The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for me, has always been a children’s book. It seems like a children’s book since the only previous time I read this book was in elementary school. Of course I read an abridged version, which called Jim a slave -rather than the elusive “N-word”- and omitting parts seemingly unfit for children. In this way, I never understood the true meaning of the novel until I read the unabridged version, and the real Adventures of Huckleberry Finn read like a whole different novel.

Twain creates realistic characters susceptible to society’s norms and traditions. Huck goes back and forth whether or not to turn Jim in, his final decision to free Jim, he believed would cause him to go to hell. Learning and connecting with Jim, I became sympathetic with his plight to become free. He was always loving and thankful of those who helped him, regardless of the situation he was in. Tom, however, served as the child-like and imaginative; not fully understanding the situation and danger Jim was in lest he get caught.

What I liked most about the novel is that while the situation Jim and Huck was in was almost dire, it was riddled lighthearted- almost childlike- adventure. Using satire and comedy, Twain depicts southern society from the heavy alcohol use, to family feuds, all along the mighty Mississippi River. While the novel reads as a humorous comedy at times, Twain has the ability to make his theme clear; racism and slavery was an immoral aspect of American society. 

TED Talk: How to Tie Your Shoes

Upon browsing through the TED Talk website I was bombarded with information on innovative subjects and science topics to advanced for me to understand, let alone keep my attention. “How to Tie Your Shoes” was a breath of fresh air.

“How to Tie Your Shoes” by Terry Moore was the first 3-minute TED talk ever given, and the argument he presents is stated and better understood at the end of his talk. However, Moore begins establishing ethos with his audience calling them innovators, intellectual and worldly. Once established, he goes on to say that perhaps they have been tying their shoes the incorrect way. Moore then proceeds to show the incorrect way of tying shoelaces, followed by the correct. Using logos to prove his point he demonstrates that when pulling the laces of the incorrect knot, the shoe bow aligns itself on a vertically the shoe. The correct shoe knot, when pulled, aligns itself horizontally and looks visibly stronger than the incorrect commonly used one. This thus persuades the audience that the correct knot is, in fact the better knot to use.

The overall atmosphere of the talk is humorous, as an audience of intellectuals have more significant ideas to be aware of than tying a better knot. TED Talks usually provide influential and informational ideas, Moore provides one seemingly mundane and insignificant. However his argument, once stated at the end of his talk is clear and serves a greater purpose than why one knot is better than the other. He states a small victory like tying one’s shoe the “correct” way may give way to the many significant and meaningful ideas like those shared on other TED Talks. As one of the first Talks ever given, he provides an overarching theme and purpose for future TED Talks. He ends with “live long and prosper” accompanied with a hand gesture to which the audience laughed, but I did not. One Google-search later, I found it was the Vulcan Salute from Star Trek. The salute fits well and further establishes a relationship, to an intellectual, science-y, and therefore probably Star Trek-loving TED Talk audience.