Biography of Mark Twain
Mark Twain was a writer whose works revolved around his childhood experiences growing up on the Mississippi River. The main source of his writing was the time he spent in Hannibal, Missouri as a young boy. He also used his childhood friends in many of his work, such as modeling the character Sid in Huck Finn after his brother Henry. Twain also used the happy times in his life to express his feeling in his writings. Twain used the trials of his life to make his works humorous and all-time American classics.
Twain's life began in the sleepy town of Florida, Missouri. After a few years of living in Florida, Twain's family packed up and moved to Hannibal, Missouri, about 30 miles away from Florida. Hannibal is where most of Twain's thoughts turned into his writings. Hannibal was a small town of 50 people and 3 stores when the Twain family moved in (Foner 16). By the end of the decade it boasted 1,034 persons, a newspaper, a cigar factory, a whisky distillery, and several slaughter houses (16). The key to Hannibal's growth was the main source of Twain's writings the Mississippi River- "the great Mississippi, the magnificent Mississippi, rolling its mile wide tide along" (16). While in Hannibal the young Twain led a life like any other young boy. He played with friends, went swimming, and of course went to school. But tragedy struck while Mark was only 12 years old: his father passed away. Six years later Twain left Hannibal on May 27, 1853 (21). In the autograph album of one of his girl friends, he bade his farewell to Hannibal:
"Good-by, good-by, I bid you now, my friend: And though 'tis hard to say the word, to destiny I bend" (21). Twain was four years old when he was brought to Hannibal; he was eight...
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...cluding Twain himself.
In closing Twain was a writer that took in surroundings and somehow turned them into some of the greatest books in the world; such as his life in Hannibal, working as a river boat pilot, fighting in the civil war, moving to Nevada, and his lectures during 1868 -- 69. All of these events in his life somewhat effected the writing style he used. Twain also used these times in his life to make his writings humorous to his public. Twain didn't write stories that were complicated because he was a fairly "laid back" guy. This style that Twain used was one that anybody could understand or relate to. This is why Twain's name will live on and on for generations.
Bibliography:
Foner, Philip., Mark Twain Social Critic. New York: International Publishers, 1981
Twain, Mark., The Autobiography of Mark Twain. New York: Harper and Row, 1959
This means that the erratic style it is written in fits the short attention-span and exaggerated inclinations of Huck perfectly. Furthermore, as stated previously, Twain writes multiple stories that are inconclusive. He does this to maintain the character of Huck, because it is Huck writing the book. Since Huck is at a younger age, there would of course be inconsistencies in the plot, and that is the genius that many do not or refuse to see. Huck would want to make his story thrilling and multi-faceted so that people would be interested, so he does what many authors do and more than likely speaks in hyperbole to draw his readers in. This is not to say that there are no moral or ethical revelations in the novel, but the ones that are in the text were not initially placed in the story with the intention of providing a moral
Samuel Longhorn Clemens, or better known as Mark Twain is recognized for his novels set in his adolescence (America 's Story from America 's Library). Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri and was the sixth of seven children. At the age of four, Mark Twain moved to a small frontier town in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River with his family. Years later, on April 21, 1910 Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut in his sleep. Mark Twain’s purpose for writing his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was to provide a clear view of the culture and lifestyle during the period of the novel.
The main thing that stood out in the book was that the story always happened around the river. Huck would go away from the river for a while but would always end up coming back to it a short time later. It was the same way with Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. “Mark Twain” is a river man's term for water that was just barely safe for navigation (Kaplan). He was only four years old when his family moved to Hannibal, a small town in Marion County on the west bank of the Mississippi River. There Clemens spent his boyhood, amazed by the romance and shocked by the violence of the river life, with the steamboats, keelboats, and giant lumber rafts, as well as by the people who washed up by the river, the professional gamblers and confidence men. Near the river, the men were fierce and had little cares. It was no place for a young boy.
Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida . At age four, his family of nine moved to the banks of the Mississippi River in Hannibal , Missouri . His family was happy there but not all of his memories of the river were particularly pleasant. Because Missouri was one of the fifteen slave states it was subject to racism and Twain grew up witnessing lynchings, mobs, racism and general inhumane treatment of African Americans. One of Twain’s most horrible memories was “the murder of a defenseless slave by a ruthless slave master and of course, the grim sight of shackled slaves was itself a near-constant along the docks of the river” (Howard). The sightings at the river were not Twain’s only experience around African American slaves though as his own father and uncle both owned slaves. “When Twain visited his uncle’s farm, he enjoyed playing in the slave quarters and listening to their tall tales and spirituals, which he kept with him throughout his life” (http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/bio.shtml) When Twain left the South forever, he felt that it was his duty to pay back the debt he felt ever white man owed to every black man because of all the cruelness he had seen done to them. Even though the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a sequel to the light hearted novel Tom Sawyer, it shows the darker aspects of growing up next to the Mississippi river in a slave state (Howard).
