HFPP Paper Blog

I know that I will not agree with the school board; Huck Finn should be kept in the curriculum.

I know that I will not focus strictly on the issue of race; not only is that too simple of a topic, but if that is the only defense for reading or not reading Huck Finn, the argument would never end because people can never agree about race.

I think I'd like to focus on childhood and how Huck Finn accurately represents children, even though the book is fairly old and was written in a different time. Comparing Huck to today's students could help show that children are the same despite time period, race, class, or any number of things. Which I guess would help lend to the topic of racial equality in the book and racial equality of today and how they differ or are still the same.

Or I could focus on how Huck defies the barriers set for him by his elders and society, and how he never actually conforms. It could help students develop their own individuality and sense of self while still having them engage in a literary work from the past. 

Most importantly, I need to focus on the fact that although the ELA classroom has changed through the use of technology and teaching methods, that students themselves haven't changed. They are still capable of being educated and interested in the same things students of the past were educated and interested in. Steps simply have to be taken to intertwine the modern classroom setting with works from the past to help enhance the learning experience. I could talk about integrating film into the unit, or the reenactment/exploration of scenes, or some sort of short video experience (youtube) that somehow incorporates Huck Finn.