Mark Twain

The writings of Mark Twain can be portrayed as humorous and critical of society. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn combines the informal diction used in mid-1800 American society with informal syntax that includes fragmented and incomplete sentences, along with other rhetorical strategies such as symbolism to aid in his use of satire throughout the novel.

Diction is defined as the style of speaking or writing as dependent upon the choice of words selected by the author or writer. Mark Twain chose to write The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of a young, southern boy, Huck. The dialect of Huckleberry Finn is simple and easy to read. The humor in this story can be portrayed due to the differences between this particular style versus a more formal choice of writing. Because the novel is from the point of view of a young boy, the imagery implies the use of satire composed in Mark Twain's writing. "We hadn't robbed nobody, hadn't killed any people, but only just pretended. We used to hop out of the woods and go charging down on hog-drivers and women in carts taking garden stuff to market, but we never hived any of them. Tom Sawyer call the hogs "ingots," and he called the turnips and stuff "julery," and we would go to the cave and powwow over what we had done, and how many people we had killed and marked." The use of simple language allows the reader to envision typical young boys looking for fun and adventure.

Due to the dialect and overall style of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain frequently chooses to ignore the grammar rules in his writing. Since his narrative is much like normal, everyday speech, many sentences are fragmented and incomplete. It can be sometimes difficult to understand the narrative when sentences, much like in everyday speaking, are ongoing and occasionally off topic. As a result of Huckleberry Finn being a young boy, he is apt to ramble whilst he is speaking. This could cause confusion for the reader however; the text is still understandable even without the use of proper grammar.

A specific rhetorical strategy used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn