Mark Twain

Tall Tales Mark TwainDo NowChapter 16-19 vocabulary crosswordFigurative LanguageWriters use figurative language such as imagery, similes, and metaphors to help the reader visualize and experience events and emotions in a story. Imagerya word or phrase that refers to sensory experience (sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste)helps create a physical experience for the reader and adds immediacy to literary language. Some figurative language asks us to stretch our imaginations, finding the likeness in seemingly unrelated things. Simile is a comparison of two things that initially seem quite different but are shown to have significant resemblance. Similes employ connective words, usually like, as, than, or a verb such as resembles. A metaphor is a statement that one thing is something else that, in a literal sense, it is not. By asserting that a thing is something else, a metaphor creates a close association that underscores an important similarity between these two things.

Tall TalesIn The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the stylistic power of a tall tale serves to extend and deepen the story, characters, and themes. The most frequent stylistic effect is hyperboleexaggeration, usually for comic purposes and often enhanced by biblical or Shakespearean echoes. With hyperbole, Twain makes a point by overstating it. This reflects the influence of the frontier tradition of the tall tale.Group activityHow many tall tales can you find in chapters 1-19? List them.Create a presentation that answers the following questions. Use specific examples from the text.Which ones are the best and why?Do these tales serve as metaphors?Do they provide us with additional insight into Toms world?What does it take for Tom to weave a successful tale?Lesson 2Tall Tales ContinuedDo Now

On one level, this is just another silly Simpsons joke--the hobo doesn't know that Tom and Huck were the product of an author. On quite another level, though, it reveals how deeply Tom, Huck, and Mark Twain have become engrained in the American cultural consciousness, as icons of American literary history. The hobo can't distinguish Twain's stories from some incredibly famous tall tales, and by inclusion in the "Tall Tales" episode of the Simpsons, neither can the writers. Tom and Huck have become American icons in the same vein as Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed..Quickwrite: Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?How can the scene when the boys visit their own funerals be a tall tale?

There was a rustle in the gallery, which nobody noticed; a moment later the church door creaked; the minister raised his streaming eyes above his handkerchief, and stood transfixed! First one and then another pair of eyes followed the minister's, and then almost with one impulse the congregation rose and stared while the three dead boys came marching up the aisle, Tom in the lead, Joe next, and Huck, a ruin of drooping rags, sneaking sheepishly in the rear! They had been hid in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!Why can the whitewashing story be considered a tall tale?

Why can the episode between Becky and Tom be considered a tall tale?

How can the rafting scene be a tall tale?

Do Now: Tall Tale Knowledge#1 Who ruled over Camelot?King ArthurMerlinLancelotNone of the above

#2 Who is the giant lumberjack with a large blue ox?Paul BunyanPecos BillJohn HenryDavy Crockett

#3 Who could ride a cyclone like a bronco?Paul BunyanPecos BillJohn HenryDavy Crockett

#4 Who is known as "King of the Wild Frontier"?Paul BunyanPecos BillJohn HenryDavy Crockett

#5 John Henry was a steel driver for the railroad who challenged and beat a steam hammer in a contest to prove he was just as good.TrueFalse

#6 According to legend, this pioneer introduced apples to the country as he traveled by foot spreading seeds as he went.Paul BunyanPecos BillJohnny AppleseedDavy Crockett

#7 Who had an affair with King Arthur's wife Guinevere?GalahadMerlinLancelotGawainKay

#8 This man stole from the rich to give to the poor.GalahadRobin HoodSir JohnLancelot

#9 In the poem of the same name, what epic hero kills Grendel?BeowulfHeorotHruntingThorFreyr

#10 This European legend split an apple that rested on the top of his son's head.Robin HoodBeowulfWilliam TellHans Christian Andersen

What did you find common to the stories in Tom Sawyer?Characteristics of a Tall TaleA tall tale involves exaggeration, often used for humorous purposes. Mark Twain used exaggeration effectively in many of his stories--"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "The Invalid's Story," and "Punch Bros. Punch," for example. Other writers who effectively use exaggeration, albeit not in a tall tale necessarily, include Charles Dickens (think Uriah Heep or Francis Micawber), and Garrison Keillor (Gary Keillor being a fabulous tale that comes to mind).First Person Narration: Tall tales are normally written in first person, that is the narrator is an active participant in the tale. This lends the tale more "authenticity."Some tall tales involve legendary figures. Paul Bunyan is the most famous American character.Some legendary figures are real people. There are more tall tales involving American baseball player Babe Ruth than could fill a book.

Group ActivityYou will read two tall talesSummarize eachCompare and contrast each tale with a tale in Tom SawyerWrite a Tall TaleWrite a tall tale on Storybird.com. Choose an incident.List facts about the incident.Exaggerate the facts. For example, you could write about last Friday's football game that your school won 21-10. I meant the football game we won 213-6 (Star running back Timmy Tidewater felt sorry for the other team and scored a touchdown for them in the 4th quarter.). Todd Wallenbacjerstynomerslimkadin passed for 8,000 yards, saved orphans from a burning building at halftime, and sold popcorn between the third and fourth quarters.Make sure it's written in the first person

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