"A Real Man"
Passage from "The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn"
"The
idea of YOU lynching anybody! It's amusing. The idea of you
thinking you had pluck enough to lynch a MAN! Because you're brave enough
to tar and feather poor friendless cast-out women that come along here, did
that make you think you had grit enough to lay your hands on a MAN? Why,
a MAN'S safe in the hands of ten thousand of your kind—as long as it's daytime
and you're not behind him.
"Do I know you? I know you clear
through was born and raised in the South, and I've lived in the North; so I
know the average all around. The average man's a coward. In the North he
lets anybody walk over him that wants to, and goes home and prays for a humble
spirit to bear it. In the South one man all by himself, has stopped a stage
full of men in the daytime, and robbed the lot. Your newspapers call you
a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other
people—whereas you're just AS brave, and no braver. Why don't your juries
hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them
in the back, in the dark—and it's just what they WOULD do.
"So
they always acquit; and then a MAN goes in the night, with a hundred masked cowards
at his back and lynches the rascal. Your mistake is, that you didn't
bring a man with you; that's one mistake, and the other is that you didn't come
in the dark and fetch your masks...
"You
didn't want to come. The average man don't like trouble and danger. YOU
don't like trouble and danger... you're afraid to back down—afraid you'll be
found out to be what you are—COWARDS—and so you raise a yell... and come raging
up here, swearing what big things you're going to do...
"Now
the thing for YOU to do is to droop your tails and go home and crawl in a
hole."
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Reading
Comprehension Questions
1) Which of the following is the tone of the above
passage?
a.
hopeful
b.
disgusted
c.
encouraging
d.
gloomy
2) The man in the above passage is most likely speaking to
which group?
a.
victims of an attack
b.
military leaders
c.
an angry mob
d.
a church congregation
3) In the above passage, the word "MAN" is written in
capital letters several times. Why does
the author do this?
a.
to stress that it is a word with a strong meaning
b.
to say that everyone is a "man"
c.
to declare that such a thing doesn't really exist
d.
to warn those who might try to be a "man"
4) The format of the above passage can best be described as
which of the following?
a.
monologue
b.
dialogue
c.
flashback
d.
interview
5) The man speaking in the above passage would agree with which
of the following statements?
a.
"Most people are
looking for a fair fight..."
b.
"Most people are brave
in the face of danger..."
c.
"Most people resist
the urge to go along with others..."
d.
"Most people want to
avoid trouble..."
6) In the first paragraph of the above passage, the speaker
says, "a MAN'S safe in the hands
of ten thousand of your kind..." He is using which figure of speech to make his
point?
a.
simile
b.
metaphor
c.
hyperbole
d.
alliteration
Answer Key
1)
Which of the
following is the tone of the above passage?
a.
hopeful
b.
disgusted
c.
encouraging
d.
gloomy
2)
The man in the
above passage is most likely speaking to which group?
a.
victims of an attack
b.
military leaders
c.
an angry mob
d.
a church congregation
3)
In the above
passage, the word "MAN" is written in capital letters several
times. Why does the author do this?
a.
to stress that it
is a word with a strong meaning
b.
to say that everyone is a "man"
c.
to declare that such a thing doesn't really
exist
d.
to warn those who might try to be a
"man"
4)
The format of
the above passage can best be described as which of the following?
a.
monologue
b.
dialogue
c.
flashback
d.
interview
5)
The man
speaking in the above passage would agree with which of the following
statements?
a.
"Most
people are looking for a fair fight..."
b.
"Most
people are brave in the face of danger..."
c.
"Most people
resist the urge to go along with others..."
d.
"Most people want to avoid trouble..."
6)
In the first
paragraph of the above passage, the speaker says, "a MAN'S safe in the hands of ten thousand of your kind..." He is using which figure of speech to make his
point?
a.
simile
b.
metaphor
c.
hyperbole
d.
alliteration
