Omnibus III B

Name______________________ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Trash or Treasure? Position Paper

Please read all directions carefully. Paper Requirements: This position paper must be a minimum of two pages, typed in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced with one-inch margins all around. Include your full heading at the top of page one and staple your paper. Put your last name and page number on each page following page one. Ex. Moore, 2. You are encouraged to dictate your paper to someone acting as your secretary. You must read your paper aloud to a listener before handing it in. After you read it aloud, make any necessary corrections. This is a formal academic paper. You must proof-read your paper. Papers count in the quiz and essay category of your grade. The Assignment Your assignment is to weigh in on this critical reaction to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The overall American critical reaction to the publishing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1855 was summed up in one word: "trash." Louisa May Alcott (author of Little Women and Little Men) said, "If Mr. Clemens cannot think of anything better to tell our pureminded lads and lassies, he had better stop writing for them." The Public Library Committee of Concord, Massachusetts excluded the book as "a dangerous moral influence on the young." Here is how you must organize your paper: Introduction: First paragraphInclude a brief synopsis of the story and its background. The last sentence of your first paragraph should pose the question of whether the novel is trash or not. Second paragraph: Outline and give reasons for the choice you did NOT make. Show strengths of the other side of the argument to the point that your reader knows why one could hold the opposing viewpoint. Use a minimum of three quotations from the book with proper citation. The point of citation is to enable your reader to find the quote in the text. For example, if you quoted

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a passage from page 25, you would write a shortened form of the book title and page number in parentheses after your quote (Finn 25). Longer quotes are indented and single-spaced. Third paragraph: . You must support your positionIs the novel trash or not? Your statement should give the idea, On these grounds, I am choosing what I am choosing. Give reasons for the choice you made. The reasons should be supported with passages and quotations from the text. Continue your use of proper citation. Fourth paragraph: Conclusion: Tell honestly how you feel about the novel. You may add your values to your comments in this section.

Paper requirements were adapted from Ms. Abigail Philips, Regent University.