Last week I had a shocking revelation. Out of 2 classes of
Seniors in a regular English class – out of a total of 70 students –
your average, run of the mill, middle class, college bound students – less than 10 students had heard of the book,
movie, or basic plot line of the classic work of fiction Huckleberry Finn.
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| one of my favorite authors Mark Twain |
Look, I understand, I teach in a public high school, but I
had no idea that public schools were THIS bad! How is it possible that
less than 10 students had heard the basic storyline to one of THE defining
works of literature in American history?
When I expressed disbelief, exclaiming that I couldn’t
believe that they didn’t know this most basic work – “EVERYONE has heard of
Huckleberry Finn” I said - a student countered dryly, “Obviously
not.”
Rather than being ashamed of their ignorance, the class
laughed, thinking his retort smart and funny.
So I set out to do some research. How prevalent IS Huck Finn in pop culture?
Should they have some consciousness of it?
Turns out I'm not so crazy after all ...
Who do they think Brad Paisley named his son after?
What was this episode of Family Guy parodying then?
They are probably too young to remember this cartoon playing
on Saturday mornings, but surely they’ve seen the “Cartoon Classics” DVD?
This popular kids' cartoon (originally titled: Adventure Time with Finn and Jake) even had a spin on the story:
Shoot, even Legos has a Huck and Jim character set.
Not to mention plays, movies, even musicals made about this book:
When I studied this book for the first time my freshman year of high school, I realized, for the first time, that books could do more than just entertain. They can teach; they can show the evils of society; they can change how we see others and ourselves.
Much to their dismay, I informed my students that in good conscience, there is no way I can let them graduate from high school without having read this book.
But I'll make sure we read the original and not these books!
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