Mark Twain's Earthquake

     "Mark Twain, which is a pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in 1835, and died in 1910. He was an american writer and humorist. Maybe one of the reasons Twain will be remembered is because his writings contained morals and positive views. Because Twain's writing is so descriptive, people look to his books for realistic interpretations of places, for his memorable characters, and his ability to describe his hatred for hypocrisy and oppression. HE believed he could write. Most authors relied on other people and what they said, but because Twain was so solitary, he made himself so successful. 1"

It’s 5:15 AM, and the streets are quiet. By 5:30, the streets are torn apart, and rubble is strewn everywhere. What happened in those fifteen minutes was the San Fransisco earthquake. When you look at “Comprehending the Calamity” by Emma Burke and Laurence Yep’s Dragonwings, you can truly imagine the extent of the damage and fear, even though Burke’s purpose is to inform, while Yep’s is to entertain.

George Heinrich Crist, a resident of Kentucky, was settled with his family in a well-built house when the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 came across their path, unlike a storm this “thing” had no warnings. He chose to share his account of this quake, or quakes. This was part of his life and also a part of history in the making so that is why I believe he shared his personal essay. It’s not an argumentative account but rather short entries from 5 months from his life. Kentucky wasn’t the only state that was hurt, 6 other states were involved. The term “New Madrid Earthquake” refers to portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. This was the biggest earthquake (series of earthquakes) as it changed the course of the Mississippi river.

Human perception is a subject so diverse and impossible to delineate that we cannot even hope to understand it fully. It is perhaps due to this incompleteness in our grasp of the subject that literary and scholarly works aiming to interpret it abound. Among the list of venturing authors who sought to address this elusive subject is Mark Twain, whose excerpt from Life on the Mississippi presents a unique idea about experiential learning. More specifically, Twain contends that intimate familiarity can diminish appreciation through use of an extended metaphor, elaborate description, and analogy.

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.

Mark Twain’s use of irony to express a better sense humor is displayed in many of his short stories. Such as “Luck”, in this story a clergyman explains how the “hero” was able to make mistakes and receive commendations and medals because acts of stupidity turned into acts of military intelligence. “He was appointed an officer, a captain of all things” (Twain, “Luck”), the clergyman said for the reason that the stupid “hero” that had barely made it through basic training was appointed a captain. “He continued to climb up, over the dead bodies of his superiors” (Twain, “Luck”), the hero continued to make mistakes and was promoted only due to the death of his superiors and his “so called” acts of military intelligence. Twains

A well-known Gilded Age author of satirical pieces, Mark Twain, in his text “Dreams Dissipated”, argues the elite and other influential groups he despises, should not be idolized by the public. Twain’s purpose is to reveal the true intentions and behavior of these groups at the face of tragedy in order to stop the public from aspiring to be like them or seek guidance from them. He adopts a connotative tone for his audience who may be unaware of the immoral behavior the elite display during the “great” earthquake in San Francisco. Twain supports this claim by first referring to a tragic event using connotative diction to hint at the animal-like behavior of these groups, then he illustrates a chaotic scene and the ill-fitted reactions of the

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.

Samuel Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, the sixth of seven children. At the age of four, Sam and his family moved to the small frontier town of Hannibal, Missouri on the banks of the Mississippi River. Missouri, at the time, was a fairly new state (it had gained statehood in 1820) and comprised part of the country's western border. It was also a slave state. Sam's father owned one slave and his uncle owned several. In fact, it was on his uncle's farm that Sam spent many boyhood summers playing in the slave quarters, listening to tall tales and the slave spirituals that he would enjoy throughout his life.

What makes a perfect murder? During the chapter Tragedy in the Graveyard Tom Sawyer sneaks out of his bedroom to meet with Huckleberry Finn to perform a superstition in the graveyard. While they are at the graveyard they witness the murder of Dr. Robinson. In Chapter nine twain creates a turning point in the story which up to this point has been full of Tom’s play and make-believe. Twain uses imagery to create a frightening atmosphere, provides foreshadowing clues to prepare the reader, and therefore changes the mood of the story and the events to come.

The “great” earthquake exposed the hysterical behavior of the people. As the earthquake began, all of those who had been peacefully calm and going about their daily lives, suddenly erupted into a state of terror and panic. Twain does describe their actions with sarcasm, but instead of viewing the people's actions as being funny, he uses it to show what crises will do to one's mental state. Twain’s description of the women who was carrying her child like a dressed turkey, was filled with sarcasm, but the use of it emphasizes the hysteria and panic that the women was experiences due to the earthquake.

Set in the Antebellum South, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn documents a landscape that differs greatly from the poised and picturesque scene associated with the contemporary South. Today’s South is synonymous with with ice cold pitchers of tea, ceaseless etiquette exuded on wraparound porches, and seemingly romantic drawls. However, the South that Huck resides in, tells a different story. Specifically, his South is a place where suitable behavior is associated with the acceptance of slavery, and racist slurs pepper every sentence. As a result, any deviation from these behaviors leaves an individual ironically branded with a connotation of being uncivilized. Due to this distorted view of ethics, any character with even a shred

During this semester of American literature we have read many novels that are considered to be the classics of American literature. Of these texts the one that caught my attention was “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is considered to be Mark Twain's children book because of its youthful and juvenile tone that is shown through the lense of a child. Why is “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” considered a children's book and should it be considered a book for children?

Mark Twain was born on November. 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida, MO. Mark’s birth

New Historicism is a form of literary theory, which assumes that literary texts reflect history. By analyzing the text using new historicism, the reader can uncover the underlined meaning within the pages. For example, The Scarlett Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about a young girl named Hester who becomes pregnant before she is marred. Since this “deed” is seen as a crime to her townsmen, they shame Hester by sentencing her to wear an “A” on her clothing for the rest of her life; however, as the novel progresses, the letter takes on a positive meaning and becomes a symbol of perseverance. Hawthorne published this novel in the 19th century and during this time, women were expected to abided by the rules of society. The text is meant to be a message to encourage girls to step out of the mold society has built for them. To relate new historicism to the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is narrated by a young boy who lives in pre Civil War Missouri. The author, Mark Twain, was also a boy during this era and might have been inspired to incorporated his observations into the novel. This essay will apply new historicism to the text, in order to uncover where Twain received his inspiration.