Summary+Pages+Lydia

=The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & The Prince and the Pauper=

=Not Trying to Talk Alike and Succeeding: The Authoritative Word and Internally-Persuasive Word in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.= by Paul Lynch (18 pages on Pages) __If I am understanding this correctly, part of the argument is stating that Tom goes further than just revolting and doing what he pleases. His inner persuasion and ability to do so is because he has internalized the authoritative voice. He himself will at some point become the authoritarian. You seem to have missed the second half of the paper. 7/10__

1. Summary of Main Arguments Unlike __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn__ where Huck is the narrator, Mark Twain has a narrator who is “absolutely authoritarian” in __The Adventure of Tom Sawyer__. Because Tom Sawyer is not the narrator of his own story, “Twain forces language to submit to his own intentions.” This is why when we read the book, we get this rebellious feeling from Tom. The writer continues on and says, “Tom does not need to struggle to assimilate the authoritative word to his internally persuasive word because he takes the latter from the former.” When I first read this, I was confused and so I had to read it over a couple times to sort of understand what it means. The writer is saying is that Tom just does what he please, ignoring what the authoritative words tell him to do. This book was not written for children, it was not written to challenge “conventional wisdom or morality.” Mark Twain intended for the book to be pleasant and that he is like us, the audience. When he uses different dialects, Twain’s main purpose is not to distinguish “characters, region, community, class, or race.” According to the writer, this is because the voice of the narrator dominates the dialogues. Unlike most stories by Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer is for children because there is “no real risk.” What Tom does is not serious enough to cause harm.

2. Something surprising or interesting learned I like how the difference in dialogue does not indicate difference. A character has different accents and different dialects to distinguish something, anything, especially if the person speaking as a different cultural background. However, in the case of Mark Twain and this book, most of the characters have similar dialects. The writer uses a quote from Injun Joe to support his opinion. For example, "What business has a pick and a shovel here? What business with fresh earth on them? Who brought them here--and where are they gone? Have you heard anybody?--seen anybody?" (190).

3. Agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book The writer mentioned that Tom Sawyer’s action does not have great risk which makes the book fit for young kids. I disagree with this idea. Tom’s little jokes like pretending he is dead, I think, is big. There is a risk to his actions, a risk that the young kids might copy his joke. Thinking about the future, what Tom did can greatly affect the minds of little ones. His jokes may seem small not but once kids start copying the joke will grow into something bigger. Plus, the introduction does no help is educating children. When Tom is caught lying the Aunt she says, “Can't learn an old dog new tricks, as the saying is. But my goodness, he never plays them alike, two days, and how is a body to know what's coming? He 'pears to know just how long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he can make out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh, it's all down again and I can't hit him a lick” (3). This is encouraging younger kids to be like Tom because like his Aunt, they will not get licked. Since Tom can get away with it, why can’t they? The general idea of listening to elders and following rules will diminish.

Lynch, Paul. "Not Trying to Talk Alike and Succeeding: The Authoritative Word and Internally-Persuasive Word in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn." //Studies in the Novel// 38.2 (2006): 172+. //Questia//. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.

__10/10 Summary 2__ =Tom Sawyer's games of death.= by Harold Aspiz (15 pages on Pages)

1. Summary of main arguments Basically, the writer is talking about how many times death and resurrection is brought up by Tom. He “is a manchild continually living at risk in this child's world where the adults often appear to be custom-bound conformists with whom Tom has no quarrel provided they do not threaten him or interfere too much with the hijinks he shares with his juvenile companions.” In other words, as long as the adults don’t bother him, there will be peace. However Tom cannot avoid the influence he receives from the adult world. An example that he uses is when is wrongly accused for breaking the cookie jar (when in fact it was his brother, Sid, who did it). Tom goes along and fantasizes everyone’s reaction when he is dead. Death is used in many ways throughout the book, with one being “sentimental and idyllic comedy, the second as terror-filled melodrama.” Lastly, the writer lightly mentions that Mark Twain had “borrowed” a lot of plots from different authors and people like Dickens.

