Use these questions and prompts to guide you in your research of Jim. Don't be satisfied with the clean, easy answer . . . push your thinking further to a genuine study of the character. From your observations of Jim's thinking and behavior, what comments do you want to make? Are you seeing a static character (one who doesn't change) or a dynamic character (one who changes)? Note any particularly hot quotations that capture your point.

• Consider Jim's beliefs about the natural world -- how and why things happen.
• What do we learn (specifically) about Jim on Jackson Island? Strengths/weaknesses? What qualities make him a good companion?
• Identify key scenes in the growth of the relationsip between Huck and Jim. Compare the beginning of their relationship with the end.
• Consider Jim's response to the trick Huck plays on him (chapter 15).
• Consider the fact that some African-Americans take issue with this book being part of a school's curriculum. During the 1950's, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be deleted from public school reading lists, feeling that its inclusion of offensive terms and prejudiced attitudes toward blacks make it undesirable for exposure to young people. Where do you stand on this issue after studying Jim carefully?