Blog# 10 Kaplan: Racist or Satire?

Over the last 100 years the book Huckleberry Finn has been examined and overlooked in so many different ways due to the use of the N word. Some see the book as a complete disgrace to humanity, while others argue that it is the greatest book ever written in American Literature. Many people till this day ridicule the book for the use of the N word and many others seem to completely dismiss the word seeing it as nothing more than a satire.

In Kaplan's Essay he strictly points out that many do not see the humor and that it is simply overlooked in the book, but rather see more of the racism in the book. He feels that to get ones point across about something one has to tie in humor, and make it unrealistically funny to a point.
He explains that through great humor one has to take it to a much deeper level.

Kaplan states " One of the funniest things about humor is that people don't take it seriously enough. If they did they might discover that, at heart, great humorists are not merry as crickets, but quite the contrary. Enduring humor is not kindly, not harmless. It has the power to inflict pain, even commit mayhem, and unless it exercises this power is not likely to endure." P (381)

I would have to say that I agree with Kaplan's statement here, and he is right. I do believe that people often miss the point. It all depends on the person's personality, and how far they read into things. I know people 100 years ago were not very humorous about things, in fact its hard to say that those people even had a sense of humor at all. Humor was not accepted back in those days like it is now.

Essay # 4

To me Huck is somewhat of an inspirational character, he has a lot of courage and has a will to survive. After reading in to these chapters my first general response to Huck is that I like his character. In many ways I feel like I can relate to his sense of being. His experiences are somewhat similar to ones that I have had, and the feelings he constantly has to battle are ones I have also dealt with. Huck is an ambitious person but nieve at times and this shows through his character constantly as the story unfolds. Based on his adventures and the relationship with his dad I would say Huck is very independent and strong hearted. No matter what he has been through he seems to walk with his head up high to show his courage. Huck may may seem ignorant at times because what society has taught him, but deep down inside he has a really good heart and this is something that shows through out the relationship that he has with Jim.

Blog # 9 My thoughts on The City Councelman

Well after reading the article and reading several others, I'm actually a little stunned but I can say that it doesn't surprise me. I can actually see both sides to this but really don't agree, I think that the councilman is slightly racist I mean as a white person you just don't do that kind of stuff unless your asking for trouble or your trying to get your point across about being racist without coming out and saying it. Maybe because of the fact that he is over 50 might show that he comes from the era where racism was an issue. I hate to say it but he looks like a republican and clearly doesn't want Obama for his president so maybe his thoughts were to mock the whole situation. It also seems the minute it was questioned it was denied, but pictures are supposed to be worth 1000 words! It is possible that he is not racist but is just really dumb and clueless on how to get his point across because there are a lot of people that are exactly like this at least from what I have encountered in my experiences. People just don't know when to use force or voice and when too. He's clearly a moron in handling it the way he did, also based on his statements you can kind of see what I'm talking about. "How dare anyone dictate to me how I choose to wear my hair and make-up". See but why would you do something like that intentionally without it meaning something you know...makes no sense! Then he states that "others are racist for labeling people hippies, rednecks, blacks, and white privileged people. First off he doesn't know what he is talking about because if that was racist those people would be called something worse, like white trash, a harsher word for a black person or even people who are hippies that's not necessarily a bad thing and that's clearly not being racist. There is a difference between labeling someone and talking down on someone through action and perverse language that clearly would offend someone. Believe me there is a difference and it's obvious that he does not see that. Something that he also stated was "Don't let these people use the race card. We are only one race. "The human Race". Wow really, u know I'm sure that many feel this way in hopes that we will all be one but that simply is not the reality of it. Yes we are all human but we are also our own person with different characteristics duh! You can't just say these things without taking everything else into account. He might have said that to throw people off into believing that what he was doing wasn't racist if you think about it but I personally didn't think that it was a very smart thing to do. If he wanted to change the logo he should of talked it over with someone else that is on the committee instead of giving people the wrong idea. Maybe its possible that he wanted some kind of attention or was looking for an excuse and reason to stir up the crowd and create a controversy for nothing. It may be possible that the committee is racist but I don't really see that being the issue here or maybe it is because they don't want a black face on the logo. Who knows maybe he really likes black people and has a weird way of showing it. I mean he did state that he was in a blues funk band back in the day. I believe we all have the freedom to speak our mind but you should always be really careful how you choose to do that or else like this it could piss someone off. Yes he does have a right to his freedom of speech but then again he is a council member and what ever you do is taken very seriously. I actually kind of feel bad for the guy because of this wasn't intended to be a race issue then he obviously didn't know how to address what he was trying to say instead he posted up something that was clearly offensive to others.

Blog #8 My Topic

What do you think your thesis will be? What points will you develop in your body paragraph? What concerns and or questions do you have?


I chose to do my essay on topic # 3 which is What is your response to Huck? What do you make of his adventures towards Jim?
I chose this topic for of a few reasons, but the most important one is that I can somewhat relate to Huck and his whole life. My thesis is a little tricky because I haven't quite decided on a strong thesis yet...but I am working on it. I 'm trying to structure my paragraphs so I can come back to my thesis. The points that I will develop are going to be his home life and the past stuff he had to deal with. Also his independence and how that strongly sticks out in the book, and his adventures and why he takes the adventures he does. Also his attitude towards Jim, why he has befriended him the way he did and his intentions towards Jim. I don't really have any concerns or questions...just stressing out on my thesis but i'm sure I will figure it out as I always do....:)

Blog # 7 What is a Satire?

