Critics of Mark Twains novel, Huckleberry Finn, view the protagonist

Question

Critics of Mark Twain’s novel,  Huckleberry Finn , view the protagonist’s proclamation “All right then I will go to hell” in chapter 31 as the story’s climax. Twain’s novel lent itself to such radical interpretations because it was the frst major American work to depart from traditional European novelistic structures, thus providing critics with an unfamiliar framework. The remaining twelve chapters act as a counterpoint, commenting on, if not reversing, the frst part where a morality play receives greater confrmation. Huck’s journey down the Mississippi represents a rite of passage, in which the character’s personal notions of right and wrong comes into constant conflict with his socially constructed conscience by the various people and situations the protagonist encounters.

The novel’s cyclical structure encourages critics to see the novel’s disparate parts as interlinked; the novel begins and ends with the boys playing games. Granted, this need not argue to an authorial awareness of novelistic construction; however, it does facilitate attempts to view the novel as a unifed whole. Nevertheless, any interpretation that seeks to unite the last few chapters with the remaining book is bound to be somewhat unconvincing. This is not because such an interpretation is unnecessarily rigid, but because Huckleberry Finn encompasses individual scenes of the protagonist’s self-recognition that resist inclusion into an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, the protagonist can best be likened to the Greek tragic fgure, Oedipus.     1 
  1. The author most probably mentions the “novel’s cyclical structure” in order to

A. demonstrate that Twain was keenly aware of novelistic construction
B. show that the remaining twelve chapters have little connection to the rest of the novel
C. support the critic’s position that Twain was unaware of novelistic construction
D. provide support for a particular critical interpretation of Twain’s work
E. argue that Twain’s protagonist has much in common with Oedipus 
 
 2 
 2. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A. In order to understand Twain’s novel, critics must compare its protagonist to Oedipus
B. Twain’s novel contains some chapters that resist easy inclusion into a unifed interpretation.
C. The unconventional structure of Huckleberry Finn indicates a lack of authorial awareness.
D. Twain’s novel was the frst major American novel to discard traditional European structures.
E. The protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is considered a modern day Oedipus by critics.

Rohit1988 · Answer

Bad editing. In the answer buttons, Choice D is missing in question 1 and so is choice B in question 2

carcass · Answer

Thank you. I fixed them

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

1. The author most probably mentions the “novel’s cyclical structure” in order to

According to the author,  The novel’s cyclical structure encourages critics to see the novel’s disparate parts as interlinked...however, it does facilitate attempts to view the novel as a unifed whole. Thus, the cyclical structure supports a critical interpretation of the novel.   Choice (D)  best summarizes this idea.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

In the first paragraph, the author states,  The remaining twelve chapters act as a counterpoint, commenting on—if not reversing,—the first part where a morality play receives greater confrmation.  According to the second paragraph of the passage,  Huckleberry Finn encompasses individual scenes of the protagonist’s self-recognition,  that resist inclusion into an all-encompassing interpretation. Throughout the passage, the author shows that the novel has certain elements that do not fit nicely into a unifed vision of the book.  Choice (B)  is the best restatement of the information given in the passage. 
 
  Answer: B

Critics of Mark Twains novel, Huckleberry Finn, view the protagonist

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