Learning From Text: A Multidimensional and Developmental Perspective

Three students preparing to read and discuss a chapter from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, sit in a literature circle and hope that their attempts to learn from this novel prove successful. One of the students, Ralph, has been struggling because the world of Huck Finn seems alien to him. He does not understand why Huck Finn finds the river a place of escape and freedom because he knows rivers only from glimpses from the family car. He also finds the language of the runaway slave, Jim, strange. Despite these impediments, Ralph is fascinated with the character of Huck Finn and the interesting predicaments that Huck faces. Because of this interest, Ralph is determined to learn more about Huck’s adventures. Clare faces other challenges than Ralph. She has already read several of Mark Twain’s short stories and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in junior high school. Through these previous exposures, Clare has an adequate understanding of Twain’s satiric style. She is also aware of his interest in exploring the psyche of young male characters striving for adventure. She has also learned to read the dialect aloud to get the meaning. However, Clare does not find Huckleberry Finn interesting. She cannot relate to the mostly male