EBook located at http://web.archive.org/web/20080906173618/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Twa2Huc.html

 

AudioBook located at: http://loudlit.org/works/hfinn.htm

 

 

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: Reading Questions

 

Chapters 1 – 7

1.  Give a brief summary of what happened in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

2.  How is the Widow Douglas different from her sister, Miss Watson?

3.  What do the Widow and Miss Watson do to try and “civilize” Huck?

4.  Who gives the cat call in the middle of the night?

5.  When Tom’s gang tries to rob the Spaniards and the rich Arabs, who do they actually rob?

6.  To join the gang, all of the boys must offer up a family member to be killed.  Who does Huck offer up?

7.  Whose slave is Jim?

8.  How does Huck feel about school?

9.  Why is Huck in a hurry to give Judge Thatcher his money?

10.  How does Pap feel about Huck’s ability to read and write?

11.  Who tried to reform Pap?  Does Pap turn over a new life like he says he will?

12.  Why does Huck want people to think he is dead?

13.  What does the “June rise” of the river bring with it for Huck?

14.  Why does Huck wish Tom Sawyer was with him?

15. Why does Huck suddenly enjoy school?

Chapters 8 – 17

1.  Why are the townspeople on the river that morning?

2.  Whose campfire does Huck find?

3.  Where do Huck and Jim make their home while hiding out on the island?

4.  Why does Huck dress like a girl?

5.  What crime is Jim accused of?

6.  How does Mrs. Loftus know that Huck is not a girl?

7.  What is a towhead?

8.  Why does Huck want to rescue the robbers on the wrecked steamboat?

9.  Why does Huck wish that Tom Sawyer was there to explore the wrecked steamboat?

10.  What happens to the raft while Huck and Jim explore the wrecked steamboat?

11.  Which two kings do Huck and Jim discuss?

12.  What trick does Huck play on Jim?  How does Jim feel about the trick?

13.  Why does Huck’s conscience bother him when they reach what they think is Cairo?

14.  What does Huck tell the slave hunters about his predicament?

15.  How does Huck feel after he has saved Jim from the slave hunters?

16.  What destroys the raft?

17.  Why does Jim think they have had such bad luck?

18.  Who do the Grangerfords think Huck might be when the dogs bark at him?

19.  What has happened to Jim?

Chapters 18 – 23

1.  Why are the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons feuding?

2.  Name the couple who run off and get married.

3.  Why does Huck think the duke and the king are after him when they first meet?

4.  When Huck pulls the men out of the river, what has happened to them?

5.  Who leads Huck to Jim?  How does this person lead Huck to Jim?

6.  What do the people at the camp meeting expect the king to do with the money he collects?

7.  How do the duke and the king plan to make it safe for Jim to travel during the day?

8.  Who is assigned the role of Juliet in the “Shakespearean Revival?”

9.  Why does Colonel Sherburn murder Boggs?

10.  What does Colonel Sherburn say to the mob when they come after him?

11.  What attracts the crowd at the showing of the Royal Nonesuch?

12.  Why do the king and the duke leave during the third performance?

13.  What does Jim do to show Huck that he cares for him?

14.  Who is Jim homesick for in these chapters?

Chapters 24 – 31

1.  What does the duke do to Jim so that he won’t need to be tied up all day?

2.  Who gives the king information about the Wilks family?

3.  Who do the king and the duke pretend to be when they meet the Wilks girls?  How do the girls react?  How do the rest of the townspeople react?  Why?

4.  Who is Dr. Robinson?  What does he think about the king and the duke?

5.  What incident convinces Huck that he must get the money back to the Wilks girls?

6.  Where does Huck hurriedly hide the money?  Why does he choose this particular spot?

7.  Why do the duke and the king say they are selling the slaves and the property so quickly?  What is their true reason?

8.  How do the Wilks girls react when the slaves are sold?

9.  Why does Huck tell Mary Jane the truth?  Why does he then tell her to leave town?

10.  How does Levi Bell propose to find out who the true Wilks brothers are?  Does it work?

11.  How do they finally decide to find out who the true Wilks brothers are?

12.  Why does Hines let go of Huck’s hand, allowing him to escape?

13.  What do Jim and Huck try to do as soon as they get back to the raft?

14.  Who captured Jim and sold him?

15.  Why can’t Huck pray when he tries?

16.  Why does Huck tear up his letter to Miss Watson?

17.  What does Huck decide to do in chapter 31?  How does he feel about this decision?

Chapters 32 – 39

1.  Why does Huck go to the Phelps Plantation?  Who is he mistaken for when he gets there?

2.  Who is the stranger who arrives at the Phelps Plantation after Huck?  What does he call himself?

3.  Who informs Mr. Phelps about the Royal Nonesuch?  What happens to the king and the duke as a result?

4.  How does Huck feel when he sees what the townspeople have done to the king and the duke?  Why does his conscience bother him?

5.  How does Tom finally guess Jim’s whereabouts?  What does Huck think of Tom’s reasoning?

6.  Why does Huck think Tom’s plan for freeing Jim is better than his?

7.  Why does Huck later think Tom’s plan for freeing Jim is foolish?

8.  What plan do they finally adopt for freeing Jim?

9.  According to Tom, why do the witches come to visit Nat at breakfast?

10.  Why do Tom and Huck need a bedsheet?

11.  Why do Tom and Huck try to confuse Aunt Sally about the spoons and the sheets?

12.  What happens to the rats under Aunt Sally’s bed?  How does Aunt Sally feel about them?

13.  Why does Jim have trouble sleeping at night?

14.  What does Tom’s last anonymous note say?

Chapters 40 – 43

1.  When Huck enters, who is in the “setting-room?”

2.  What happens to Tom during their escape?

3.  Why does the doctor leave Huck on the shore when he goes to take care of Tom?

4.  What is going on at the Phelps Plantation when Huck returns?

5.  When Tom finally comes home, who accompanies him?

6.  How do the men treat Jim as a runaway slave?

7.  What do the men threaten to do to Jim to teach other slaves a lesson?  Why don’t they do this?

8.  What is Jim’s punishment when he gets back to his cabin?

9.  When Tom wakes up, what does he reveal to Aunt Sally?

10.  Who reveals Jim’s freedom?  How was Jim freed?

11.  What happened to Pap?

12.  What does Huck plan to do at the end of the novel?