As Huck Finn has often been described as the "Great American Novel", today's sessions focused on the literary and narrator archetypes that have contributed to the novel's reputation. After I explained the term"archetype" , we read a section of the novel that evokes America as Eden. I then discussed the thematic archetype of America as a corrupted Eden, and in this regard ,we discussed two works we read last year, "Of Mice and Men" and "Death of a Salesman" and noted the recurrence of this theme. I further previewed " The Great Gatsby" as part of this examination. I then discussed Huck as a narrative archetype ,or the innocent observer who loses his innocence by his experiences . Nina discussed Huck's encounters on land with con artists and feuding families , and we again discussed the symbolism of the river as a contrast to the depraved morality of the society we see on "land." We further noted the American cultural ideal of freedom as illustrated in the novel. Last, we explored Twain's satire of Southern rural life as plagued by its characteristic frontier justice and gullibility .