This will be graded. About 400 words. The goal of this assignment is to give you a chance to practice close reading � interpreting a text by paying very close attention to exactly what it says.

  Start by taking a 6-10 line passage that interests you from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You can either start with an idea you want to discuss (how Huck depicts white society, how he describes nature, how he writes about Jim or himself, etc.) and look for a passage that treats that theme, or you can simply start with a passage you really like. Either way, your task is to analyze a specific text.

  Begin writing the exercise by copying out the passage, word for word, at the top of the first page of your essay. Then, in about 400 words (1½ - 2 typed pages, doubled-spaced), discuss and analyze what you see the passage saying, what it means, how it develops an issue or a scene or Huck's character. Be specific about what is in the passage (quote or name specific words, images, patterns, in your interpretation), and be clear about what you think they mean. You can end by linking up what you found in the passage to the novel as a whole, but your focus should be almost entirely on the specific passage.

  Due in class Wednesday, October 17.