Outline

Isolation

1. Intro
a. Hook
b. Thesis
i. Every teenager feels alienated during adolescence – this is necessary for identity formation.
2. Paragraph 1
a. Being alone lets you get to know yourself better.
i. Huck’s love of the wilderness. (Twain)
ii. Betsy’s special spot in her tree. (Shange)
iii. My introversion, love of forest preserve.
3. Paragraph 2
a. The teenager is transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
b. Alone, teenager must accept increasing responsibility
i. Betsy’s responsibility as oldest in her family. (Shange)
ii. My trouble with juggling illness and school.
c. Teenager may rebel against new responsibilities.
4. Paragraph 3
a. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stage of identity vs. role confusion
b. Finding a place in the adult world for one’s self.
i. Huck Finn example.
c. Motivation questionable
i. My experience.
5. Paragraph 4
a. Alienation from adults
i. Examples from Hine
b. Alienation from teens
i. My alienation from my peers, maturity/illness drove off potential friends.
6. Conclusion
a. Summary of previous points
b. Parting shot:
i. It is through experience of isolation that we can appreciate company.

Huck Finn

I enjoyed Huck Finn, but I really don’t like Tom Sawyer. When they meet up again, it’s obvious how Huck’s adventure has changed him. He seems older and more mature than Tom. I was rather disappointed that he still followed Tom’s lead. Tom is still a child – with no thoughts towards the consequences of his actions or any regard for others feelings. Rather than acting decently towards others, particularly Jim, he causes all sorts of trouble. It’s not just that he’s a prejudiced white boy – he is thoughtlessly cruel to the white characters as well, with all his pranks and scares. Where Huck has grown to form his own personal values and has begun to think of others, such as Jim’s freedom and humanity, Tom thinks only of his own pleasure and what he perceives as the proper and most enjoyable way of doing things. I agree with Mark Twain that readers would not enjoy a more adult version of Tom Sawyer – he would be nothing more than a white bigot.