Mark Twain Essay

Mark Twain is a fictitious name of Samuel Clemens. Mark Twain was an American journalist, humorist, novelist, and lecturer. He acquired global fame because of his travel narratives, such as The Innocents Abroad of the year 1869, Roughing It of the year 1872, and Life on the Mississippi of 1883. He is also famous for his boyhood adventure stories, particularly The Adventures of Tom Sawyer of the year 1876 and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn of 1885. He was known to be a distinctive humorist, and irascible moralist, and a gifted raconteur. Before independence, America was marked by cultural and religious differences among small colonies, making a single nation from these diverse populations

He was one of the first to descriptively verbalize southern speech in writing. Not only was it uncommon for people of Twain’s era to write in vernacular, it was new-fangled for him to write about the subject of vernacular itself. It is a difficult task to write about, much less in, a dialect to which one is foreign without appearing foolish. Twain’s ability to both with ease marked him as an authority on the subject.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885, is a literary satire written by Mark Twain. The setting of the novel takes place prior to the Civil War along the Mississippi River. This novel presents moral and ethical problems that southern culture placed on individuals during the time period it was written. Twain wrote his Realist period novel to criticize what he believed was wrong with the society of his time. Twain presented his novel through the eyes and speech of the twelve year-old Huckleberry Finn to show his criticism towards this society. Although the novel has been criticized since its publication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is still considered one of the greatest American novels ever written. Twain uses Huck

In "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", Twain displayed an extraordinarily amount of boasting.

One writing that Mark Twain is not as famous for, but is still a well known piece of work for showing the use of humor in his writings is, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. This work starts off slow without much humor until later on in the writing. The humor picks up as Twain includes bits of sarcasm to the mix. The humor in this short work is not so hidden or subtle as it may have been in some of Twain’s other writings. One example of this sort of dry humor is, “And Smiley says, sorter indifferent like, ‘It might be a parrot, or it might be a canary, may be, but it an't it's only just a frog.’” (Jumping Frog). This shows a side and type of writing that is not usually seen with Twain. Usually the humor in his writings was always sort of hidden away and harder to pick out, but in this work, it is more obvious that he is trying to make it humorous. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” may not be as widely known as some of Twain’s other work, but it is a good example of how he includes humor into his writings to catch the reader’s attention and to provide some comic relief from, at times, tense situations.

Growing up in the 1870s, Twain’s society was much different than growing up now. He grew up during the outbreak of the civil war and he lived during the time of major cynical political corruption that began in the late 1860s all the way to 1900. He was also raised during a time where slave-holding was acceptable, and encouraged. Under his father’s influence, he was told that slavery was justified through biblical principles. The majority of people in Hannibal, where Twain grew up, thought this and was the reason why everyone was proslavery.

Mark Twain was a world renowned novelist and a beloved American Writer. He wrote things about what was happening in the world around him and is also a huge part of American Literature. Although Mark Twain is a famous novelist his home life, background/achievements, and greatest accomplishments are what made him who he is today.

On December 10, 1884, Mark Twain published his well-renown, American classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Growing up near and working on the Mississippi River as a river boat Captain, Twain witnessed slavery in the south and the negative implications it had on society. Throughout his novel, Twain embedded the theme of race to criticize the ignorant Southern predisposition towards African Americans. Utilizing a pattern of literary devices in which slavery was depicted as a standard in Southern society, Twain illustrated his disdain towards slavery as it fostered a false sense of morality, failing to establish the underlying evil in enslaving other races.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. He is better known by his pen name “Mark Twain”, which is a nautical term which means two fathoms deep. As a child he learned to smoke and led a gang, leaving school at age 12 to become an apprentice at a printing shop. He became a free lance journalist and traveled around country until age 24, when he became a river boat pilot on the Mississippi, his childhood dream. During the Civil War, Twain joined the Confederate Army, but left and went west in search of gold. When that failed him, he became a reporter and comedian. His book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1885. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is narrated from Huck’s perspective,

Mark Twain is important to American literature because of his novels and how they portray the American experience. Some of his best selling novels were Innocents Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, Huckleberry Finn, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In these books, Mark Twain recalls his own adventures of steamboating on the Mississippi River.

Mark Twain begun with a pick, pan, and a jumping frog. The first story that made Mark Twain noticed was The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras county. He first heard the story from Ben Coon at the Angels Camp in California's Calaveras county. There he also tried mining but like the other times he tried, he failed.

In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon. After living briefly in Buffalo, New York, the couple moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Much of Twain's best work was written in the 1870s and 1880s in Hartford or during the summers at Quarry Farm, near Elmira, New York. Roughing It (1872) recounts his early adventures as a miner and journalist; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) celebrates boyhood in a town on the Mississippi River; A Tramp Abroad (1880) describes a walking trip through the Black Forest of Germany and the Swiss Alps; The Prince and the Pauper (1882), a children's book, focuses on switched identities in Tudor England; Life on the Mississippi (1883) combines an autobiographical account of his experiences as a river pilot with a visit to the Mississippi nearly two decades after he left it; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) satirizes oppression in feudal England (see Feudalism).

In 1889, Twain published A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. It was a science-fiction/historical novel about ancient England. This was one of the last large-scale novels Mark Twain produced. Its dark, cynical themes foreshadow ideas Twain would delve deeper into later in his life. Twain’s next major novel was The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, published in 1894. It was a murder mystery set in a town on the Mississippi. The novel featured both strong and weak characters. Unusual for Twain, this book also had a strong female character. This novel offers some really great quotes at the beginning of each chapter from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

Mark Twain was an author whose earliest opportunity with writing began in 1867. He saw said opportunity when he was approached by Charles H. Webbs who suggested that he (Mark) publish a few of his sketches in a local newspaper. Mark was ecstatic and agreed to do so if someone would gather the sketches for him. One of his first stories published was "The Jumping Frog." Mark Twain was a writer, a dreamer and had a wild imagination. Mark is best known for "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "The Innocents Abroad", and "Life On The Mississippi".

Mark twain was born in Missouri. As a young teenager, he was an apprentice printer this is where his love of books originated from. He also Made a Confederate militia but it was dismembered under two weeks, his militia was called"Marion Rangers." He was Riverboat pilot and a writer, for some time he was also a newspaper printer. He has published over 30 books in his lifetime. Mark Twain was married and had kids.Mark twain has had many books challenged.Mark twain had a humorous personality and liked comedy. Mark Twain once said “comedy keeps the heart sweet”. Mark twain also said “"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."Mark Twain died from a heart attack in Redding, Conn at the age of 74.