Mark Twain: A Man of Interest

814 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of Mark Twain in American literature

Samuel Clemens is known worldwide for his skills in literature. Most probably know him better as Mark Twain. One of Mark’s quotes states “It is human life. We are blown upon the world... complacently showing off our grace of form and our dainty iridescent colors; then we vanish with a little puff, leaving nothing behind but a memory…there is not one of us who is not willing to confess that he is really only a soap-bubble, and as little worth the making” (Twain, Mark). In this quote Twain shows that one person is only one person, but it takes many to make something that is worth something. Mark Twain might be just one person but he was a person with a talent, a talent everyone deserves to know about. Twain wrote books that are known around the world. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and The Prince and the Pauper are three of his books thousands of people know.

Samuel Clemens is known worldwide for his skills in literature. Most probably know him better as Mark Twain. Mark was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. His parents were John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens. Mark had seven other relatives to grow up with. He had four brothers, Orion, Pleasant, Benjamin and Henry. Samuel’s two sisters were Pamela and Margaret. Twain and his family only stayed in Florida up until Mark was five. The family then moved to Hannibal, Missouri in 1839(Gribben). In 1847, at the age of 11, Mark’s father died. Due to his father’s death Mark had to be pulled out of school. He was only in Elementary when he was pulled out (Kunitz and Haycraft, 159).

Since Mark was growing up when the world began to change from a rural nation to an industrial nation, Mark began to work for a newspaper and printing firm. He then star...

... middle of paper ...

...the inhumanity of slavery (Mark Twain…Adventure).

Works Cited
Mark Twain-His Amazing Adventure. Videotape. A&E Biography, 1995.

Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, eds. American Authors 1600-1900: A Biographical Dictionary of

American Literature. New York, 1938

“The Man.” The Mark Twain House & Museum. 2005. 19 February 2010.

http://marktwainhouse.org/theman/index.shtml.

Gribben, Alan. “Twain Mark.” World Book Student. 2010. 19 February 2010.

http://worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar571880&st=mark+twain.

Harsha, Sri. “Interesting Facts about Mark Twain.” Purple Slinky. 2010. 19 February 2010.

http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/people/interesting-facts-about-mark-twain/.

Twain, Mark. Mark Twain’s Own Autobiography. Mark Twain Quotations-Life. n.d. 22 February 2010

http://www.twainquotes.com/Life.html.

Show More
Related

  • Racism In Huck Finn

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain’s best works is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The main characters in the book are Huckleberry Finn, Jim and Tin Sawyer. This book is about the adventures Huck Finn takes to get away from his drunkard father. When Huck gets suck of his father he decides to run away to Jackson’s Island which is in the middle of the Mississippi river. On the island he ends up finding Jim who is a slave of Miss Watson’s. Jim wants to be a free slave so they both decide to head to the Free states. On the way Huck and Jim run into some obstacles. They somehow end up in a feud with the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons also they meet two thieves. After facing all of these problems, Huck decides to go to the Phelps’ who are actually related to Tom Sawyer and were expecting to see Tom. Knowing this, Huck decides to act as Tom for a while. By the end of the story word comes out the Jim was already free. He was free because Miss Watson had passed away and had freed him before she did. At the end of the story huckleberry decides again that he will go north without telling anyone.

    Read More

  • Maggie Holmes And Dave Bender's Perceptions Of Work By Studs Terkel

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Studs Terkel published a nonfiction Working which consists many interviews among different people’s descriptions of their jobs. Through this book, Terkel demonstrates the meaning of work to different people and how their work experiences shape their attitudes about their lives. Among these interviewers, Maggie Holmes is a domestic while Dave Bender is a factory owner. Although their wages are different, Maggie Holmes and Dave Bender’s attitudes about their works are contradictory. People who love their works are passionate and happy about their lives and express less complain than those people who do not like their jobs.

    Read More

  • Parallelism In Huckleberry Finn

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain is considered one of America 's most highly regarded literary icons. He upholds this status by utilizing parallelism to include bits of information about himself in the novel. Throughout the story, Twain keeps a sort of idol-influenced motivation

    Read More

  • Life and Works of Mark Twain

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mark Twain is considered as one of the most renowned authors of his time. He attained worldwide success, very early in his professional career. Twain was mostly known for writing realistic novels, in which the language and the mindset of the people reflected the traditions and values of their environment. As he spent ample time near the Mississippi River, the symbolism of the river and its significance is reflected in his books. Overall, Mark Twain was a celebrated author, who relied on realistic reflections of his own observations, with an added mixture of humor.

