horrors of slavery. Not only does he show the brutal and humiliating practices used by slaveholders to subjugate slaves but he also shows how slaveholders used Christianity to control and manipulate slaves. He demonstrates the huge impact of slavery on today’s society and the importance of looking back to slavery to understand the present. Traditionally, history textbooks have hesitated to talk about any of these aspects of slavery. Present history books have begun to describe the brutalities of slavery but still refuse to explain slavery’s impact or to mention Christianity’s role in slavery. There are three main reasons for this hesitance to be truthful about all aspects of slavery when writing history textbooks. These are patriotism for the United States, cultural bias towards the white race, and a bias towards Christianity.