Bellamy, G. C. Mark Twain as a Literary Artist. University of Oklahoma Press, 10-Sep-2012. 440 Pages.
...nfortunate events, Mark Twain became very bitter, cynical and reclusive from the outside world. Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic style of writing and Mark Twain’s humorous and realism tone of writing have played a large role in the reasons of why literature is the way it is today.
When Twain was working for his brother in the production of a newspaper "the Hannibal Journal" This is where Twain began to seriously writing and where he first published his writings. He contributed to the newspaper with his reports, skits, poe...
Mississippi Twain tells us of a man with a dream. As imperfection has it this
...he refused to acquiesce to convention in his writings. Though he viciously attacked the wrongs that permeated his world, he did not solve the problems of humanity with his literature. But the vital voice of his literature is not dead, and it offers guidance for those seeking to fathom Twain's mark.
Mark Twain, a famous American writer and satirist, wrote many highly acclaimed books throughout the world. His masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earned him recognition as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. The novel follows a teenage boy named Huck Finn, whose father is an alcoholic. Due to his father's violence, Huck runs away and meets a runaway slave named Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck goes against society and decides to help Jim break free from slavery.
At the young age of twelve, Twain lost his father. Ever since the loss of his father, he began to work in various jobs. From starting as “an apprentice, then a composer, with local printers, contributing occasional squibs to local newspapers” (“Mark Twain”). The early start of responsibility was just the beginning of his career. During the time, he was working for the newspaper, for six years in the newspaper company, he “finally ended up as an assistant to his brother, Orion” (“Samuel Langhorne Clemens.”). He stayed in Iowa by his brother’s side until he
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 to create a satirical imitation of the early American culture of the South through the themes of social class, racism, conscience, and religion.
The Life of Samuel Clemens A.K.A. Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens is better known as Mark Twain, the distinguished novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and literary critic who ranks among the great figures of American Literature. Twain was born in Florida Missouri, in 1835, To John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton. As a new born Twain already had moved four times westward. In 1839 the family moved again, this time eastward to Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal was a frontier town of less than 500 residents. As small as the town was it offered valuable materials and opportunities for a young writer. Most of the residents knew Samuel well, considering they were on the lower half of the social scale, such as poor whites and slaves. The town of Hannibal was mostly used for farmers coming in from the countryside. It was also a river town, swamped with travelers moving up stream and down stream. Some of the travelers were steamboat men, circus performers, minstrel companies, and showboat actors. Since all this action was going on all the time, that opened a big door to the beginning of Samuel’s stories. It provided a huge source of literary material. Shortly after the death of his father in 1847, he ended the brief period of his schooling to become a printer’s apprentice. Like many nineteenth century authors, he was preparing for his writing career later in life. Working as a Printer’s apprentice he got practice as a typesetter and miscellaneous reading. The first thing Samuel wrote as a used piece was a few skits for his brothers Orion’s Hannibal newspaper and a sketch, for The Dandy Frightening The Squatter, published in Boston in 1852. The first real book ever published by Mark Twain was Life on the Mississippi River. Between 1853 and 1857 Clemens worked a journeyman printer in seven different places. During this trip of making sketches and writing stories, he began eastward by boat. Twain started writing letters telling about his visits to New York and the Middle West in 1867. On his trip he seemed to have gotten him self in a lot a trouble such as disorderly conduct. After time passed Mark kept writing short stories here and there and a few sketches also. However, in 1869 he became part owner of the Buffalo Express. In 1870 Mark met the girl of his dreams and Olivia Langdon and
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AUTHOR’S SKETCH Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. When Samuel Clemens was four years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he spent his childhood. Clemens first approach to literature was through typesetting for a newspaper in 1851. At the time Orion, his brother, was a newspaper publisher in Hannibal. From 1857 until 1861, he served as the pilot of a riverboat on the Mississippi River.
The southern way of speech had yet to have been captured skillfully until Twain’s writing. Twain went into detail in L...