What is satire? Can you find an example? What are the elements of an effective satire?

Can you find a contemporary example of a satire? How effective is this example? Why?

A Satire is the use of humor or sarcasm to criticize the particular subject.

In the book of The Adventures Huckleberry Finn I think there are many examples satires, the book it's self is a satire simply because of the so called humor that is presented before us....but is was based on a time where there was a lot of slavery and who knows if this would of actually happened but the fact is that Mark Twain wanted this story to be known for a reason.....maybe for the humor to make people to be more accepting and aware of the race it's self or to turn people the other way and say okay yeah it's okay to be racist. I do know that Mark Twain based some of these situations on stuff that he experienced when he was a little boy. The way they portray Jim in the book is kind of a mo chary and a satire to the black man because of how he is portrayed;example, grammar is completely non-understandable and the kinds of things that he speaks about not everybody might think this way but because he is stereotyped I guess they are all supposed to think a like. The fact that he is dumb witted, illiterate, black, and poor is a complete satire of the Black working man and that is exactly what they state in this book. Pap is also a satire, pap's threats are humorous because of the obvious irony; how could a father not want his son to learn or 2 not proud of him. Pap exudes bigotry and hate, his ludicrous tirade against the government and blacks is pathetically comical because of his obvious arrogance and ignorance. The irony, however is more painful than it is humorous because it symbolizes a common racist attitude built on ignorance and insecurity. Also I noticed other satires referring to Shakespeare, the parody of Shakespeare is another staple of frontier humor that Twain uses for comic effect. Twain also uses the families to underscore his subtle satire on religion, as the two families attend the same church, leaning their guns against the walls during the sermon about "Brotherly Love."Go figure...!

A perfect example of a contemporary satire I would have to say would be scary movies; the movie Scary Movie is a contemporary satire in the pop culture...it simply exaggerates the use of violence in movies that is used to scare audiences ...or even T.V shows like Saturday night live...they are constantly making fun of every actor/actress, Career, family and so on...These both are really effective because they are portrayed throughout the media...everyone loves to laugh and many use that to relate to others when they want to make fun of something they get you to laugh with them and not at them...without hurting any one's feelings. Also T.V shows like South park and Weird Al Yankovich are also great examples of a contemporary satire, they are always finding ways to mo ch everybody and everything...

Blog #6 Adventures of Huck Finn

How are you interpreting Jim? What meaning does he take away from the characterization of him in the text? Is he an example of a minstrel? Is his characterization contributing to double consciousness?

I guess I interpret him as a very uneducated human being, he is some what shy and curious and somewhat friendly. He is very superstitious and seems to know a lot about the world around him meaning his surroundings and having to fend for himself. He seems really frightened by other people that are chasing after him, but finds Huck. He seems like he is in dire need of a friend, someone to understand him and accept as a human being rather than just what people see him as. He seems to talk a lot but I think that it's just because he is very lonely. I can see him as a ministrel show for sure because of his race and how he is seen by other people. Granted he doesn't dance around and act all happy, but many see him as another stereo typical thing rather than a human. He is mostly seen for his skin color rather than his personality which is a example of a minstrel show. I think his character is contributing to a double consciousness because of how is seen to many and how he see's himself. He seems to have a decent heart and concern for others and that is what most people do not get to see. I believe he views himself as a decent human but is also aware that there are many that see him as that stereo typical minstrel.

Blog #5 Rasicm and Sexism; are people equal?

"Things are so much better now". Racism and Sexism are no longer present; neither race nor sex are factors in the way people are perceived. "People are treated equally". -

If this is the way people view our times now, they are sorely mistaken. All of these statements are a crock of shit and should be fed back to the people that stated them. I believe that racism and sexism has come along way, but has not totally banished. As we try to become more equal people will always try to find ways that we are not and exploit them. Everybody knows that there will always be racism and sexism and you simply can not ignore it. I think that in this country we have come along way in trying to get along, but that hasn't always worked. There is sexism everyday as much as there is racism and I witness it almost everyday, maybe not in the ways like it used to be but it is visible. I witness it in the work world, take my job for example I used to work with an all guy team at my job. All were managers, one was just right below them and wanted to be a manager but his job skills sucked. There was chance for a women to be manager but was turned down because the store manager wanted one of his guys to do it but the DM wouldn't allow it. So basically he refused because he was being sexist. Also before all of them got fired he wanted to hire another guy for supervisor which made it but is being demoted because he sucks at his job. Believe it or not we have an all women staff but because the DM is sexist against men because of the way they do their job. But here is the thing about sexism is that women are better at things than men just as there are men are better things than women. I think all should be given a fare chance to see who is best for the job. Also think about clothing, women pay more $ for their clothes than men do. They make the excuse that they have more curves which is true but give me a break. Racism is an everyday thing as well, just look at the election this last year. It almost was about a race and sexism thing. We had a women running for president against a black man running for president go figure. As much as Hillary would of been great, she was singled out because she is a women. Obama as well, there were so many people who didn't want Obama because of his race, even though he still won, but there are a lot more minorities out there then their are the rich. I also have been seeing it a lot when it comes to the Internet, I was looking up pictures of guns, and I saw a picture with a money, of course you have all the pictures of the presidents on it...then I scrolled down and there was a picture of a food stamp with Obama on it. I also ran into a lot of other propagnada that was rac and sexism bashing.