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High school literature and the "N" word


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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

ETA (did not read properly): Instead of Huck Finn: Tom Sawyer. (But I believe it contains the word as well). there are sanitized versions out there that substitute a different one.

Instead of Uncle Tom's Cabin: Roots by Alex Haley

Edited by regentrude
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Do you teach literature that uses the "n" word? If so, how do you handle it?

 

Also, any ideas for substitutes for Huck Finn and Uncle Tom's Cabin (for if I choose not to do them)?

 

 

I found that rough going as well. We were doing Huck Finn aloud together as part of our high school Literature, so, the first time the word showed up, I said, "I'm going to read it once as written, and from then on I'm substituting "beep", but you know what was written. You know how offensive that word is, and how strongly I feel about all words that are used to demean people." We then proceeded to discuss why that word was in the novel, what it meant then, and now, etc. And then we read through Huck Finn. The benefits of challenging discussion far outweighed the discomfort of that negative word and the attitude behind it for us.

 

The short young adult novel "The Day They Arrested the Book" was a fantastic go-along, as it covers many different angles on censorship; the story is modern-day setting, small town, in which several families object to the high school English class doing Huck Finn due to the "n" word. We got a lot of discussion out of doing this book at the same time as Huck Finn, and it really helped give us an additional outlet for discussing racism, and other difficult topics.

 

 

If you are specifically looking for a Mark Twain substitution, consider:

 

- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (novel; set in pre-Civil War rural America)

- Life on the Mississippi (memoir; Twain's days as a riverboat pilot in the South in pre-Civil War rural America)

- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (novel; set in medieval times)

- The Prince and the Pauper (novel; set in very early renaissance times)

 

 

If you are specifically looking for a pre-Civil War/slavery topic work, consider:

 

- Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington autobiography)

- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass autobiography)

- To Be a Slave (edited by Julius Lester; compilation of experiences of former slaves)

 

 

And, not in your pre-Civil War time frame, BUT... a powerful personal testimony on being a pioneer in overcoming racism in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s/60s is "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals, who was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School in 1957.

 

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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The short young adult novel "The Day They Arrested the Book" was a fantastic go-along, as it covers many different angles on censorship; the story is modern-day setting, small town, in which several families object to the high school English class doing Huck Finn due to the "n" word. We got a lot of discussion out of doing this book at the same time as Huck Finn, and it really helped give us an additional outlet for discussing racism, and other difficult topics.

 

 

We read Huck Finn, The Day... then Fahrenheit 451. It was a great year. I think it was Lori D who recommended 'The Day...'

 

Laura

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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

ETA (did not read properly): Instead of Huck Finn: Tom Sawyer. (But I believe it contains the word as well). there are sanitized versions out there that substitute a different one.

Instead of Uncle Tom's Cabin: Roots by Alex Haley

 

Roots covers the African American experience, but it is a quite different style book than Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin has become seriously underrated in recent decades. But Stowe did a masterful job of revealing the inconsistancies of whites (both slave holder and non) and the holes in logical arguments such as the one that slavery isn't condemned by the Bible and thus isn't something that should be abolished. Roots focuses on the humanity of Haley's ancestors. But Uncle Tom tears at the sanctimoniousness and arogance that was at the core of slavery.

 

As for the issue of the use of now offensive words, of course they were pejorative then too. But the point of their presence in the book (and in Huck Finn, imho) is that it underscores the coarseness in the speaker. Calling gentle Jim or longsuffering Tom a nigger does nothing to diminish their actual value as people (and highlights them as characters).

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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

Exactly. Huck Finn without that word wouldn't be the same brilliant, amazing, shocking, meaningful book that it is.

 

As I said in the other thread, I believe artists deserve our respect, and part of that involves not thinking we know better than they did what they were trying to say or do with their art.

 

How do we handle it? We read, and then we talk. We talk a lot. We discuss how ideas have changed, what the author was trying to say, how he or she was a product of the times or ahead of them.

 

High school is a time when one's ideas should be challenged, horizons broadened. Books like Huck Finn, along with thoughtful discussion, do just that.

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I read Huck Finn a few years and kind of bristled at the word when I read it myself, simply because it is offensive to me. I'm a white woman from MO. The book is one of my favorites though.

 

I won't censor when ds reads it. We may read portions of it aloud. I just finished "The Day they Arrested the Book" based upon a recommendation here. I marked it to have ds read before Huck Finn.

 

I want ds to feel uncomfortable reading the word, it's supposed to invoke a response.

 

I live in a small town in the midwest. Last fall I hear the N word being shouted just outside my window. We live on a corner, so voices aren't abnormal, the N word being shouted is. I immediately went to the window to make sure no one was having an issue. Instead, I saw two teen boys greeting each, neither of which was black. I want to make sure ds sees it as an offensive word, not a greeting (either in jest or for real). Part of that will come from reading Huck Finn and the conversations that will ensue.

