Huckleberry Finn page 276-301

          Huck hides the sack of money in Peter Wilks’s coffin as Mary Jane, crying, enters the front room where her dead father’s body lies. Huck, who doesn’t get another opportunity to remove the money safely, worries about what will happen to it. In the next moment, though, Huck watches with horror as the undertaker seals the coffin without looking inside. Huck realizes he will never know whether the duke and the dauphin have gotten the money back. He wonders if he should write to Mary Jane after he has left town to tell her to have the coffin dug up. Saying he will take the Wilks girls to England, the dauphin sells off the estate and the slaves, sending a slave mother to New Orleans and her two sons to Memphis. The scene at the grief-stricken family’s separation is heart-rending, and the Wilks women are upset. Huck comforts himself with the knowledge that the slave family will be reunited in a week or so when the duke and the dauphin are exposed. When the con men question Huck about the missing money, he manages to make them think the Wilks family slaves were responsible for the disappearance. The next morning, Huck finds Mary Jane crying in her bedroom. All her joy about the trip to England has given way to distress over the separation of the slave family. Huck instructs Mary Jane to leave without seeing her “uncles,” for her innocent face would give away their secret. Huck leaves her a note with the location of the money. She promises to remember him forever and to pray for him. In retrospect, Huck tells us that he has never seen Mary Jane since but that he thinks of her often. Later that day, a mob interrupts the auction of the family’s possessions. Among the mob are two men who claim to be the real Harvey and William Wilks.

          I do not understand why Huck would place all of that money into the coffin, when he knows that it is about to be sealed very quickly. I also thought that it was a little bit of justice for those conmen when the real brothers showed up at the house. I also thought that was cruel how the dauphin split up the slave family by selling them to different areas. I also, wonder why all of these people would believe that the Duke and Dauphin are related to the Wilk's.

Huckleberry Finn page 233-275

         The dauphin, who appears onstage wearing nothing aside from body paint and some “wild” accoutrements, has the audience howling with laughter. But the crowd nearly attacks the duke and the dauphin when they end the show after only a brief performance. The people in the crowd, embarrassed at having been ripped off, decide to protect their honor by making certain that everyone in the town gets ripped off. After the performance, they tell everyone else in town that the play was wonderful. The second night, therefore, also brings a capacity crowd. As the duke has anticipated, the crowd on the third night consists of the two previous nights’ audiences coming to get their revenge. Huck and the duke make a getaway to the raft before the show starts. They have earned $465 in three nights. As the duke and the dauphin tie up the raft to work over another town, Jim complains about having to wait. The dauphin encounters a talkative young man who tells him about a recently deceased local man, Peter Wilks. Arriving in Wilks’s hometown, the duke and the dauphin ask for Wilks and feign anguish when told of his death. The dauphin even makes strange hand gestures to the duke, feigning sign language. A crowd gathers before the Wilks home to watch Wilks’s three nieces tearfully greet the duke and the dauphin, whom they believe to be their English uncles.  The letter Wilks has left behind bequeaths the house and $3,000 to his nieces. His brothers stand to inherit another $3,000, along with more than double that amount in real estate. After finding Wilks’s money in the basement, where the letter had said it would be, the duke and the dauphin privately count the money. They add $415 of their own money when they discover that the stash comes up short of the letter’s promised $6,000. Then, they hand all the money over to the Wilks sisters in a great show before a crowd of townspeople. The dauphin arranges to stay in the Wilks house. Huck has supper with Joanna. Huck feels terrible about letting such sweet women be swindled and resolves to get them their money back.

          I thought that it was nice how Huck was able to return the money back to the Wilks family so that the con men did not get it. I was also surprised with the money that the two men had earned from doing plays in front of crowds. I also wonder why the townspeople would not confront the duke, and dauphin about ripping them off about the play, instead of buying another ticket just to get revenge during the play.

Huckleberry Finn page 201-232

           The duke and the dauphin ask whether Jim is a runaway slave. Huck makes up a story about how he was orphaned and tells them that he and Jim have been forced to travel at night since so many people stopped his boat to ask whether Jim was a runaway. The next morning, the duke gets the dauphin to agree to put on a performance of Shakespeare in the next town they pass. They reach the town and find that everyone in the town has left for a religious revival meeting in the woods, a lively affair with several thousand people singing and shouting. The dauphin gets up and tells the crowd that he is a former pirate, now reformed by the revival meeting, who will return to the Indian Ocean as a missionary. The duke also prints up a “handbill,” or leaflet, offering a reward for Jim’s capture, which will allow them to travel freely by day and tell anyone who inquires that Jim is their captive. Waking up after a night of drinking, the duke and dauphin practice the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and the swordfight from Richard III on the raft. The duke also works on his recitation of the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet, which he doesn’t know well at all, throwing in lines from other parts of Hamlet and even some lines from Macbeth. Huck then goes to the circus, a “splendid” show with a quick-witted clown. A performer, pretending to be a drunk, forces himself into the ring and tries to ride a horse, apparently hanging on for dear life. The crowd roars in amusement, except for Huck, who cannot bear to watch the poor man in danger. That night, only twelve people attend the duke’s performance, and they jeer throughout the entire show.

