The Facts
How many days does Huck estimate it will take to get to Cairo?
Three (3)
What does Huck think about Jim's plan to help his family escape?
Huck cannot understand the logic behind Jim's intentions of wanting to free his family no matter how Jim puts it. He is mortified hearing Jim speak this way, stealing children who "belong" to "a man that hadn't ever done no harm."
Identify the literary device used:
"She was a big one, and she was coming in a hurry, too, looking like a black cloud with rows of glow-worms around it; but all of a sudden she bulged out, big and scary, with a long row of wide-open furnace doors shining like red-hot teeth, and her monstrous bows and guards hanging right over us."
Simile
What is a "peg"
In Jim's eyes how is Huck different?
Jim says Huck is the only 'white' person who has ever honored a promise to him.
How does chapter 16 end?
After Huck Resolve his internal conflict, he and Jim face the problem of a quickly approaching steamboat that crushes their raft. Both passengers are tossed off, and the raft is in ruins. Huck, unsure of Jim's whereabouts, approaches a house just above shore where he is met by angry, barking dogs.
What does fog symbolize?
The fog is what separates Huck and Jim, and ultimately sets them back on their journey to freedom. However, the fog represents Huck's growing confusion about his close friendship with Jim and his anxiety about rejecting Southern values.
Identify the literary device. (bonus points for explanation)
"Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom. Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me."
Hyperbole
What is "Cairo" and how do you pronounce it?
Pronounced "KAY-ro", an Illinois town on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of free soil.
Why didn’t Jim or Huck speak about losing the canoe?
They blamed it on bad luck from the rattlesnake and deemed it something not worth talking about. They resolved on “keeping still” until the bad luck wears off for good
What is the plan Jim tells Huck in chapter 16?
He plans to save enough money to buy his wife and children, if the owner won’t sell them he’ll get an abolitionist to “steal them”.
How does Jim feel when he finds out Huck Lied?
Because Jim is so distressed about Huck's disappearance, he realizes that Huck is trying to play a prank and shames the young boy for making jest of his pain.
Identify the literary device. (bonus points for explanation)
"The whooping went on, and in about a minute I come a-booming down on a cut bank with smoky ghosts of big trees on it, and the current throwed me off to the left and shot by, amongst a lot of snags that fairly roared, the current was tearing by them so swift."
Metaphor
What is a tow-head?
A sandbar or other obstruction making ripples in a body of water; in his notebooks Twain defined "tow-head" as "an infant island, a growing island".
How has Huck changed throughout the novel from the beginning towards now?
Huck in the beginning of the novel was just a regular southern boy who wanted to escape the societal mold the people around him were placing him in. Once, he escapes the Widow and then his abusive father he meets a person who acts more like a father figure to him, Jim. With Jim, Huck becomes aware of racial issues he never faced or even knew existed. He has to combat his inner monolouge of siding with racist southerners or his friend.
How does Huck act at the end of chapter 15? Is it a turning point in Huck and Jim's relationship? Explain.
When Huck sees how upset Jim was without him, he feels guilt for his prank. He knows a white man should never apologize to a black man, yet he apologizes to Jim. Huck reveals he sees Jim as an equal now in their friendship, it represents a new respect for Jim.
How does Huck's moral conflict reach a climax in chapter 16?
The climax is when Huck has the opportunity to turn in Jim over to the men hunting for escaped slaves and chooses instead to deter the search. Huck feels a little bad for his choice, since it is against the law and the norms of his society; however, he states that he made the right choice at the time.
Identify the literary device. (bonus pts for explanation)
"Well, here she comes, and we said she was going to try and shave us; but she didn’t seem to be sheering off a bit."
In this metaphor, Huck compares an oncoming boat to a razor that threatens to shave the raft, sheering off part of the raft as it passes by.
What does "looard" mean?
Actually the word "leeward", it means the side turned in the opposite direction to the wind, as opposed to windward.
Explain the interaction between Huck and the men on the boat.
Huck comes upon some men in a boat who want to search his raft for escaped slaves. Huck pretends to be grateful, saying no one else would help them. He leads the men to believe that his family is on board the raft and is suffering from smallpox. He successfully leads them away from the raft, which, had they found it, would have put Jim in danger.
What is the internal conflict developed in this chapter?
Huck is faced with a conflict as he realizes the ultimate goal of the trip down the river is to set Jim free. A part of him believes that slaves are the property of their owners and that helping Jim to be free is robbing Miss Watson and the widow of their prophecy. Another part of him believes that Jim is a person and a friend, and friends should always help one another.
What is the significance of chapter 15's title, "Fooling Poor Old Jim"?
In this chapter, Huck and Jim become separated in the fog. Despite their attempts to reunite, both end up floating for a long period of time on their own. They do not know the fate of the other. Eventually, Huck catches up with Jim. He finds Jim exhausted and asleep at the wheel. Huck plays a joke on Jim, waking him up and making him believe that their separation was just part of his dream.
Why does Jim’s “dream” in chapter 15 represent?
His dream is an allegory for their journey to the free states. Jim's superstition also comes into play as the turmoil in his “dream” was a sign for bad luck.