Also known as: Samuel Langhorne Clemens

MARK TWAIN

Samuel Langhorne Clemens:

Born: November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri.

Parents: John Marshall and Jane Moffit Clemens and was the sixth child.

Since Samuel was born 2 months premature and therefore he suffered for the first 10 years with his health.

Moved to Hannibal, Missouri in 1839, on the Mississippi River

His father passed when he was just 12 years old and soon after begin writing for his brother Orion’s newspaper. “Hannibal Journal”

Twain contributed reports, poems, and humorous sketches to the Journal for several years.

BACKGROUND

Twain persuaded a riverboat pilot by the name of Horace Bixby to teach him the skills of piloting. In April of 1859, Twain had become a licensed riverboat pilot.

Mark Twain was established on February 3, 1863. “The phrase, meaning two fathoms deep, was called in making soundings from Mississippi Riverboats”.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Married: Olivia L. Langdon on February 2, 1870.

They had four children. One son Langdon and three daughters: Susy, Clara, and Jean.

In 1872, Langdon their infant son died.

In 1874, Mark Twain and his family moved into a 19- room house in Hartford, Connecticut.

BACKGROUND

To us, our house…had heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and the peace of its benediction.

Twain’s Quote: Twain wrote the major i ty of h is major works a t home

MARK TWAIN

1873: 1st Novel: Roughing It. The title refers to the decades succeeding the Civil War.

1876: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Twain’s first major use of memories of his childhood.

1880: A Tramp Abroad. 1882: The Prince and the

Pauper. 1883: Life on the Mississippi. 1884 in the United Kingdom

and 1885 in the United States: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was considered to be Twain’s greatest work.

1889: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

1892: The American Claimant.

1894: The Tragedy of Pudd’n head Wilson.

1889: The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.

A FEW OF TWAIN’S SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS

MARK TWAIN

Twain was best known as a humorist.

“He was a great fictionist and a rough-hewn stylist” (Garland)

“His verbal mannerism became a trademark: impassive, diffident, drawling, even bumbling” (Perkins)

Twain was constantly the binary man, speaking with a dual voice. His nom de plume, expressed this split personality.

“Twain was an improviser, an oral performer depending on an audience for his best effects”. (Perkins)

AS THE HUMOR UNFOLDS

He is “A gifted raconteur, distinctive humorist, and irascible moralist, he transcended the apparent limitations of his origins to become a popular public figure and one of America's best and most beloved writers”. (Author Unknown)

“He was, at the very least, already a double creature. He wanted to belong but he also wanted to laugh from the outside”. (Kaplan)

WHAT OTHER AUTHORS SAID ABOUT TWAIN:

With each book Twain focused on a multitude of things here’s a few examples.

Huckleberry Finn: was written in the aftermath of Reconstruction after the Civil War. He used realistic language in this novel.

Life on the Mississippi: describes the history, sights, people, and legends of the steamboats and towns of the Mississippi River region.

The Tragedy of Pudd’n Head Wilson: Twain focused on racial prejudice as the most critical issue facing American society.

MARK TWAIN

As his career cultivated, he seemed to become more and more removed from the humorous, cocky image of his younger days.

Twain Died: April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut of a heart disease

He left behind numerous unpublished manuscripts, including his large but incomplete autobiography.

HIS FINAL CHAPTER

Craven, Jackie. The Mark Twain House. About.com. 2007. New York Times Co.

http://architecture.about.com/od/housetours/ig/Mark-Twain-

House/Mark-Twain-House.-0ia.htm

Garland, Hamlin. NAR. June 1910. p. 833

Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain (Simon). 1966. p.18

Leninger, Phillip., Perkins, Barbara., Perkins, George. Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia of American

Literature. 1991. Harper Collins Publisher.

Mark Twain. 2011. A & E Television Networks., http://www.history.com/topics/mark-twain

WORKS CITED: