I hope that you are as excited about our new literary adventure as I am. Mark Twain, on my list of favorite authors, is right behind Faulkner and O'Connor for a variety of reasons--hey, maybe that could be a blog question at the end of the year--why are these Mrs. McGuire's favorite authors? That would be an interesting read for me--to see how you think I think.
Anyway, back to Twain. I'm providing you some resources to augment the information in the text and illuminate your reading of Huck Finn. With Twain, as with previous authors, biography is important. So here is a really good biography.
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/bio.shtml
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/twain_tree.pdf
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g4164h+pm004230))
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/pan:@field(NUMBER+@band(pan+6a13683))
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/index2.html
That should be enough to keep you busy for a while.
So for your actual assignment for this blog, I'd like for you to tell me in about 150 word, well-developed paragraph the general impression you have of Twain (Clemens) after you read through all this information.
Happy reading--
Mrs. M
21 comments:
The impression I have of Twain after reading the info, is that he was a back woods country bumpkin that turned out to be a great writer. In a way, he is kind of like William Faulkner. Both of them lived in the country and lived during the time of slavery and the civil war. Also, they married a woman and their first child died. Also, they both moved around alot and did not finish everything they started. But, back to Twain, he seems to be kind of incompetent in the way that he makes bad decisions in what he decides to invest in, and he seemed to me to be dumb in the way he was so loudy and publicly against imperialism, which got some of his writings not to be published. His books you could say were one of the only things he did right in his life.
My general impression of Mark Twain is that he was a very successful man. He came from humble beginnings and was able to use all of his surroundings to inspire him to create the writings that made him famous. Many of the events that took place in his life, were inspired by events in his own life. His uncle owned many slaves and as a boy Mark Twain often spent time with the slaves. Through these experiences he was able to capture characters like these in his writings by using their unique actions and distinctive dialect. Considering that Mark Twain dropped out of school at a very young age, one can say that he was a truely talented writer.
I already knew that Mark Twain was and remains one of the most famous authors in the world and has written many amazing novels, but there are some facts that I did not know before reading these biographies. I was not aware of the complications and adventures of his personal life. Overall, I feel sorry for the man. When he was very young, his father died and four out of his six brothers and sisters died at young ages. Then after he found the love of his life, they tried starting a family but most of his own children developed diseases and died too. Years later, Twain’s wife died before him and he was left with one daughter out of four. His whole life seemed to be surrounded with death. I do not see how anyone could blame him for his “writings turning dark” after all he had been through. I believe I would feel the same way. Although he felt much heartache, Twain continued to write and he showed his true feelings through those writings. He was not afraid to be blunt in his writings, for instance, he dares to say things no one else would in The Gilded Age. I see Mark Twain as a strong, passionate, and honest person.
The impression i got of Mark Twain after reading the info. was much like the other writers we've been reading and researching is he also grew up in a crucial time of American history. He grew up in Missouri and at an early age started his first job. Even into his early adulthood he began moving around to different states and taking different jobs. The jobs were for papers and this was his first jump as a writer. I find it very interesting how he traveled around and interacted with many different types of people. These people and experiences could have been what motivated and gave him great ideas for many of his writings. Not only are his stories very interesting but learning about his life was also very entertaining.
I believe that Samuel Clemens was a true Southerner. He lived in an era of the Civil War and had a true since of what slavery was all about. He would criticize the turn of the century on issues that he thought was important, leaving people to ridicule his opinions he thought held truth. He would bring his criticism with him when he toured around the world for his lectures. He wanted and craved the finer things in life, which would evenually leave him bankrupted. Samuel Clemens life was believed to be filled with dispair. His family deteriated right in front of him leaving him perhaps with poor judgement. In his later writings his work held a grayness that could have represented a life of loneliness and heartache that he would eventually carry with him until the end.
My overall impression on Mark Twain after reading the material given is that he’s a lot like O’Connor and Faulkner. Mark Twain also viewed the country when it was at its worst. Twain’s worked was not accepted because of it’s racial issues like Faulkner and O’Connor. Mark Twain also wrote mostly about his life experiences. He wrote about what he knew. He created a publishing company and the first book he published was Huckleberry Finn. I thought that was very interesting seeing how we are reading that story. Twain also had many financial problems, like many other authors of his time. Reading about Mark Twain and his life was very interesting. He seems like a good writer that could keep my attention, that’s not easy to do. I look forward to learning more about him and reading more of Huckleberry Finn.
