MARK TWAIN

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), is perhaps better known by his pen name,

MARK TWAIN

•Twain grew up in Hannibal MO, along the banks of the Mississippi River.

Clemens' pseudonym, Mark Twain, comes from his days as a river pilot. It is a river term which means two fathoms or 12-feet when the depth of water for a boat is being sounded.

"Mark twain" means that is safe to navigate.

• Because the river trade was brought to a stand still by the Civil War in 1861, Clemens began working as a newspaper reporter for several newspapers all over the United States, eventually joining his brother’s newspaper out West.

MARK TWAIN• While a reporter, he wrote a

humorous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which proved to be very popular and brought him nationwide attention.

MARK TWAIN•Noted author and humorist•Adventures of Huck Finn (known as the “Great American Novel”)

MARK TWAINTwain was an adamant supporter of abolition and emancipation, even going so far to say “Lincoln's Proclamation ... not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also.”

MARK TWAINInterestingly, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "nigger", which was in common usage in the pre-Civil War period in which the novel was set.

Mark Twain passed away on April 21, 1910, but has a following still today.

MARK TWAINHis childhood home is open to the public as a museum in Hannibal, and Calavaras County in California holds the Calavaras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee every third weekend in May.

Born during a visit byHalley’s Comet, he died on its return. He wasknown as the greatestAmerican humorist of his time and William Faulkner called him “The father of AmericanLiterature.”

Dialect•A regional variety of

language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties.

Diction• Choice and use of words in

speech or writing.• Degree of clarity and

distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing; enunciation.

RegionalismIn literature, the usually realistic depiction in stories, plays, etc. of a particular region of a country, especially a rural region, and of the influence of its history, customs, etc. on the lives of the characters.

Satire*A literary work in which vices, follies, stupidities, and abuses, are held up to ridicule and contempt;*The use of ridicule, sarcasm, irony, to expose, attack, or deride the vices, follies, etc. or a person or group of people.

Credits• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain• etc.usf.edu • http://cmgww.com/historic/twain/about/bio.htm