2. Something surprising or interesting learned When I read the book, I never really focused on death. When Tom faked his own death, my mind was preoccupied with the actual joke and how foolish he seems. I can relate to Tom in that situation because I was once in that position. When people are growing up, they are bound to go through the stage where death is something very interesting. The writer mentions this in his article when he says that, “Mark Twain's remembered and reinvented world of childhood - appears to be piquant and sweet largely because it is seen in chiaroscuro - a bright world set off by the shadowy terrors of danger, death and conformity.” Tom is one depressed and not to mention attention seeker kid. I also thought that it was very interesting when the writer said, “moreover, only when Mark Twain finally concentrates on death games does the novel acquire a measure of cohesive structure. Toward the novel's end, the death games become very complex and intense; in fact, Mark Twain stages two death games at once, thus achieving a notable level of structural sophistication.” As I mentioned before, I didn’t really think of death as something that will play a big role in the story. I was like the other kids who just read without looking closely. Through the death games by Tom, I can see that I am able to see more of what he is thinking. Now that I think about it, it was only through the death games that I was able to understand Tom and his viewpoints. Plus right after the death game, he begins his resurrection game.

3. Agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book (one not mentioned by the critic). I think that I said before that young kids can think about death only because they are curious about it. This is also the writer’s opinion on Tom and his need to play the death games. Well I think that Tom thinks about death because he is shocked and not because he is curious. In chapter 11, it is the day after the murder of Dr. Robinson. Tom is shocked because he just saw someone go through “death”. He is even more shocked when no one believes him when he mentions that Injun Joe is the real killer. This is shock to a young boy’s mind. This is why he is playing these death games. Tom wanted to tell people but no one listened and the death games are sort of like his revenge and call for attention.

Aspiz, Harold. "Tom Sawyer's Games of Death." //Studies in the Novel// 27.2 (1995): 141+. //Questia//. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.

= = =Concepts of Leadership= (11 pages on Pages)

1. Summary of Main Arguments The website that I read had information about what a leader is. The main idea of the page is that, “good leaders are made not born.” Leadership, according to the website, is when one person influences a group of people. The group of people will respect the leader when they can observe what a leader does rather than characteristics. As a leader, one needs to present a good image for the people underneath. Self serving leaders are leaders who want people to obey them. These leaders are not as effective as the other good leaders. The number one thing a leader needs to be is trustworthy and have the skill of communication. After this there are many other traits that a good leader must have for example, seek self improvement, technically proficient, take responsibility for actions, make timely decisions, set examples, look after people under, keep people informed, and train as one team. These are just a couple examples that the website gives. However there are many other traits that can also affect leadership other than the examples listed here. Leaders should not judge themselves as good leaders. It is the followers who needs to decide whether or not the leader is worth following. There are four framework approaches, structural, human resource, political and symbolic. Each approach has different traits. Likewise there are different types of leaders such as authoritarian, team, country club, or impoverished. The website concludes its article by providing the process of great leadership. First, one needs to challenge the process, which means that one needs to look back and see what can be improved. Next, one needs to inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model the way, and encourage the heart.

2. Something surprising or interesting learned I thought it was very interesting how the article was able to break down the different leaders. There are so many different types of leaders that I think it’s hard to actually say someone is what kind of leader. It was interesting how the website states that a leader is made and not born. I kind of disagree with this statement. Like the article says, there are somethings that a leader must have such as communication skills and the ability to influence others. People who are more outgoing tend to be leaders that the people who are introverted and shy. Not all leaders are made, there are those who are born with the right personality and skills to be a leader.

3. Agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Prince and the Pauper, both by Mark Twain, introduces the idea of leadership. In the Prince and the Pauper, we can see two very socially different people switch roles. Edward, the Prince, is considered a very good leader. He is very good with his social skills and know how to get close to his people. When Tom was caught looking over the castle walls, Edward comes to the rescue. Instead of just looking at the guards pulling Tom away, Edward interferes and invites him over to his own house. Edward provides food and begins to ask questions about Tom, which can be a sign of being polite. This is the exact opposite from the self serving leaders who want people to obey them (like communism). Tom is an example of a bad leader who doesn’t care about his people, if he was to be king. An example is when Tom is out on the day of his coronation. His mother, dressed poorly, approaches Tom but he denies that the woman is his mother. Instead of letting the soldiers take her away like that, I thought Tom could have reacted in a more “king” like way. He could have just brushed past her or politely ask the soldiers to take her instead of being violently dragged away.

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"Concepts of Leadership." //Colocation | Broadband Wireless | Dedicated Servers | DocSTAR | DSL | Web Hosting | Web Design & Development - Infinity Internet//. Web. 08 Feb. 2010. .======

P - consider also that Mark Twain was often in the company of the world's leaders. If you are considering assessing leadership for your paper, take another look at Twain's biography to help. How would you say Tom fits in? Structural, Symbolic, Politic? 9/10