The essay by Mark Twain, “Corn-pone Opinions,” describes how many people follow the directions of others whether they agree with it or not. Also through it’s contrasting conformities and independent verdict of people’s ways of thinking, Twain suggests that in order for people to express how they truly are, they must first trust their own abilities without having to depend on others. This signifies that every person must have a friend or relative critique his or her style to feel gleeful. Moving forward three supporting reasons in favor of Mark Twain’s predicament describe the equal trends that people follow of fashion in today’s society, secondly, worldwide statistic have indeed shown that the majority of people who are peer pressured let bullies take over their choices and finally how religion influences children, students, adults, and families. These are clear reasons as to why I am in favor of Mark Twain’s statement of opinion. To make people comprehend and understand that everyone should have their own way of thought and not relay in others to do it for them. …show more content…
Case in point, teens’ students, and children all follow the progression of fashion. To illustrate many celebrities such as Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, Rita Ora, and lastly Arianna Grande all have their own style. However people tend to follow their favorite celebrity and become like them. This includes, their hairstyle, clothes, watches, shoes, gadgets etc. Suppose Ariana Grande went on stage with a dissimilar color of hair such as the neon lavender, everyone would want to dye their hair in that particular way to stand out and rebel. As a result people would follow the trend and copy what the artist is doing. Continually these people need the approval of others to feel radiant and popular. With that being said, our society follows what others do, instead of expressing themselves without the judgment of
"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"
The act of people conforming is seen every where. Any activity performed by someone that is “in the ordinary” is them conforming to the norm. In the crucible, all the girls conform to the norm, set by Abigail Williams. When Abigail faints, the girls faint, when Abigail screams, the girls scream. They mirror her in her every action due to their fear of what would occur if they did not. Same concept is seen today, for example, when you shower regularly you are conforming to the norm. You shower in fear of judgement if you were not to shower, and you shower in following the actions of others. This common action of following in others footsteps affects us by causing people to become identical and influencing people to ignore their personal morals and follow the mob of society blindly. People force physical change upon themselves due to fear of being that one
In Mark Twain 's satirical essay, “The Damned Human Race,” Twain critiques human beings by declaring that “The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.” The motif of cowardice and the cruelty of humanity is also present in another one of Twain’s most famous works: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout this novel, Twain passionately decries the immorality and corruption of society through the employment of rhetoric and themes. He utilizes irony to draw attention to the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of many Christians and the detrimental effects this hypocrisy can have on society. He implements pathos to highlight the greed and
Mark Twain, one of the most famous and influential American writers, was born in Hannibal, Missouri on November 30, 1835 and died April 21, 1910. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he eventually adopted his famous pseudonym in 1863. Shortly after his father's death in 1847, when Clemens was twelve, his father passed away. After his father death, he applied for an apprenticeship at the local-printing shop. While working in the printing shop, Twain learned the skills required to be a printer and developed an aptitude for witty short essays and responses. Mark Twain was enthralled by his opportunity to develop his skills as a printer, and later he realized that he had a unique talent for writing. By working as an apprentice printer, he
Twain presents an example of how one year a society may wear a certain blouse and it be in style and fashion and the following year society will mock the same exact blouse and become out of fashion. Human beings yearn and desire to be accepted by society; it is in society’s nature to feel this way and it is an escapable feeling that one cannot simply make disappear. People will even go to the extent of disregarding their own personal morals just to gain society’s approval and often, “self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people”. With these actions from society, it supports Twain’s accusation of corn-pone meaning that society is unsophisticated and basically just act as a heard of sheep. Twain emphasizes that society enjoys taking values and morals of human beings and obliterating them and extrapolating them away as if their morals were the sole reason of society being damaged not the society itself. Through the use of examples and rhetoric devices within “Corn-Pone Opinions”, Twain achieves his primary argument of how humans conform to society and act as sheep following their
In fact, this also applies to the situation of understanding what social conformity is. This subject has been around for centuries, forcing many to behave in a certain way that the society expects. The influence of peer pressure is still a topic has an impact to the world, especially the adolescents. The “[s]ocial psychologists have suggested that one core function of compliance and conformity is to maintain group harmony”(“Social Influence and the Brain:Persuasion, Susceptibility to Influence and Retransmission” Cascio,Scholz,Falk) and this applies to many individuals who value public opinions more than their own. They seek to be “good” people and make an effort to follow the trend of the crowd. More often than not, this also relates to the confidence level of an individual, “If those others agree with one’s beliefs, one gains confidence in them; if they disagree, one loses confidence” (“Conformity,” Levine). This is indeed what many people face today from all different phases of life. Daisy, one of the characters in the book The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of a person soaked into social conformity. From the beginning of her marriage life with Tom to the end of the book, she progresses into immoral stages of life. Day after day she conforms herself into a world filled with corruptions, such as adultery and murder. Although, she is an adult, she is a character that is stuck in a stage that her age group have already
Mark Twain, although quite the comedian, makes a valid point in “Corn-Pone Opinions”. The observation of humanity and its tendencies to follow what society promotes is a relevant occurrence today. Twain leads on “. . . that it’s born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise . . .” (720). Humans are not equipped to stand their own ground; they prefer to follow the leader. Twain puts it simply, “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (719). Twain clearly makes his point noticeable to his audience, holding back no opinion throughout 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.