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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

 

:iagree: I don't censor a thing due to words. Youngest just read Huck Finn for his summer reading for his high school English class.

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Roots covers the African American experience, but it is a quite different style book than Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin has become seriously underrated in recent decades. But Stowe did a masterful job of revealing the inconsistancies of whites (both slave holder and non) and the holes in logical arguments such as the one that slavery isn't condemned by the Bible and thus isn't something that should be abolished. Roots focuses on the humanity of Haley's ancestors. But Uncle Tom tears at the sanctimoniousness and arogance that was at the core of slavery.

 

As for the issue of the use of now offensive words, of course they were pejorative then too. But the point of their presence in the book (and in Huck Finn, imho) is that it underscores the coarseness in the speaker. Calling gentle Jim or longsuffering Tom a nigger does nothing to diminish their actual value as people (and highlights them as characters).

 

I think this is a really important point. When the author has a character use foul language, it can in some cases be because that idea is being promoted OR in other cases, that the stupidity of the speaker is underlined,

 

I think Uncle Tom's Cabin is a somewhat important book in the American abolitionist movement. Haley's Roots is important for other reasons.

Edited by stripe
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Roots covers the African American experience, but it is a quite different style book than Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin has become seriously underrated in recent decades. But Stowe did a masterful job of revealing the inconsistancies of whites (both slave holder and non) and the holes in logical arguments such as the one that slavery isn't condemned by the Bible and thus isn't something that should be abolished. Roots focuses on the humanity of Haley's ancestors. But Uncle Tom tears at the sanctimoniousness and arogance that was at the core of slavery.

 

As for the issue of the use of now offensive words, of course they were pejorative then too. But the point of their presence in the book (and in Huck Finn, imho) is that it underscores the coarseness in the speaker. Calling gentle Jim or longsuffering Tom a nigger does nothing to diminish their actual value as people (and highlights them as characters).

:iagree:

 

Older ds read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on his own. I warned him ahead of time about the language. He loved those books. When we heard about the cleansed version on NPR and that Jim was being called 'slave Jim' ds was very upset. 'Knowing' Jim he thought the switch was offensive.

 

"Jim was NOT a slave. He ran away. Why would they do that?!?"

 

It was interesting that ds found Jim going by N Jim to be fine, because Jim chose that name (from ds's pov as a reader who 'knows' the characters), but calling Jim a slave or making it seem that Jim would choose to be called a slave really angered ds. It was one of the few letters ds wrote by choice (to the man that rewrote the book).

 

We have read Uncle Tom's Cabin together. Of course there was a warning about the n-word when we started. By the end of the book my kids better understood WHY the n-word is SUCH a bad word.

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Oh, what wonderful literature you'll be missing. Yes, I do teach these books and I teach and model the information my daughter needs to understand their place in our world.

 

I wouldn't judge another mom's choice of not letting her children read them but I'll tell you this . . . when my daughter was in a play recently and one of the kids called the other a "retard," she felt her response was heavily influenced by our discussions of Tom and Huck. We've read Uncle Tom, now too and while I think, b/c of the maturity of the content I wish Ã'd waited on that, I would never deny her that gem at least later.

 

A lot of people don't like Uncle Tom's Cabin, by the way. I've read here that many don't care for it as literature at all. My opinion on that is 1) Like it or not, it is a book that heavily influenced our (US) history. 2) Read through the eyes of a Christian, the extended metaphor of suffering and ultimate sacrifice is beautiful, if difficult to read and 3) for those of us in the US who live very comfortable lives of plenty and excess (seemingly) far removed from the horrors of slavery, it offers a view of slavery that at least brings to the forefront sufferings that are too removed from the lives of our children to be appreciated by them. You can say that slavery is a horrid thing but in Uncle Tom's Cabin, you can see it unfold.

 

I do think some children read it too early, though. It's on the Angelicum reading list for 7th and imho, that was too early -- not for the technical reading level but for the content.

 

Yeah, the N-word (and a lot of other words) are not to be said but that doesn't mean that they haven't been said and that knowledge of the history and usage of that/those words isn't . . . edifying.

Edited by BibleBeltCatholicMom
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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

 

 

:iagree:

 

One thing to add is to make is crystal clear to never, ever use that word. I lived for fourteen years in an African-American community. In my church, we had open, forthright discussions about race and other issues. One thing that was made very, very clear is that white people can NEVER use that word in ANY context without it sounding offensive to an African-American. For many, it's a purely emotional reaction. Some of my friends there acknowledged that African-Americans use that term with each other in certain contexts, but it always sounds wrong coming from a white person.

 

If I were teaching Huck Finn in a group context that included an African-American student, I would defer for class discussions to whatever substitute word that student and student's parent prefer. The works should be studied and understood within their own historical context, but it can be done without causing pain.

