The Library of Congress

Jan Wood and Norma Thiese

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Overview

Writers are influenced by their environment including their family, community, lifestyle, or location. One such writer was Mark Twain. In this project the learner will become familiar with and analyze life around Hannibal, Missouri, during the latter half of the nineteenth century using various online and print resources to determine what effects this location had on the writings of Mark Twain. The curriculum context will be within a unit on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Segments of this lesson might also be integrated into a study of Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

This project consists of three lessons. Lesson One addresses the analysis of primary documents while the second and third lessons challenge the student to locate and analyze other online resources relating to the influences that growing up around Hannibal had on Twain's work. The lessons could be presented with introductory material prior to reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or integrated while reading the novel.

This series of lessons is an integral part of a larger unit taught in our school system. Additional educational projects relating to the study of Twain and the novel are described on the Enrichment Activities page. Even though these activities center on Mark Twain and his writings, they could easily be adapted to almost any author and his environment.

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Recommended Grade Level	Grades 9–10
Curriculum Fit	Language arts, American literature, information literacy, American history, sociology, music
Standards	McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks Historical Understanding Standard 2. Understands the historical perspective Language Arts Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes Standard 6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts Standard 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
Online Resources	American Memory, Library of Congress Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870–1885 Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 Map Collections Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, 1933–Present Touring Turn of the Century: Photographs from The Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920 Panoramic Maps, 1847-1929 Lesson Resources Map Analysis Worksheet, National Archives Photograph Analysis Worksheet Sheet Music Analysis Worksheet Other Online Resources Mark Twain at Large: His Travels Here and Abroad Peter Salwen's Mark Twain Page
Print Resources	Mark Twain Himself: A Pictorial Biography, Meltzer, Milton. Hannibal: Becky Thatcher Book Shop, 1960. Mark Twain's America. DeVoto, Bernard. Boston: Little, Brown, 1932. Upper Mississippi River History: Fact-Fiction-Legend. Larson, Captain Ron. Winona: Steamboat Press, 1998. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain, Mark. New York: Pocket Books, 1973.

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Lessons

Lesson One: Analysis of Primary Resources (2–3 hours)
Primary sources expose students to multiple perspectives on issues of the past and present. By working with primary sources, students will be able to critically evaluate information resources for content, validity, authoritativeness, perspective, relevancy and accuracy. In this lesson, students will learn how to analyze primary resources such as those that are found in American Memory.

Lesson Two: Searching American Memory (3–4 hours)
Students will learn how to use the American Memory collections to locate primary sources (as they pertain to the novel Huckleberry Finn) relating not only to Hannibal and its impact but also to what was happening between 1850 and 1900 along or near the Mississippi River.

Lesson Three: Student Presentations (10–15 minutes per presentation, plus additional time for class interactions and outside research)
Following their investigations, students will share their findings and interpretations as they relate to what was happening between 1850 and 1900.

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Enrichment Activities

These educational projects are directed at Mark Twain and his writings, but they could easily be adapted to almost any other author and his/her environment.