       I thought the part when the duke published those handbills that offered a reward for the capture of Jim was very cruel. I also, wonder how naive Jim and Huck are for letting these two strangers travel with them, even if they think that they are royalty. I also thought that it was funny how there were only twelve people that showed up for the Duke's performance.

Huckleberry Finn page 164-200

             Huck admires Colonel Grangerford, the master of the house, and his supposed gentility. Everyone in the household treats the colonel with great courtesy. One day, Buck tries to shoot a young man named Harney Shepherdson but misses. Huck asks why Buck wanted to kill Harney, and Buck explains that the Grangerfords are in a feud with a neighboring clan of families, the Shepherdsons. Later, Huck’s slave valet leads Huck deep into the swamp and tells Huck he wants to show him some water-moccasins. Huck finds Jim there, much to his surprise. Jim says that he followed Huck to the shore the night they were wrecked but did not dare call out for fear of being caught.  In the woods, Huck finds Buck and a nineteen-year-old Grangerford in a gunfight with the Shepherdsons. Both of the Grangerfords are killed. Deeply disturbed, Huck heads for Jim and the raft, and the two shove off downstream. Huck and Jim continue down the river. On one of his solo expeditions in the canoe, Huck comes upon two men on shore fleeing some trouble and begging to be let onto the raft. The men do not know each other but are in similar predicaments.  The younger man used to sell a paste that was meant to remove tartar from teeth but that took off much of the enamel with it. He fled to avoid the locals’ ire. The older man used to run a temperance revival meeting but had to flee after word got out that he drank. Having heard each other’s stories, the two men, both professional con artists, decide to team up. These two men tell Jim and Huck that they are royalty, but Huck knows that they are liars, but doesn't tell because he does not want quarrels.

           I thought that the reunion of Huck and Jim was nice, because it relieved some tension because you would not know if Jim was captured or if he was still running around free. I thought that the part about the two con artists were funny how the guy sold tooth paste that damaged the enamel of teeth. I also thought that it was funny how Jim and Huck at first called the two con artists,  “Duke” and “Your Majesty.”

Huckleberry Finn Page 136-163

           Jim and Huck worry that they will miss Cairo, the town at the mouth of the Ohio River, which runs into the free states. Meanwhile, Huck’s conscience troubles him deeply about helping Jim escape from his “rightful owner,” Miss Watson. When Huck and Jim think they see Cairo, Huck goes out on the canoe to check, having secretly resolved to give Jim up. But Huck’s heart softens when he hears Jim call out that Huck is his only friend, the only one to keep a promise to him. Some men on the river, want to search Huck and Jim's canoe, to check and see if there are any runaway slaves. Huck then says that his family is aboard the ship and that they are infected with smallpox, the men fearing the infection back away and give Huck 40 dollars in gold for help. Huck then feels that he has done something wrong by not giving Jim up. However he feels that he would have felt just as bad if he had given his friend up. They stop for the night and resolve to take the canoe upriver but in the morning discover that it has been stolen. They attribute the canoe’s disappearance to continued bad luck from the snakeskin on Jackson’s Island. Jim and Huck dive off their raft before it got hit by a steamboat but are separated. Huck makes it ashore, but a pack of dogs corners him. A man calls off the dogs, saving Huck, who introduces himself as “George Jackson.” Then Huck is invited into his house. Huck innocently admires the house and its humorously tacky finery. Settling in with the Grangerfords and enjoying their kindness, Huck thinks that “nothing couldn’t be better” than life at the comfortable house.

          I thought that Huck had some quick thinking and when he told the men that his family had small pox and it was best if they had stayed away before they caught anything. I also, wonder if Huck was worrying about Jim's safety while Huck was inside of the stranger's house. I think that Huck and Jim should have stayed closer together so that they did not get separated. Also, they should have someone keeping a watch on the canoe so that it did not get stolen.