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The short young adult novel "The Day They Arrested the Book" was a fantastic go-along, as it covers many different angles on censorship; the story is modern-day setting, small town, in which several families object to the high school English class doing Huck Finn due to the "n" word. We got a lot of discussion out of doing this book at the same time as Huck Finn, and it really helped give us an additional outlet for discussing racism, and other difficult topics.

 

Mine did both Up from Slavery and A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Doglas in a local paid class, and then wrote a compare/contrast essay which brought out a lot of discussion. They also read Tom Sawyer and To Kill a Mockingbird (among others).

 

Because the class ended in April I wanted another month to make a full credit, we then read The Day They Arrested the Book and discussed it chapter-by-chapter. Then I followed it by more informal reading of Huck Finn with discussion afterwards. As much as I enjoy Mark Twain, listening or reading out loud would be distasteful to me regardless of the language of the period.

 

And then we finished Lois Lowery's Giver trilogy to end with a modern, dystopian slant.

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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

 

:iagree:

This is my opinion exactly. DS13 has read some books with the n word and has always understood that it is not appropriate to speak that way, but was used in a derogatory fashion in the past.

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s much as I enjoy Mark Twain, listening or reading out loud would be distasteful to me regardless of the language of the period.

 

Yes, this! Not only do I find the word revolting to speak or hear, but I also do not want to develop any comfort level in myself or my child for speaking that word.

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Yes, this! Not only do I find the word revolting to speak or hear, but I also do not want to develop any comfort level in myself or my child for speaking that word.

 

 

Hence, our substitution of "beep" for the offensive word. :)

 

 

BTW, maybe it's just me, but I find there is just a bit of a "numbing" effect through repeated viewing even with silent reading. That's why we read aloud and "beeped" -- to keep us alert to the word and how insidious its use in that time/culture.

 

 

BEST of luck in your American history/literature studies and in your discussions of these tough issues! It's wonderful to be able to have these conversations with our children. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

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Hence, our substitution of "beep" for the offensive word. :)

 

 

BTW, maybe it's just me, but I find there is just a bit of a "numbing" effect through repeated viewing even with silent reading. That's why we read aloud and "beeped" -- to keep us alert to the word and how insidious its use in that time/culture.

 

 

BEST of luck in your American history/literature studies and in your discussions of these tough issues! It's wonderful to be able to have these conversations with our children. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Thank you! And yes, it is definitely wonderful - the discussions that spring from our studies are probably my favorite (and possibly the most educational) aspect of our home education. :)

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Yes, I do. My kids are aware that this is a derogatory word and not to be used, but that it was used in the time the books were written. The word signifies a whole attitude, and this attitude is central to certain books. So, we read them as they have been written. I do not really understand why I would avoid offending words when offending attitudes are themes in a book. Slavery in itself is much more offensive than the mere word.

ITA. Well said.

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A little off topic and we're soon to get back on the road so my response is a little cut short, but for those who want to read about experiences in the more recent past in the south, the book, Black Like Me was a great read. I read it in high school and had my boys read it as extra reading in a small book club they joined. They loved it as it really "made real" a bit they didn't understand just with "knowledge."

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Hence, our substitution of "beep" for the offensive word. :)

 

 

BTW, maybe it's just me, but I find there is just a bit of a "numbing" effect through repeated viewing even with silent reading. That's why we read aloud and "beeped" -- to keep us alert to the word and how insidious its use in that time/culture.

 

 

BEST of luck in your American history/literature studies and in your discussions of these tough issues! It's wonderful to be able to have these conversations with our children. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

I think it depends on context. Ds is more sensitive to it after reading it in those books than he was before. Before it was like the 'f' word, one that was wrong, but more because it could get you in trouble. Now it is a word with meaning and its meaning is why it's wrong.

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These are phenomenal books. One thing to consider--the "n" word here is not seen as a positive thing necessarily. The message of the books highlight just the opposite attitudes. We read worthy books that have less desirable language in high school-we discuss when necessary. They can handle it at this age and it has not encouraged them to use those words in any way. There are lots of thought provoking books we may have missed, though, if we had not. Truly, Huckleberry Finn and Uncle Tom's Cabin are wonderful books--not to be missed in my estimation. I have always been confused at the number of times they have been banned or skipped.

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Guest MicheleStitches

As I said in the other thread, I believe artists deserve our respect, and part of that involves not thinking we know better than they did what they were trying to say or do with their art.

 

How do we handle it? We read, and then we talk. We talk a lot. We discuss how ideas have changed, what the author was trying to say, how he or she was a product of the times or ahead of them.

 

High school is a time when one's ideas should be challenged, horizons broadened. Books like Huck Finn, along with thoughtful discussion, do just that.

 

Thank you for putting this so eloquently. You expressed my feelings exactly!

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