    Read More

  • Mark Twain Research Paper

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twain who's real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 and later died April 21, 1910. He was best known as an American humorist and for his realistic view of America in the early nineteenth century through his novels and other stories he had wrote. He had the whole worlds interest through his expert writings and lectures.

    Read More

  • The Misanthropic Themes Of Mark Twain

    1926 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life can be unpredictable. It can impact a man in more ways than one throughout the course of his lifetime. In the end, change is inevitable, which can be brought upon someone through a series of events. These events can incite a metamorphosis in an individual. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, more famously known as Mark Twain, is a perfect candidate. He completely transformed to a different writer with a new demeanor through the course of time. Mark Twain’s later years impacted his changed attitude about society, which is reflected in his darker tone and misanthropic themes.

    Read More

  • The Mark Twain Thesis

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mississippi Twain tells us of a man with a dream. As imperfection has it this

    Read More

  • Mark Twain

    1865 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, which was two months sooner than expected. At this time Missouri was a slave holding state. However, Twain's father, a local storeowner, was against slavery in all forms and instilled this belief in his son at a young age. Twain 's hometown was small. He describe it as having two main roads only 100 yards long with a population of no more than 50 people. In fact so small that with a good tail wind you could spit from one end to the other (www.asahi-net.or.jp/~XA3K-soy/mt/mtpage.htm). As a young boy he dreamed of a life in a better place, filled with adventure. This was the life he led. He was taught to write as a child by his mother. Finding that he enjoyed it, he decided to make it his career.

    Read More

  • The Second Child Of John Marshalll And Jane Moffit Clemens

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Samuel Clemens, was the sixth child of John Marshalll and Jane Moffit Clemens, born two months prematurely and was in poor health for the first 10 years of his life. His mother tried different types of remedies during those younger years. Twain used his memories of his childhood and his illness to fill the pages of several of his books including Tom Sawyer and other writings. Clemens was often pampered, by his mother, and thus developed early in life the testing her indulgence through mischief, while offering his humor as bond for the crimes he would commit. When Twain’s mother was in her 80s, he asked her about his poor health in those early years: “I suppose that during that whole time you were uneasy about me?” “Yes, the whole time,” she answered. “Afraid I wouldn’t live?” “No,” she said, “afraid you would.” One can clearly see where Twain got his sense of humor and zest for life, (Morris, 1996)). Even though it seemed life started out rough Twain pushed his passed it all and went for what he wanted not allowing anyone to stand in his way.

    Read More

  • The Life Of Mark Twain

    1417 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He was one of the foremost American philosophers of his day; he was the world's most famous humorist of any day. During the later years of his life he ranked not only as America's chief man of letters, but likewise as her best known and best loved citizen.

    Read More

  • Satire In Mark Twain's Short Stories

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain uses humor, irony, and satire in his short stories. Also known as Samuel Clemens, he was a writer of the late 19th century in America. Most famously known for his work The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain was born on November 30th, 1835, in the state of Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth child in his family, making him the youngest child.

    Read More

  • Samuel Clemens

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Book Report

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. He later used this experience in creating his novels. His first writings appeared in a newspaper on February 2, 1863 under the pen name “Mark Twain.';

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's Influence on American Literature

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Brief History of Mark Twain

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many quotes to describe a classical American author, but Ulysses S. Grant describes one particular true American author as “. . . the simple soldier, who, all untaught of the silken phrase markers, linked words together with an art surpassing the art of schools and into them put a something which will bring American ears, as long as America shall last, the roll of his vanished drums and the thread of his marching hosts.” (American Experience, Grant’s Memoirs) Mark Twain is this simple soldier who is a true American author who expressed America with his writings. He fought for America in his writings as he did when he fought in the Civil War; the realistic literary time period. And his travels around the nation and life-changing experiences influenced him to write for the American readers to imagine what he viewed. Twain is a true American author due to his life events that influenced him to share with his beloved readers.

    Read More

More about Mark Twain: A Man of Interest

Open Document