Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick on Teaching Mark Twain, Huck Finn, & Jim

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick, a nationally recognized Mark Twain scholar and author of The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn. Jocelyn reflects on her more than forty years as an English teacher, including her work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and how she came to study Twain’s American classic. She explores Twain’s biography, the connections between The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Huck’s distinctive narrative voice. Dr. Chadwick discusses the central importance of Huck and Jim’s evolving friendship, the novel’s portrayal of antebellum slavery, and the significance of the Mississippi River. She examines the book’s enduring controversies around race, Huck’s moral decision to help his friend and runaway slave Jim, and Twain’s much debated ending. Finally, Jocelyn closes by reading a passage from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.