Sunday School

This chapter was a humorous one. It was about Tom going to Sunday School. In his Sunday School, the kids all try to memorize verses for tickets. When they get enough tickets, they receive a Bible. Tom always was neglecting to memorize his verses and had no chance of getting that Bible. But Tom, being the mischievous boy he was, traded different trinkets and tools with other boys and girls for their tickets. By the end of the Sunday School class, Tom had been presented with a Bible. He was soaking in pride as everyone watched in jealousy. But when he was asked a question about the verses he supposedly memorized, he completely embarrassed himself.

So far, I think that Mark Twain has used these first 4 chapters to build the character of Tom Sawyer. These chapters are displaying his quick-witted and mischievous behaviors. There has been some small action with Tom Sawyers 'love life', but so far, I see no plot taking place.

The atmosphere or mood of these first 4 chapters has been quite exciting and high-spirited in my opinion. Tom Sawyer always has something new up his sleeve. His quick thinking puts a light-hearted edge to the whole story. The book puts me in a good, happy mood. It's not a book that keeps me on my toes or makes me weep for the characters, but it is a book that is entertaining and nonchalant.

Pansies

Chapter three of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" gave me a little look into what Tom is thinking about. After being rewarded by Aunt Polly for getting the whitewashing done, he heads to a 'meeting'. This meeting is between two 'armies' or boy clubs. They meet about some disagreement and then part their ways. As Tom is walking along he spots a new girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. All thoughts of his previous crush, Amy Laurence, vanish. Tom had spent months getting Amy to admit her feelings for him and only a week later, Tom had already had a change of heart. Tom Sawyer spends quite a bit of time attempting to impress this new girl. After all of his hard work in showing off, she throws a pansy his way and walks inside her house. Of course, Tom is excited about this pansy; a sign of hope that this girl might like him!

When Tom got home, he was in good spirits. He didn't mind the knuckle beating he got from attempting to steal sugar from the jar. When Aunt Polly stepped out of the kitchen, Sid (Tom's half-brother) reached for some sugar but knocked to jar off the table and broke it. Aunt Polly came rushing in and immediately belted Tom for the deed. After the confusion was settled, Aunt Polly felt terrible, but she didn't voice it. Tom went off and pitied himself.

I find this chapter sort of humorous. It shows just how fast one's emotions can change. Tom goes from being obsessed with Amy Lawrence to being in love with this 'new girl'. I can somewhat to relate to this mood swing of Tom's. My opinio

n in many things often changes quite fast. For example, chocolate. I have to be in 'the mood for chocolate'. If I'm not in the right mood, I just don't like chocolate. So my opinion changes towards chocolate a lot.

Will Tom ever actually meet up with this new girl? Or will he get over her over night? Tom doesn't even know her name, but Tom is quite a determined boy. I think that they will cross paths and become good friends. I think that this chapter was just the start of the introduction to this new character, the unnamed 'new girl'.

In the back of the copy of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" I am reading, there is a 'Notes' section. In this section it tells me that when Mark Twain was writing this book, he had certain houses in mind when describing Aunt Polly's house and street. Mark Twain had the Clemens house at 206 Hill Street, Hannibal in mind for Aunt Polly's house. Jeff Thatcher(also mentioned in this chapter)'s house was based on a house across from the Clemens on Hill Street. Both of these houses still stand today and can be visited.

Whitewashing

In this chapter, chapter two, Tom Sawyer is stuck whitewashing the fence. When he sees that Jim gets to go to the well to retrieve water, he tries to trade jobs with him. He even tries to bribe Jim, but Jim was afraid of Aunt Polly and refused. Tom didn't just sit in his misery. He made the passing boys and girls think that whitewashing was interesting and fun. He acted as though he thoroughly enjoyed the job and the boys and girls took the bait. They asked Tom if they could have a chance to try, but then Tom made it sound like a very special job that only the best could do. When the kids would offer to give Tom something for a chance to whitewash the fence, Tom would take the offer. Tom sat there the whole day with plenty of company and lots of gadgets and toys to keep himself occupied.

This chapter really made me smile. The whole concept is just so ingenious. This chapter makes me think of the saying that goes: "It's all in the head." We can turn something dreadful into something exciting and fun if we simply look at it differently. If look at trials like opportunities, they will be an exciting adventure to overcome. When the kids saw that a chore like whitewashing could be fun, they were eager to jump right in and try it out. A job could become a challenge, or an amusement.

One of the words used in this chapter was 'reposeful'. I didn't know what this meant, so I looked it up. Repose, by definition, means "peace; tranquility". When Mark Twain uses this word he is describing a piece of land that is reposeful and inviting. Reposeful- full of peace, calm, quiet.

Melancholy. I have heard this word but I never knew the definition or how to spell it. The two definitions that made the most sense to me were:

1. "a gloomy state of mind"
2. "sober thoughtfulness"

I also got the word 'pensiveness'. To be pensive, means to be 'dreamily thoughtful'.

Y-o-u-u Tom!

Chapter 1 of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" has already made me giggle. It was intriguing and had me re-reading certain sentences. In this chapter, I was introduced to Tom. Tom is a mischievous young boy. He is quick-witted and always weasels himself out of consequences. Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly as his parents died when he was young. Aunt Polly tries to discipline him but he never listens. Jim, Aunt Polly's slave, teaches Tom to whistle. As Tom is practicing his whistling, he runs into a 'new kid in town'. Tom immediately starts to taunt the boy, and this leads to a wrestle. When the boys mother sees that Tom has beat her son up, she yells at Tom. When Tom arrives home rather late, Aunt Polly is none too impressed.

I wonder where this 'new kid' fits into the story. I think that Tom and the boy are going to end up being good friends. I think that they will realize that they have a lot in common. But will the boy's mother ever forgive Tom? I don't think that Aunt Polly will ever be able to control Tom. She will continue to attempt to discipline him throughout the story, and he will continue to ignore the consequences.

The story is set in a small town called St. Petersburg. Mark Twain was living in Hannibal, Missouri while he was writing this book. He based St. Petersburg on the town he lived in at the time, Hannibal.

When Aunt Polly is talking to herself, she uses the word 'dander'. Dander means temper or anger. Aunt Polly uses this word to describe how Tom always torments her for as long as possible until she's about to ''get her dander up''.

At one point in the first chapter, Aunt Polly is attempting to outwit Tom. The author uses the word 'sagacity' to describe her wittiness. Sagacious, by definition, means: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment. Aunt Polly was being sagacious or showing sagacity when she was attempting to outwit Tom.

Just an Introduction

My name is Kathryn. I am currently reading the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' by Mark Twain. Just a bit about the author: Mark Twain lived from 1835 to 1910. His real name was actually Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Mark Twain was one of the 'pen names' he used. Mark Twain wrote many novels (fiction and non-fiction), poems, and short stories.

All of his work had an element of humor in it. Twain was known to be quite a humorous person.

I decided to read the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' for a couple of reasons. One of them being that friends of mine who had previously read this book told me that it was a very humorous and intriguing story. Another reason I decided to read this book is the fact that it is a classic. I don't read books often, so for this occasion I decided to pick a popular classic that everyone knows and almost everyone loves.

This blog is going to be a display of my thoughts and feelings about the book as I read the book. I intend to give a short summary of what I read, my thoughts or questions about the reading, and a bit of background information each time I read and blog.