Step One: Make a general statement about the topic
Writers often create personal symbols in order to dramatize or explore their themes.
Step Two: Give author and identify genre. Mark Twain is such a writer; he uses the land and river as allegorical symbols in his satirical novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Step Three: Narrow the topic: For this reason, he carefully divides his novel into land and river adventures.
Step Four: Thesis The allegorical symbols of the land and river are uniquely constructed by Twain and used to explore the author’s views on the nature of good and evil.
Step Five Controlling ideas: The land is a malevolent force; his adventures on land expose him to all the evil that exists in the world. In contrast, the river is a benevolent force; one that continually rescues and guides Huck and Jim.
Topic Sentence: Write a topic sentence about controlling idea one (Land) On the land Huck learns the world is basically evil. .
Detail A: On land Huck learns the nature of the evil of slavery and violence. Discuss the Sherbun lynch mob or the selling of the Willks’ slaves.
Detail B: From his travels with the duke and the king; he learns the gullibility and the stupidity of the people.
Detail C: The custody battle between Pap and Miss Douglas. The judge gave Huck to an abusive father
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You might want to discuss the adventure and what it taught Huck
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Detail A: His time with Widow Douglass and Miss Watson teaches Huck hypocrisy