Summary Of Tom Sawyer Chapter 1 Dialectical Journal

Entry 1: Passage: (Pgs. 10-11) “‘Now,’ says Ben Rogers, “what’s the line of business of this Gang?’ ‘Nothing only robbery and murder,’ Tom said. ‘But who are we going to rob?-house, or cattle, or-’ ‘Stuff! stealing cattle and such things ain’t robbery; it’s burglary,’ says Tom Sawyer. ‘We ain’t burglars. That ain’t no sort of style. We are highwaymen. We stop stages and carriages on the road, with masks on, and kill the people and take their watches and money.’ ‘Must we always kill the people?’ ‘Oh certainly. It’s best. Some authorities think different, but mostly it’s considered best to kill them.’”
Situation: Tom, Huck, and his friends are creating the rules for a gang, and lay out a plan to murder, steal, and commit a litany of other

On page 8, the N-word is repeated 7 times, which is enough for the book to be considered obscene. This book might be challenged in order to prevent students who read aloud from using the expletives. Lastly, the historical meaning of the slur makes the book racist as well, which the school would not want to promote.

Entry 3: Passage: (Pgs. 21-22) “Miss Watson’s n****r, Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with it. He said there was a spirit inside of it, and it knowed everything.”
Situation: Huckleberry Finn talks about Jim’s “magic hairball,” and describes it to the reader.
Analysis: The passage would be considered offensive for challenging religious beliefs. In the passage, Huck says “He said there was a spirit inside of it, and it knowed everything.” This statement suggests that there is a significant being, which defies religion. Specifically, this disobeys the Christian second commandment, which states that fake idols should not be made before God. Lastly, Huck also uses a racial slur in an extremely demeaning manner towards

Firstly, I believe it is reasonable to challenge this novel because it contains racial slurs. If students read them in a book, they may think that it is okay to use them as a result, so it is best to limit exposure to them. Also, this creates an issue for students who are reading the book aloud to a classroom, because others could be offended by the language. On the other hand, that is a part of American history, and the topic shouldn’t be completely avoided. A solution to this problem could be crossing out the slurs with permanent marker, so students won’t be reading them over and over