Huckleberry Finn page 101-135

            Huck and Jim build a wigwam on the raft and spend a number of days drifting downriver, traveling by night and hiding by day to avoid being seen.  The two of them “live pretty high,” buying, stealing, or hunting food as they need it. They feel somewhat remorseful about the stealing. One stormy night, they come upon a wrecked steamboat. On the wreck, Huck overhears two robbers threatening to kill a third so that he won’t “tell.” One of the two robbers manages to convince the other to let their victim be drowned with the wreck. Jim and Huck's boat has been broken and has floated away. Huck and Jim head for the robbers’ boat. Jim and Huck jump into the robbers’ boat and head off as quietly as possible. When they are a few hundred yards away, Huck feels bad for the robbers left stranded on the wreck. Once on land, Huck finds a ferry watchman and tells him his family is stranded on the Walter Scott steamboat wreck. Jim and Huck sink the robbers’ boat and then go to sleep. Huck reads books from the wreck, and the two discuss what Huck calls their “adventures.” Jim says he doesn’t enjoy adventures, as they could easily end in his death or capture. Huck and Jim approach the Ohio River, their goal. After a lonely time adrift, Huck reunites with Jim, who is asleep on the raft. Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive, but Huck tries to trick Jim by pretending that Jim dreamed up their entire separation.

            I thought that the part where Huck says that Jim must have been dreaming the entire separation up. Also, I thought their argument was funny, about whether or not the French spoke English. I am also, surprised that Huck would send the murderers help, after they were going to just let that guy die. I am also, glad that the murderers got a little bit of ironic justice, because they were going to let someone die, and then the two murderers also probably drowned when the ship they were on sunk.

Action List 3.15.2011

           Looking through the timeline of childrens' books I only remember a few of the books. Some of the books i remember my elementary school teachers reading to me, and also my mom. One of the picture books i remember being read to me in school was "The true story of the 3 little pigs." I also, remember my mom reading me the book "Frog and Toad are friends." I like to see some of these books that I have read in Elementary school that I can still remember in High School, and go back and see all of these picture books.

Huckleberry Finn page 74-100

          Huck and Jim then decide that they need a hiding place on the island in a case that some visitors come onto the island. They take all of their items onto the shore and put it inside a cave. Then there is a big storm that comes through, and it is very rainy, and the river floods. Jim and Huck also, see a boat house go past in the river and inside the boat house there is a dead body of a man who was shot in the back. From the house boat, Jim and Huck take the valuable things and make their way back to the island hidden inside the canoe. Then Huck decides that it would be important that he goes onto the shore to try and figure out some information. Jim will only let Huck go if he disguises himself as a girl, so that no one would notice Huck. After practicing his girl impressions he makes his way to the Illinois shore to gather some information. When Huck makes his way to the shore he finds a woman that appears to be forty years old and she is a newcomer so that she would not recognize Huck. Talking to the lady, Huck finds out that there is a bounty for Jim, and also that Pap was a suspect in the murder of Huck. Also, because Pap ran away fearing for his own life, there is now a bounty for Pap now too. The woman also says that her husband and a friend are going to look for Jim on the island because they saw smoke coming from it. Then finally when Huck made it back to the island he made a decoy campfire and he told Jim that they had to leave the island as soon as possible. Then they packed all of there things and set off down the river in their raft.

          I was very surprised with Jim and Huck's quick thinking into creating a disguise for Huck to go on the shore and gather information about what is happening. Also, I think that Jim is almost fatherly because he did not allow Huck to see the face of the dead man inside of the houseboat. I was also surprised that they had switched the blame of Huck's murder from Jim, a runaway slave, to Pap, Huck's white dad. I thought that at this time period in history the people around Huck's area would have been very racist.

Huckleberry Finn page 47-73

         This part of the book starts out with Huck's father unaware about his drunken rage the night before. Then when Huck goes to see if there has been any fish on the line, he finds a canoe in the water, and hides it in the woods. As Huck's papa leaves for the day, Huck continues to cut through the wall in the cabin. Then Huck made a lot of changes to the cabin so that it looks like robbers came into the cabin and stole everything and kill Huck. Huck also puts everything of value into his canoe. Then Huck sets off to go to Jackson's island in the middle of the river. While rowing down the river he passes by his dad, but Huck's dad does not notice him. He then makes it safely to Jackson's Island unseen by anyone. The next morning, Huck wakes up and sees a ferry going across the river, carrying some of his dear friens, including Tom,Pap, Judge Thatcher and his daughter Bessie Tom’s aunt Polly, and some of Huck’s young friends. As they are passing by they are throwing off pieces of bread and shoot cannonballs in hope that they will find Huck's body. Huck then spends three peaceful days on the island, eating some of the berries on the island and he catches some fish to eat also. Then Huck finds Jim on the island, and finds out that Jim is a runaway because he overheard that he would be sold to a slave owner in New Orleans, and be seperated from his family.

