One thing to notice is that Mark Twain uses stereotypes as part of his criticism of the United States just before the Civil War. What are stereotypes? Copy the definition into your notes (to turn in):
A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Watch the following videos and think about what generalizations are portrayed in it.
Write down your answers to the following questions:
What stereotypes are portrayed in these videos?
What other kinds of stereotypes can you think of?
Are stereotypes sometimes accurate? Did they at one time come from something true?
Are stereotypes negative, positive, or both? Why?
What kinds of effects do you think stereotypes have on people?
What kind of stereotypes do we see in Huck Finn? Do you think it’s important to notice them?
Read these two poems and then answer the next questions.