Defending Huck Finn

Often, the characters in short stories and novels get themselves into trouble. Imagine a favorite character of yours getting arrested for something he or she did. Then imagine you are assigned to defend the person in court against the charges.

Your Turn Follow these directions to create a defense.

1. Select a character from a short story or novel that you recently read.
2. List reasons the character could get in trouble with the law.
3. Choose one or more charges against your character.
4. Decide how you want to defend the character against the charges.
5. Gather evidence from the story or novel, and mark each piece of evidence as "Exhibit A," "Exhibit B," and so on.
6. Gather witnesses from the story or novel, and write questions you would ask each (and answers they would give).
7. Either present your defense as a speech, or enlist classmates to act as judge and witnesses as you present your case to the jury (the rest of your class).