The character development of Huckleberry Finn from Mark Twain’s piece, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” reflects the transition from boyhood to manhood of the main protagonist who is challenged by society to either maintain his own unique perspective and attitude or assimilate into a civilized community that upholds traditional White-American beliefs. Similarly, Kate Chopin in her novel “The Awakening,” utilizes fictional storytelling to articulate the internal struggle of Edna Pontellier on her quest to part from her conventional role as a woman and for the first time since youth, pursue her self interests. Chopin’s work targets current social understanding of morality and ethics, removing the notion that you have to abide by what society demands from you based on predetermined unjustified reason. The development of the characters’ identity in these texts reciprocate the complex nature of living life with society pushing down on you with standards and expectations, challenging your own thoughts and visions. This a persistent topic that Chopin and Twain, both engage in explaining through storytelling to highlight current social issues, where they indirectly reference the American Civil War and Women’s Rights Movement during the mid to late eighteen hundreds. The social conflict in Huckleberry Finn examines the nature of an individual’s process to gain consciousness about their role in life, which enables them to do what they consider morally just. This thinking is also
Twain, Mark, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), American writer and humorist, whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire. Twain's writing is also known for realism of place and language, memorable characters, and hatred of hypocrisy and oppression.
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, tells the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. In the course of their perilous journey, Huck and Jim meet adventure, danger, and a cast of characters who are sometimes menacing and often hilarious.
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure" (Twain). This quote is from Mark Twain. He is a very famous author who has written such classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain’s real name is Samuel Clemens, and was known to have experienced different many things in his lifetime. He has worked as a miner, printer, river pilot, and more (www.cmgww.com). This tells us that he must have known many things, and possibly how he came up with this quote.
Therefore, many people out there choose to use what's in style such as makeup, clothes, hair, etc. rather than be who they are. People are frightened to take a stand and have a chance to be who they truly are. For example, A successful person got to where they are or were for being who they are. If someone were to follow them and try to be like that successful person they'll just be another copy. You have to be a leader and stand for what you believe in order to be successful in life. To be authentic is better
Have you ever wondered why most people have a tendency of following the dictates of the majority only to have a feeling of satisfaction? It is normal for adolescents to have the need of feeling accepted in society. Adolescents are capable of doing anything just to belong in a group they would want to feel accepted, they would do what it takes no matter the results of it. Most of the time this results happen to be life changing, leading adolescents to accept peer pressure, conformity, which then will advance to rebellion. These adolescents will eventually end up having a problematic and self- damaging life with avoidable consequences. Adolescent can be influence by peer to change even their appearance for example, clothes plays a huge role when a peer is not
Education may be conveyed in many formats, such as classrooms, laboratories, and books. Teachers instruct within the classroom, while researchers and scientist utilize a laboratory setting for instruction and education, while other forms of education derive from authors who communicate by the written word. One well known author and educator is Samuel L. Clemens, more commonly known as Mark Twain. Twain was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835 and utilized his childhood and adolescent experiences as a method of education. Mark Twain is powerfully depicted as an unconventional educator through his books, literature, and personal quotes.