The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lesson Plan

Scams and Cons

Kind of Activity:

Research and writing

Objective:

drawing connections between the novel and modern life

Structure:

In a discussion, encourage students to draw parallels between the cons and scams of the duke and dauphin, and cons and scams that are practiced today. Although the technology and delivery may be different today, students may find that the basic operation of scams is essentially timeless. The etymology of the "confidence" artist can also be a point of discussion.

Have students complete a short research project, choosing one common scam of our current society (phishing emails, Nigerian prince emails, telemarketing cons, Ponzi schemes,...