Speaking Part 2

Describe a book that influenced you

You should say:

• what it was about
• when it was written
• why you decided to read it

and say why it had a strong effect on you

Sample Answer:

I like to read books since my early childhood and have read a large number of books so far from different writers. But I did not get inspiration from all of the books, some of them made me amazed while the rest others entertained me to some extent. I was influenced by the book of Mark Twain with the title – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Recently the book is known as ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ but previously it was known as ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. The entire book is about a little teenage boy who is unable to stay steady for a moment. The book is lead by Huckleberry Finn and his friends address him as Huck. The events took place in different parts of the USA including Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The entire book is illustrated with the adventures of Huck and his friends. The story starts with the setting of a fictional town in Missouri. Huck is associated with his friend Thomas, better known as Tom Sawyer. Both of the kids have gained a lot of money from their former adventure and Huck is the narrator of the book. He describes all the events to inform the reader and thus the reader becomes aware of everything that happened to him and his friends in the last episode

The novel was first published in 1884 in England and it was published in the USA in the following year. The book is famous for the lively descriptions of different places, especially the geographical locations of the USA. The book is considered as the sequel to the previous book named – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The plot centres around the events happening with Huckleberry Finn. In the previous book, Thomas (or Tom Sawyer) was the protagonist and led the events. But now it is the turn for Huck to lead the events though Tom tried to influence some of his activities. The book has been written based on a society which existed about 20 years ago. Some of the complexities of the then time have been pointed here

There are several causes behind reading the book. Firstly, I was inspired to read the book by watching a movie of the same name. But I could not enjoy the movie being too older and some of the dialogues were not delivered properly on my DVD player. So, I decided to read the book and accordingly I collected the copy. But it was difficult as well for me to collect a well-printed copy of the book. Further, being a Chinese national, it is really difficult for me to read books in English. But the events that I enjoyed on the DVD made me inspired. The other reason behind reading the books is that I also was a kid like Huck and underwent many adventures in our locality. Often people use to meet my mom to submit their report against me. Like Huck, I also smoked the pipe in my early childhood and stole the tobaccos and pipes from my dad. So, all the things that Huck did were similar to my own experiences

When I read the book, I not only enjoyed but came to know about many unknown issues. I was completely unaware about slavery and after reading the book; I researched the issue on the Internet and came to know about many horrific events. So, I felt pity for Jim – who wanted to be free and meet his family. Moreover, I also was hurt when Huck’s father died. It is tough indeed for a teenager to grow up without a family. If he were in a family, he would have a different life and everything could have been changed. So, I think Huck turned into a naughty boy as he did not experience the tie of a family. He was sent to different people to be taken care of but the care of a family is entirely a different thing. Every feature of Huck sometimes touched me while reading the book, and I also made me laugh, often. I wish I could be a boy like him and get back my teenage again.