After reading up on Mark Twain, I came to realize that he is an all around good guy. First off I know this because her was born on November 30, a date that he and I both share. So that in itself is a great reason to like this guy. I really came to find what kind of character he had after noticing that he wasn't afraid of the unknown. It seemed that he had a lot of different jobs, a lot in which he was no good at. But he moved around trying to find his calling; Which in the end was writing. It showed from a young age he was not for segregation. hanging out in the slave quarters as a young boy, taking in knowledge wherever he could find it. I dont know many people that are like Twain, in the way he stood up for what was right in his writings.
My general impresssion of Mark Twain was that he had a very interesting life in which he used for his writing. Before i read all of this i did not know very much about Mark Twain. I learned a lot about him and what he went through in life. I think that the fact that he grew up by the mississippi and that his family owned slaves affected his writing profusely. I thiunk that the people in his life are who is characters are based on. He is most likely able to write such adventures from some of the stories and things he encountered with the slaves. He was truely a great writer from his time.
As we all have discovered, Mark Twain (samuel clemons) was concidered to be one of americas greatest fiction writers. His writings which include short stories, novels etc. were very popular. Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Missouri. He was number six of seven children. Twain at around age 11 quit school after the fifth grade shortly following his fathers death.
although not highly educated Mark Twain appaered to be a very succesful man. He was also known to be a succesful stage performer. despite his financial success, Twain still endured great hardship through many finacial investments.
I would assume that he was a bright young man that did not make smart choices.
My impression on Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, is that he is very talented person to leave school before even finishing the 5th grade and be able to write very well know and great literature. But not only the writing but also the live performances he gave to over millions of people. He was able to write about the time in which he lived and the history of it,but also taking the things that he live around and went through. I think makes writing great and which makes me think of him as a better author. I think over all that Mark twain was a very successful and accomplished man.
Similar to what Kim said it is obvious that Mark Twain is one of the greatest American authors of all time and I can understand why. Not only did he grow up in Missouri, which was at one point in his life part of the Southern Confederacy, but he also witnessed the annihilation of slavery, the Industrial Revolution, etc. He was able to observe numerous changes in America throughout his lifetime and managed to write about them, let me rephrase that, he was able to write about them while being comical when others perceived it seriously, and for that he should be appointed immense recognition. Such issues that he wrote about, in my opinion, sent the message to his readers that life is what you make it and you should not take everything that you hear, read, and or see critically. It is what it is.
To deny Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens his great import amongst the literary giants would be an unjust failure to regard the lasting impression he has left upon the American nation and the world of literature. His life serves monument to the protagonists within his stories, witnessing and enduring the times as they change, and his work serves documentation of the real world, capturing and preserving the progression of society through some of its most turbulent times. His views inspire and seem to echo a demand for change or, at the very least, a clearer un-tunneled view of the world and the human race. And for his steadfastness – the endurance of his beliefs through ridicule and tribulation – as well as his genius talent for witty and profound writing, I admire the man. His is a life marked by experience and wisdom, so decorated with adventure and travel. Twain’s ability to so perfectly articulate these experiences into ink-filled pages, subtly dressed in commentary and emotion, is astounding. A visionary and a revolutionary, Samuel Clemens embodies all that a great writer must possess – an opinion and a passion to express it.
Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri and lived to the ripe old age of 74. Samuel Clemens and his wife, Olivia, had four children (three girls and one boy). Only one girl outlived Samuel. It is said that no parent should have to bury a child but here we see that Samuel buried three children as well as a spouse. Surely this had some impact on him and his writings. Samuel and his family lived in several different states (Connecticut, Nevada and New York) and also outside of the United States (Europe and Italy). This shows us that Samuel Clemens was very well rounded and knew about many different places. Samuel's experiences before becoming a writer included working for newspapers and being a steam boat pilot. The story that we are reading now came from tales of his life growing up in Missouri and living on the Mississippi River. I feel that Samuel knew the riverboat life backwards and forwards and loved it very much and that is why he had such success with "Huck Finn" and "Tom Sawyer". I think the story we are working on now will be very entertaining. I think the deightful ending will be a much needed change from the stories that we have been reading. All in all, the author Mark Twain was a very talented writer that loved stepping back into his childhood days and writing about them.
After reading these articles I found out alot about Mark Twain that i never even knew about. I found out that he was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri with his six other siblings.I learned that Marks real name wasnt Mark Twain, but it was Samuel Clemens. He adopted the name Mark Twain beacuse he worked on boats and thats what they called measuring the deapth of the water. I would never have guessed that someone back in those days could have traveled so much, but Mark traveled to many different places..New York, Philadelphia, Conneticuit, and so on. He married a woman named Olivia Langdon while in New York City and they had their first child after 2 years of marriage. Marks first real success was "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" in 1865. At the last part of Marks life his stories became dark and were cruel. As you know, Mark Twain was also the Author of Huckleberry Finn.
