The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County Summary

672 Words2 Pages

Dai’Shown Valrey
Ms. Kimbrough
English III-1
5 March 2015 Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born November 30th, 1835 in Hannibal, Missouri, and died April 21st, 1910 due to heart complications. Twain is famous for his inimitable, unique writing style, most notably seen in one of his most famous novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He’s also known for his elaborate themes; a few of which makes up the story of “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. In Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, Twain uses setting and characterization of Smiley to show how gambling could have you stuck thinking about the consequences in the case that you lose. In the story, an unnamed character from the East …show more content…

That is until we’re introduced to the stories antagonist; a man known as The Stranger. We don’t know much about The Stranger. Only that he does not seem to be impressed by Dan’l Webster, Jim’s pet frog whom according to Jim, can out jump/ jump higher than any frog. ‘“Well’. Smiley says, easy and careless, ‘He’s good enough for one thing. I should judge he can outjump any frog in Calaveras County”’ (Twain 688). This is confirmed to be true until the protagonists encounter with The Stranger. At some point in story, the two men place a bet of $40 dollars that Dan’l Webster is no better than any other frog; and knowing full and well that this is far from the truth, and due to his already flourishing gambling problem, Smiley accepts. Only to be cheated when he’s not looking as The Stranger fills Dan’l Webster up with a quail shot so that he cannot jump. “Then he says, ‘One-two-three-git!’ and him and the feller touched up the frogs from behind, and the new frog hopped off, but Dan'l give a heave, and hysted up his shoulders so like a Frenchman, but it Twain no use he couldn't budge” (Twain 689). The Stranger is assumed to be associated with the theme of lies and deceit as he is the one who has cheated, while Smiley is associated with his clever and

Show More
Related

  • The Life of Mark Twain

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twain, originally born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was the sixth child of a family of eight. Born to John and Jane Clemens on November 30, 1835, Twain was born in the small town of Florida, Missouri. At the age of four, Mark Twain and his family then relocated to Hannibal in the hope of drastically improving their living conditions. He later died of heart disease in Redding, Connecticut on April 21,1910. By lineage, Twain was of Southern decent, as both of his parents' birthplaces were that of Virginia. Slaveholding in the small community of Hannibal, with only a population of 2000 at the time, provided a variety of both a rugged lifestyle mixed with southern tradition. With a lifestyle previously mentioned, these played as a major influence in his major writings, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

    Read More

  • Intolerance in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    who is more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain. He was born in

    Read More

  • Halley's Comet In Huckleberry Finn

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30th, 1885. It was during this period of history that Halley’s Comet was visible to Earth (Upton, 2013). Why that in itself may not be that remarkable, what does make it interesting as it pertains to Mark Twain is when it was visible again. Halley’s Comet returned to Earth about 75 years later (Upton, 2013). It was during its return on April 10th, 1885 that Mark Twain passed away. In fact, Twain hoped to die during the comet’s return. Twain stated, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together (Upton, 2013). While this is at the very least an interesting fact about Mark Twain, his literary works are what he is famous for.

    Read More

  • Culture And Cultures In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Use Of Regionalism In The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1850's, a new literary movement emerged. This movement, termed regionalism, shows fidelity to a particular region or culture, namely through character's speech, manners, and beliefs. One distinct characteristic of regionalism present in all such texts is the idea that people within these cultures are very difficult to change because the characters want to preserve their distinct way of life. Two short stories in particular effectively demonstrate regionalism—Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," published in 1865, and Bret Harte's 1868 publication of "The Luck of Roaring Camp." Both Twain and Harte use regionalism within their short stories; however, they do so by utilizing completely different aspects of local

    Read More

  • The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain, one of the most distinguished American authors in the 19th century, made his living by writing “light, humorous verse, but evolved this literature into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind.” The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, written by Mark Twain, focuses on a narrator from the east suffering through a Westerner’s tale about a jumping frog as the author attempts to entertain the reader through its oddities in the short story, its humorous First, Mark Twain uses educated diction and obscure descriptions of Simon Wheeler in an attempt to entertain the general public reading the newspaper “The Saturday,” the newspaper where Mark Twain published his original version of his short story. To begin, Mark Twain uses the character of Jim Smiley to interest the reader and keep them hooked on the obscure personality of Mr. Smiley and his frog. Jim Smiley, a man addicted to gambling and competition, fools others through deception and false manipulations and gains the reader’s attention through his dedication to winning and competing. Through clever manipulation of words, Jim downplays the skill of his investments (his animals) and in this case, his frog, while failing to mention the skill of the frog and the months of training he put into training this particular animal.... ...

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Lottery And Young Goodman Brown

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jackson in her story, “The Lottery”, describes how society and villagers preserve the tradition of lottery without even knowing its origin. Hawthorne, in his story, “Young Goodman Brown” describes the presence of corruption and evil in the society. Both stories have common ideas such as corruption in our society, continuation of barbarous and unethical old traditions, and failure of people in handling those barbarous actions. Both stories have a common theme of evil and darkness but they are presented in different manners. This paper discusses similarities and differences in “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” by analyzing different literary elements. Jackson, in her story, questions beliefs of individuals, their actions, and blind faith towards old barbaric traditions by using an evil theme and symbolism. Hawthorne adopted a different approach to show presence of evil in our society by showing the inner struggle of the lead character.

    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

  • 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

  • Mark Twain’s The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Satire In Mark Twain's Short Stories

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story has also been published with two other titles, such as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In this episode, the narrator retells a story that he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in the same Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. The narrator describes him, saying “If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywhere, he’ll bet you how long it would take him to get to wherever he was going, and if accepted, he would follow that straddle bug to Mexico” (“Samuel Clemens.”).

    Read More

  • Use Of Archetypes In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lottery” is a satire that is meant to shock and provoke readers with the prospect that societal contentment and tradition can evoke the emersion of illogical and harmful actions. The author, Shirley Jackson, understands that the proper use of symbolism and character archetypes is followed by a more impactful story. “The Lottery” opens with children who are out of school for summer break “[on a clear and sunny… day.” (Jackson, 1948, p. 221). Such an innocuous, familiar scene, might elicit from the reader nostalgic, whimsical memories of childhood play. Appropriately, the children in this story represent the innocent, susceptible future generation of the town. They do not seem to fully fathom the severity of the lottery or the abhorrent nature of the violence associated with the town’s traditions. For this reason, the reader most likely develops an expectation that this story will be a pleasant and optimistic one that takes place on a beautiful sunny day and involves the laughter and tomfoolery of young happy kids.

    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

  • The Horror of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    Winning vast amounts of money can make anyone slaphappy, but unfortunately this type of wager won’t be discussed in Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery.” Jackson catches the reader’s attention by describing a typical day by using words such as “blossoming, clear and sunny skies” to attract the reader into believing a calm and hopeful setting which eventually turns dark. In this short story Jackson tells a tale of a sinister and malevolent town in America that conforms to the treacherous acts of murder in order to keep their annual harvest tradition alive. Jackson exposes the monstrosity of people within this society in this chilling tale. She allows the reader’s to ponder and lead them to believe that the lottery is actually a good thing; till she implements foreshadowing, to hint at the dreadfulness behind the lottery and its meaning. My goal in this paper is to discuss why Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a portrayed as a horror story, and the importance the townspeople used to glorify ritualistic killings, to appease to an unseeable force in return of good harvest for the upcoming year.

    Read More

  • Irony in the Story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a “clear and sunny” day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.

    Read More

More about The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County Summary

Open Document