Nigger

The excerpt from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are both speeches that signify the truth and ideas behind racial injustice by using different types and forms of persuasion. The excerpt from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee takes pace in a courtroom where a white lawyer, Atticus, is defending an innocent African-American man who was charged of rape. Atticus makes a speech to the jury and audience about how race has been an issue for…

Throughout a lot of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, racism was a reoccuring theme seen in many characters, including Huckleberry Finn himself. Huck was “raised” by his unmotivated, drunkard father that was hardly ever around, resulting in him not being given the proper attention or education as he was growing up. When his father was around, he spread his racist views onto him impressionable son, making him grow up feeling a sense of superiority over African Americans. However,…

Slur words are words of oppression; they have held the power to objectify, humiliate and deny rights to undeserving individuals of minority groups for much too long. They are tools used by oppressors against their victims, and they carry out the exact functions they expect them to. Slurs objectify, humiliate, degrade and shame. Recently, attempts have been made to shed slurs of their power. Many conflicting beliefs surrounding the proper handling of slur words exist. I personally believe that…

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was a highly controversial novel written in 1885 by Mark Twain. It was a coming of age story about a young boy on the run with a runaway slave, traveling down the Mississippi to find freedom. It featured a variety of new character archetypes. One of these being Tom Sawyer. Tom also appeared as the main protagonist in Huck Finn’s prequel. This novel picks up directly after “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” around the 1830’s along the Mississippi River. Tom…

The N-Word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the use of the N-word is highly controversial. Some believe the removal of the N-word is highly disrespectful to Mark Twain and doesn't necessarily solve anything, while others believe it is a simple change that will benefit everyone. Personally, I believe the use of the N-word is essential for the overall meaning of the book and forces the reader to acknowledge the racial…

American novelist Ernest Hemingway claimed that, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since” (Goodreads). Huck Finn follows the journey of a young boy trying to help a runaway slave reach freedom. Twain’s writing uses very realistic language and morals of the time period it is set in. Many argue that Huck Finn is negative and offensive; and that the…

“Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom.” (87) Throughout the novel Twain portrays freedom through nature. As Jim and Huck are on their journey through the Mississippi river and the raft is used to take in the novel to represent the freedom that Huck and Jim have always desired and are now are pursuing. The Mississippi River is the largest symbol in the novel, as Huck and Jim are literally and figuratively running away from their lives. Jim is escaping his…

stand their ground when they received curl treatment, like beat and torture. But when the group leader asked Louis “what you want to say about all of this?” during the practice, Louis said “Yes, I am a nigger”. This impressed me because…

The author of the written passage, “The Horizontal World”, Debra Marquart utilizes the rhetorical strategies of bleak imagery and ethos to initially encourage harmful stereotypes of the upper Midwest and later prove that region, where she grew up in, is in fact special. Marquart describes the region’s topology, famous trivialities such as it being in several movies, and even political stance. However, she does so by at first describing its physical characteristics with disgust and even with…

Some environments are so powerful and impactful that they can alter the behaviour and personality of a person forever. One such environment is presented in Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in which the Mississippi River uses its power to change the life, destiny and mindset of a young boy named Huck Finn. In the age old argument of nature versus nurture, nurture emerges triumphant in Twain’s book, as Huck is forced to change his character and consequently his way of thinking, as a…