Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of Mark Twain in the literary world
Mark Twain's influence on later authors
Mark Twain life and work
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of Mark Twain in the literary world
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” This is a quotation from Mark Twain. To appreciate Mark Twain, one must study his life, his literature and his legacy.
What if someone said that Mark Twain was not really Mark Twain? They would be correct, believe it or not. Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens born on November 30, 1835 (marktwainhouse.org). “Samuel Clemens was born in a two-room rented shack some thirty-five miles southeast of Hannibal in Florida, Missouri. He was the fourth son and the sixth of seven children born to John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens” (Ward 3). “Samuel was his paternal grandfather’s name, Langhorne the family name of old friends of his fathers- but in his early years because of his size and fragility, everyone called him “Little Sammy” (Ward 3). “One infant son had died before Sam’s birth- only four of the children would survive to adulthood- and Sam, born 2 months premature was so thin and sickly, his mother remembered, “I could see no promise in him!” “(Ward 3). Mark Twain remembered that he never saw his father laugh. “My father and I were always on the most distant terms when I was a boy- a sort of armed neutrality, so to speak” (Mark Twain). Mark’s father died when Mark was eleven years old. “My mother was very much alive, fond of excitement, fond of novelties, fond of anything going that was sort of proper for members of the church to indulge in…always ready for Fourth of July processions, Sunday school processions, lectures, conventions, camp-meetings, revivals in the church…and never missed a funeral” (Mark Twain). “She loved dancing and music, too, ...
... middle of paper ...
...g/>.
Lauber, John. The Making of Mark Twain: A Biography. New York: American Heritage, 1985. Print.
"Mark Twain Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
"The Official Web Site of Mark Twain." The Official Web Site of Mark Twain. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
Twain, Mark, and Charles Neider. The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Including Chapters Now Published for the First Time. New York: HarperPerennial, 1990. Print.
Ward, Geoffrey C., Ken Burns, and Dayton Duncan. Mark Twain An Illustrated Biography. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2001. Print.
Wolff, Geoffrey. "Voice of America." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Oct. 2005. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
Twain, Mark. "Letters from the Earth." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 336-351. Print.
Guttmann, Allen. “Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee: Affirmation of the Vernacular Tradition?” in Critics on Mark Twain, pp.103-107. Edited by David B. Kesterson. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1973.
“The Convergence of the Twain” is a nonlinear retelling of the Titanic disaster of 1912; however, on a deeper level, the poem explores hubris, downfall, and how fate connects hubris to downfall. Through tone, diction and juxtaposition, the speaker describes the sinking of the Titanic as inevitable and necessary.
Ramussen, Kurt R. Mark Twain: A to Z. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Rasmussen, Kent. Mark Twain A to Z: The Essential Reference to his life and Writings. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1995.
Xplore, n.d. - Xplore, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 29 Jan. 2014. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html>. The "Mark Twain."
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or more widely-known for his pen name Mark Twain, is recognized as the father of American Literature due to his distinctive and “Americanized” literary styles, which set him aside from all other literature genre at the time. Destined to become a legendary figure, Mark Twain’s birth and death were observed with Halley’s Comet blazed across the sky. Though his writings were produced in nineteenth century, many of those underlying literary themes are well-applicable to the modern society and have attributed to his everlasting fame started during his time. A humorist is what most of audience considered himself to be, but many took the stance that his light-hearted jokes as the masquerade of a darker, melancholy truth.
Emerson, Everett. Mark Twain: A Literary Life. Philadelphia, Pa: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Print.
Mississippi Twain tells us of a man with a dream. As imperfection has it this
Literary artists refuse to be categorized, defined, and completely fathomed by any standardized paradigm, but a writer's work exhibits his or her personality traits. Though authors are incapable of being defined by mere personality traits, literary accomplishments, and literary criticisms, an author's personality can be used to sketch a limited definition of his or her literature. Mark Twain's literature manifests his personality's candor, graphicness, humor, and criticalness that William Dean Howells describes in "My Mark Twain." These attributes are evident in "Old Times on the Mississippi," The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "Fennimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," and "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg." Howells' portrayal of Twain facilitates some understanding of Twain's fiction, but by no means is Mark Twain's literature as simple as four personality traits. The traits of Twain's literature transcend simple entertainment, and he enlightens the reader about the need to reform literature, religion, society, and the individual.
Twain, Mark. "Letters to the Earth." Norton Anthology of American Literature.Vol C. Ed. Nina Baym.8th ed. New York: Norton, 2012. 347-51. Print.
Mark Twain quickly rose to fame after the release of his story, “Jim Smiley and the Jumping Frog,” and he continued to make a name for himself through the release of stories such as The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Twain saw immense success and fame; he was easily recognizable and wildly popular, even to the point of being called “the greatest American humorist of his age” by the New York Times. In short, Twain was as close to being an international sensation as one could hope for in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, it wasn’t until the later days of his writing career that Twain became so well known. As photography was expensive and hard to come by, caricatures were the method of choice to portray celebrities. And, as
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pseudonym Mark Twain, has been central to American literature for over a century. His seemingly effortless diction accurately exemplified America’s southern culture. From his early experiences in journalism to his most famous fictional works, Twain has remained relevant to American writing as well as pop culture. His iconic works are timeless and have given inspiration the youth of America for decades. He distanced himself from formal writing and became one of the most celebrated humorists. Mark Twain’s use of the common vernacular set him apart from authors of his era giving his readers a sense of familiarity and emotional connection to his characters and himself.
Twain, Mark, and Cynthia Johnson. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
PBS. “Mark Twain: Chronology” R. Kent Rasmussen’s Mark Twain A to Z. Web. 09 May 2014. .