          I thought that it was wierd how Huck planned and performed his escape from his father. I thought it was wierd how the people that cared about Huck, tried finding his body by shooting off cannonballs and throwing loaves of bread into the river. I also, think that it is funny to see all of the things that they believe in. Like how Jim has hairy arms and a chest so that it means that he will be wealthy in the future, and also, when Huck flicked a spider into a fire he thought that it was bad luck.

Huckleberry Finn Page 1-46

         At the start of the book the narrator introduces himself as the narrator from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huck and Tom found a stash of gold and they split it and received $6000 each. Then the Widow Douglas adopted Huck and tried to "civilize" him, but Huck couldn't stand it. At the end of the first chapter after some prayers with his family, Huck finds Tom Sawyer standing outside his window. While they are sneaking out, Huck trips over a root outside his house, and one of the household slaves, Jim hears it and stands guard waiting to see if anyone appears. Then Huck and Tom meet a few other boys in a cave, and they meet to talk about their new gang, "The Tom Sawyer Gang" this gang would go around robbing people and also ransoming random victims. Then after this meeting is disbanded, and Huck gets home Miss Watson is angry with Huck because he dirtied up his clothes with Tom. Then after a few months of not doing much robbing or ransoming, Huck and a few other young boys quit Tom's gang. After not hanging around Tom for awhile, Huck has been making a lot of progress in school. Then there is some conflict between Huck and Pap, and Pap promises to take Huck down a notch, so that he knows his place. Pap also takes the dollar that Huck got from Judge Thatcher to go buy some whiskey. Then Huck tries to flee his household from his Pap, and his dad wakes from a drunken sleep and chases after Huck with a knife, and eventually stops because he passes out on the ground.

          I thought that it was funny how the Tom Sawyer gang, seemed like a good idea to the kids, but after a while of not doing anything most of them quit. My eyes were also opened with how much the young kids and people around Huck's referred to black people as the "n" word. I was also, concerned about Huck's safety because of how much of an angry drunk his father is.

The Defector 134-168

          This section of the book just mentions a lot of the people that are going to be helping Gabriel get back Grigori. They are at Lake Como, Italy, and all of the people that are going to help out Gabriel are all a part of the Office. All of these people are extremely fine tuned machines that are ready for field work. Then they discuss what they must do to get back Grigori, and they decide that they should try and contact Grigori's wife. They then go through their way of trying to intercept her off of her flight to Italy on a "business trip" and interrogate her inside of their hideout. One of the people working with Gabriel was Dina, and she flew down to Austria to make sure that Grigori's wife, Irina got on the correct flight. Then when she left the plane, Gabriel had a car outside and dressed like Irina's chauffeur and once Irina got inside of the car, Gabriel drove straight back to Lake Como, Italy.  When they arrived at their hideout, Mikhail was the one that interrogated Irina, while the rest of the team listened to them in another room. Then after a little bit of the interrogation she finally told what had happened to her husband Grigori. She said that a man came up to her in Russia and said that she needed to come with her because her husband was in danger. Then they flew down to London, where Grigori was, and they got in a black car to go find him. Once they saw him the man got out of the car with a gun, and made Grigori get in the car or he would kill his wife Irina. Then the man released Irina and took Grigori back to Russia, and the man said if she told anyone about it then he would kill her and Grigori.

          I thought that section of the book was very interesting. I thought that it was weird how Irina went so willingly with a stranger across to another country. I thought that it was cool how they planned out how Gabriel's team would capture Irina and bring her back to Lake Como. I liked how they kept going over their plan to make sure that it was perfect. I am very interested to see what Gabriel and his team does, because they now have the information on how Grigori was caught.

Spellbound

           Neil and Ashley were both very competitive spellers in the movie Spellbound. Neil's main motivation seemed to have been his father, Rajesh. Both, of these very smart individuals did this to bring honor to them and their family. Neil seemed to have some better resources to study than what Ashley had at her home. Also, I think Neil would have had a better chance than Ashley because Neil's sister was in the spelling bee, then Neil would know what to expect from it. I also think that Ashley talent in spelling was not as respected at her school as much as Neil's talent was at his school. Neil seemed to take a spiritual aspect to the spelling competition also. Everyday either before or after he studied his words Neil would meditate to remain calm and stay in touch with his inner self. Also, during the competition Neil's father Rajesh payed people in India to pray that Neil would win the spelling bee, and if Neil won the Spelling Bee then Rajesh would pay for $10,000 worth of food. Although these to great spellers did not win the Spelling Bee they both strived for greatness.

