Earthquakes are known for some of the greatest deviations in the world. Following the destruction of an earthquake comes the depression, anxiety, and grievances from people who were and were not have been affected by this natural disaster. While Mark Twain describes the events of an earthquake in The San Francisco Earthquake, his description does not include any depression, anxiety, or grievances. Instead, it consists of humor. Twain humorously describes the San Francisco earthquake to show a new attitude towards devastation instead of the average feeling of fear that the majority of people develop when something like an earthquake occurs. When Mark Twain writes about the earthquake that occurred in San Francisco, he recalls the comedy and the silliness that it caused. Throughout the essay Twain looks …show more content…
Many of his sentences are longer, especially when writing in detail about the people who were in the earthquake. These longer sentences contains comedic ideas and details which does not allow serious feelings into his writing. He avoids short sentences to keep dramatic emphasis and tension out of his writing. Shorter sentences would hurt the comedic language Twain reaches, which would eventually hurt his purpose and credibility by having an inconsistent style. Mark Twain wrote The San Francisco Earthquake to show that fear and sadness is not mandatory when a disaster such as an earthquake occurs. He encourages to look at the fun moments that happen and fear is unnecessary. He executes his purpose with humorous language, specific stories, and long sentences. His paper is light and comedic and stays away from heavy details that would bring the mood of the essay down which is exactly is what he wants the audience to do. Do not focus on the depressing moments in depressing events, but focus on the more uplifting
Earthquake: a series of vibrations induced in the earth’s crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating; something that is severely disruptive; upheaval (Shravan). Tsunami: an unusually large sea wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption (Shravan). Combine these two catastrophic natural disasters, and it will be a day that will forever live in infamy through terror; a day much like that of October 28, 1746 in Lima, Peru, in which an entire city was destroyed within mere minutes. Author Charles Walker guides his audience through the devastation and wreckage of this heartbroken town and into the economic, political, religious, and social fallout that followed. Walker argues that the aftermath of this tragedy transformed into a voting of the citizens’ various ideas perceived of the future of Lima, theological consequences, and the structure of the colonial rule (p. 12).
In the novel, a father had thoughtfully kept himself and his son some bread, but after his son saw he was hiding the bread, even though his father had him some too, the son attacked his father. The son didn’t care that his father had him bread aswell, he wanted it all to himself, so he could have more. In order to do so, the boy killed his father and took the bread for himself. Next, in New York City, an earthquake occurred and everyone inside of the buildings that were being demolished, falling in, etc all reacted differently to the situation. Some froze, others just screamed, and several other things.
Mark Twain’s use of humor in the story mocks and shines light on the issues of our society’s political system from back then that continue
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
My other gripe was that Twain seems to ramble on and on and on an.....
The introduction to Twain’s essay includes a flashback to create the frame of the essay and establish the themes. He uses imagery to really set the scene and emphasize its importance. Twain makes it obvious from the beginning that his audience is very broad, his tone is calm and reasonable. He is using this essay to show that people rely on public opinion, and that people conform in order to be in the majority. In the introduction, he lays out his plan very clearly and proceeds to plead his case.
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
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes in the United States. Even though it only lasted less than a minute, the damages and aftermath of the earthquake were disastrous. These damages were not just from the earthquake, but also from other hazards that occurred because of it. It also had a huge effect on the people living in San Francisco. Many people, the government, and other countries helped the city of San Francisco with relief goods like food and clothing. The city used up their resources in order to rebuild the city and spent a lot of money. This earthquake also started a scientific revolution about earthquakes and its effects.
(the sudden collapse of a national landmark, the Bridge of San Luis Rey) which five people were crossing at the time of the disaster. All five were killed instantly: a little boy, a young girl, a wealthy old woman, an old man, and a youth. Brother Juniper is shocked into a metaphysical thought: “If there were any pattern in the universe at all, any plan in a human life, surely it could be discovered mysteriously latent in those lives so suddenly cut off. Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan. And in that instant Brother Juniper made the resolve to inquire into the secret lives of those five persons, that moment falling through the air, and to surprise the reason of their taking off” (Wilder, 5).
Before examining the Northridge event, understanding the naturally occurring hazard that is an earthquake will help to better understand exactly what happened and why it was such an important geological event. With four distinct layers, two layers, the crust and upper portion of the mantle, compose the skin that is the surface layer of the Earth. The crust is not a single, continuous piece. It is actually several different pieces, or plates, that come together to form the puzzle that comprises the surface of the Earth. These plates are in constant motion rubbing against one another. These areas, known as fault lines, where the plates rub up against one another have spots where one plate ”gets stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. When the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick and is how most of the earthquakes around the world occur” (Wald, 2012). The energy stored from the friction of the two plate...
Mark Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a short story with the lesson that what goes around comes around. In this short story, which first appeared in 1856 and his first successful story, Twain uses local customs of the time, dialect, and examples of social status in his story to create a realistic view of the region in which the story takes place. The way that the characters behave is very distinctive. Dialect is also used to give the reader a convincing impression of the setting in “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. The social status of the main characters in this story also was something that Twain took into account in writing this story. Mark Twain is a realist who concentrates on the customs, dialect, and social status of specific regions of the country.
There was a massive earthquake in San Francisco during the year of 1906. The country of United States went through great loss because of this massacre. Nearly 250,000 people had become homeless as the result of this great earthquake. Winchester pointed out the question: How unprepared was America when this disaster hit? He compared the San Francisco earthquake to the Katrina hurricane in 2005.
Twain uses words such as vomiting, squirming, grinding, terrific, disgusted, and foolishness. Although the context surrounding each word is different, the words are there simply show the reader how intense the earthquake was or how ridiculous people acted when facing a frightening situation. The words are in place to not only add the emphasis on the earthquake, but they do it for the people and their actions, for the things that took place, and for what he witnessed in general. Just as Twain used words that intensify his writing, London's words are more violent rather than sweet and short, but they have the same intention. London uses words like, smashed, piled, humped, burst, twitching, and thrown. His words are more violent because London is trying to really emphasize the destruction rather than the actions of people. London's’ word choice adds more imagery for the reader and it adds more interest and
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.
Mark Twain is an experienced writer and knows that when one writes the words are a tool not only to craft a story with their simple meaning but can evoke something simply by the way they are structured. If someone were to expect the worst of Mark Twain and his writing they may say that his story on the earthquake becomes unfocused as it goes on and no longer narrates his experience in an order like the first half. They would emphasis that his narration becomes scattered as he lists these so called “Curiosities” of the earthquake with no obvious structure which in any way fits the first half. In his writing Mark Twain outlines the start of the fabled day of the “‘great’ earthquake.” as though the earthquake is the last thing he expects to occur. And why shouldn’t he “it was just afternoon, on a bright october day.” hardly the setting for such an event. Before and as the earthquake occurs the writing plays out on a classical narrative structure, events stay in order and constantly relate back to Mark Twain. But as the city crumbles around Mark Twain so does the prior structure of the essay. No longer does he refer to himself but goes from event to event with seemingly little care to how they are connected. Before judging any further take a step back. If a person were to find themselves in a disaster how would they process it? Before it occurred it would be likely to play out similar to the thoughts of any other day. And even as it begins one may hold together there composure but soon it is likely to fall apart. What they take in may become scattered, the proper way of thinking falls apart. The structure of the writing does not have a loss of focus in the sense that the author himself loses focus well writing but in the author losing focus during the event itself. And when proper thought falls apart what is left? Instinct. Throughout the latter half of the writing Mark Twain does not once