The impression that I have of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is that he was a very humble man who cared a lot about writing. Before I read his biographies I did not know much about Twain. I realized that he had to go through a lot of hard times to get known as the writer he is today. Mark Twain Lived in the country; he was the sixth of seven children. He seem to spent a lot of time on the Mississippi River and that seemed to be where a lot of his inspiration for his “adventure stories”.” He spent most of his life searching for the right career for himself. He was a rive boat captain, a Marion Ranger, and he tried to Strike it rich in the Nevada silver rush, but in the end he found his forte in writing.
After reading the all the Mark Twain links, I think that Mark Twain is one of the great Southern-American writers. He kinda reminds me of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor in a sense that he wrote about his home town. I thought it was kinda funny that he was born in Florida, Missouri. At first when I read it, I thought he was born in Florida, and I was like who! Florida is not on the Mississippi River. So anyway, back on subject. I thought that Mark Twain falling in love at first sight with Olivia (Livy) Langdon was sweet. I thought it was funny though, when he finally got his pilot license, he couldn’t use it because there was no use for river boats during the Civil War. Mark Twain had great success with his writings, Like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which portrayed his childhood on the Mississippi River. In his later life, his writings became dark and bitter; probably because most of his family had past away. From 1901 until his death in 1910 Mark Twain served as Vice President to the Anti-Imperialist League, which made people think he was a traitor. Some newspapers wouldn’t publish his works because they were afraid too. But all in all I think Mark Twain is one of the best Southern-American writers. Not bad for a guy with a fifth grade education.
The impression I got of Mark Twain was that he moved around a lot when he was growing up and, like the last two authors we’ve read, the time he lived in played a significant role in his development as a writer. He grew up in the time of slavery and the rebuilding of America, therefore those subjects are often seen in his writing. His family wasn’t rich but he had many different jobs in hopes of becoming rich himself. But none of his early career choices proved to be successful. He traveled a lot and met many diverse people that influenced a few of his characters. He eventually started writing as a last resort for a career and was very good at it. His stories are still read and he is still a renown author today.
My impression of Mark Twain is that he is very deserving of his title as one of America's great writers. He has a varied list of occupations, many of which he failed at, that gave him experiences which he was able put into his writing. There are definitely some parallels between his life and that of William Faulkner's. He commented through his writing on social issues that he learned about through his life experiences, and he was able to be very successful at communicating these points. He definitely had a natural talent for writing, and a lack of a continued education did not cause him to lose any literary skill at all. He also encountered a barrage of personal problems later in his life, which caused a shift in his writing towards a darker outlook on life, and that is to be expected. Once again, here is a writer that came about in one of the most eventful times in American history, and the richness of that time period is reflected in his writing. I can see why his works are regarded as literary treasures today.
My impression of Mark Twain is that he was a country boy that grew up when there were a lot of changes going on around him, such as the end of slavery, advances in technology and wars which no doubt influenced his writing. Samuel Clemens was the sixth of seven children, born in Missouri on November 30, 1835. His father owned a slave and his uncle owned several. He would often go into the slave quarters to hear their stories that would also influence in future literary works. At the age of eleven, his father died. He had just finished fifth grade, and from there he left to work as an apprentice at a local newspaper company. Some years later he went to San Francisco to continue writing for a local newspaper after failing as a silver prospector. He wrote a short story called “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.” This put him on the map in the literary world. And from there he wrote some of America’s most favorite stories.
Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was an amazing author with a very sad personal life. He saw his father, many of his siblings, most of his own children, and eventually his wife die, plus all of the deaths and injuries he was sure to have seen in the Civil War. His works were based largely on his own life experiences. He wrote over 30 books, not to mention the hundreds of short stories and essays, all with a fifth grade education!! He is somewhat negative in his outlook on life and the society around him, just as Faulkner and O'Connor were. Many of his stories' characters were based on the slaves he had known at his uncle's farm. He has given a wonderful look at the rapidly changing world in which he lived and the people that shared it with him.
The general impression I have of Mark Twain is that he was a very sucessful man, who seemed to be a very amazing writer. He grew up in a very changing time in American History. Twain used a lot of realism in his writings not merely a literary technique, but a way of speaking truth and exploding worn-out writings. Along with Twains novel "The adventures of Huck Finn" he wrote many other sucessful writings. His writings often reflected the changes in his life, such as, slavery, changing in technology, and pretty much the way of life. Twain was the first major author to come frome the interior of the country and he captured its distinctive, humorous slang and iconoclasm.
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