The Defector 104-133

       Gabriel is still talking to Olga about Grigori, and he finds out that she has mail from him that she will not open up because she does not like to snoop in other people's belongings. The letter was stating where Grigori had been; "If this is in your possession, Ivan has taken me. I have no one to blame but myself, so please do not feel obligated to keep the promise you made that night in Russia. I do have one favor to ask; I am afraid my desire to reunite with my former wife may have placed her in danger. If your officers in Moscow would check in on her from time to time, I would be grateful. Finally, if I may offer one piece of advice from the grave, it is this: Tread Carefully." Gabriel believed that Ivan could have done something like this. Then Gabriel fears for Olga because Ivan would know her address because she made contact with Grigori, and Grigori had come over to her house near Oxford. Gabriel tells her that she has to leave with him, and flee to Paris on the next train at 7:39 on the dot. When they made it back to Olga's house they tried the key and the lock didn't work. Almost immediately after the lock didn't work a car engine started, and Gabriel recognized the car from the cameras watching Grigori. Also, a gunman came out of the window and began to fire from the moving vehicle, but luckily he did not hit Gabriel or Olga. When they arrive in Paris, they meet up with Uzi and he talks to them about how much trouble they have caused back in England. Also Uzi tells Gabriel that the leader of the Office, Ari Shamron is going to meet them. Shamron also tells, Gabriel that he could take control of the Office one day, but Gabriel declines the job offer. Gabriel talks to Shamron how he is going to get Grigori back, he needed a team, a base of operations, and a hundred thousand dollars. Shamron makes Gabriel promise that any information he gathers he shares it with the British.

           I thought that this was a very interesting section of the book. I liked how Gabriel was able to sense the danger he was in once he found out the door lock did not work, and then the car engine was the tipping point. I also, like when Gabriel and Uzi were talking together while Olga was near them they were able to speak to each other in many different languages. I also like how Gabriel is very humble and considerate of his family because he does not want to take the job of chief of the Office, because he knows that it will take a lot of time away from his family, but give him a lot of power.

3.1 Diction exercise

a.) clavicle, aorta, synaptic, adrenaline, inexorable, esophagus, gristle, rifling

b.) concreteness-perceptibility, absoluteness
connotation-actual, natural

c.) Brian Turner's poem "Here, Bullet" natural and tangible language illustrates the terror and destruction of war.

The Defector 61-103

         At the start of this section Graham and Gabriel are still watching the footage of Grigori stepping into the car. Graham points out how Grigori willing steps into the car, with no hesitation and not a hint of fear. Graham was also able to get a news helicopter view of the road that the car was traveling on, and he was able to get a close up picture and there were only two people in the car. Gabriel also talks about who he thinks captured Grigori. He thinks that it is Ivan, and Ivan is a dangerous weapons dealer, giving weapons to very dangerous and hostile countries. Then Gabriel receives a letter that is supposedly from Grigori, and it says that he is sorry that he did not inform them that he was going back to Russia. Gabriel and Graham go back and forth, and trying to decide if Grigori was captured or if he willingly went back to Russia. Then Gabriel walked the same path that Grigori did to see what he could find out of the ordinary. Gabriel then thinks that either they sent someone to scare him to jump into the car, or they had a friend there to bring him into the car with no fear. Gabriel and Graham then talk about what was suspicious about the scene, and Gabriel remembers that the woman that had approached Grigori had no hat or umbrella in the pouring down rain. Gabriel thinks that she did this because she needed her hands free because she was an assassin. Then Gabriel travels to Oxford to meet Olga Sukhova who was a Russian Journalist that knows Grigori. Gabriel talks with her, and she says that her and Grigori would set up meetings and talk to each other. Olga talks about how she thinks that Grigori leading such a public life was a big mistake, because it made him a target and visible to all of his enemies.

         In this section I thought that Gabriel was a really good person. Graham kept trying to tell him that maybe he wasn't captured and he left on his own. Gabriel kept trying to not let it go and trying to convince Graham that he was taken by Ivan, because he had to settle a grudge. I thought that it was interesting how Gabriel had such a keen eye and he was able to pick up the most minuscule details on the surveillance cameras. I also like Gabriel's determination to try and get back his friend. It almost seems like Gabriel is working around the clock nonstop.