Transcript Mark Twain

Mark Twain
Challenges make life interesting,
however, overcoming them is what
makes life meaningful.
~ Mark Twain ~
1835-1910
Biography
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Born on November 30, 1835
Born in Florida, Missouri
His given name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens
At the age of 12, Twain began working as an apprentice
printer at the Hannibal Courier
He had to work at such a young age because his father died
and he needed to earn his keep
At 15, he got a job as a printer, occasional writer and editor
at the Hannibal Western Union
Hannibal Western Union was his brother Orion’s
newspaper
The paper, in time, was moved into a part of the Clemens
home, and the two brothers ran it
biography
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He was one of 6 children, unfortunately most of his siblings died
at a young age
His siblings were Orion, Henry, Pamela, Margaret, Benjamin,
and Pleasant
Henry died in a riverboat explosion in 1858
His brothers Benjamin and Pleasant died when they were
children
His sister Margaret also died when she was a child
When Mark was 4 years old, his family moved to Hannibal,
Missouri
Hannibal was a port town on the Mississippi River
Hannibal inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Writing/career
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Twain’s 2 most known works are “Tow Sawyer” and
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
In 1882, Twain wrote a fiction by the name of “Prince and
the Pauper”
He also wrote “A Tramp Abroad” a non-fiction humorous
look at his trip through Germany, Italy, and the Alps and
somewhat of a sequel to “Innocents Abroad”
“Roughing It,” one of Twain’s non-fiction novels describes
his journey out West with his brother Orion
Some of the themes in Mark Twain’s novel “Tom Sawyer”
are youth, hopes, dreams, manipulation, and supernatural
Writing/career
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His genres are novels, humor/satire, short stories, plays, essays,
and letters
Twain began his career writing light and humorous poetry
That then evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies
and murderous acts of mankind
At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn, he combined rich humor,
sturdy narrative and social criticism
Many of Twain's works have been suppressed at times for various
reasons
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in
American high schools for its frequent use of the “n” word
The word was very commonly used in the pre-Civil War period in
which the novel was set
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer drew on his youth in
Hannibal
Tom Sawyer was modeled on Twain as a child, with traces
of two schoolmates, John Briggs and Will Bowen
The book also introduced in a supporting role Huckleberry
Finn, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, solidified him as a
noteworthy American writer
Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and
the book has become required reading in many schools
throughout the United States
Writing/career
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“The Prince and the Pauper,” despite a storyline that is
omnipresent in film and literature today wasn’t very
popular then
Telling the story of two boys born on the same day who are
physically identical, the book acts as a social commentary
as the prince and pauper switch places
Pauper was Twain's first attempt at historical fiction, and
blame for its shortcomings is usually put on Twain for
having not been experienced enough in English society
Also, the fact that “The Prince and the Pauper” was
produced after a massive hit
After Twain wrote all of his most notable works, he wrote
"The Private History of a Campaign That Failed" for The
Century Magazine
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This piece detailed his two-week period in a
Confederate militia during the Civil War
The name of his publishing company was Charles L.
Webster & Company, which he owned with Charles L.
Webster, his nephew by marriage
In 1884, Twain went on a National lecture tour with
George Caleb
In 1907, he visited Oxford University in England to
receive honorary degree
In 1909, “Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven” was
Mark Twain’s last novel was published before he died
Mark Twain’s family
• In 1870, Twain married Olivia Langdon
• She rejected his first marriage proposal
• Then 2 months later, he proposed again and she said yes
• Twain hoped that she would "reform" him, a mere humorist,
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from his rustic ways
They had a brief residence in upstate New York, Twain
worked as an editor and part owner of the Buffalo Express
After New York, they moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where
they lived for twenty years
They had 4 children together, Langdon, Susy, Clara, and Jean
Clemens
Their son Langdon died of diphtheria at the age of 19 months
Mark twain’s Family
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Jean was the youngest child of the Clemens
Susy died from meningitis when she was 24 years old
Susy was the undisputed favorite daughter
Their son Langdon died of diphtheria at the age of 19
months
Unfortunately, Jean grew up to be a very sick woman
suffering from epilepsy
Jean was placed in a sanatorium in 1906, and died in 1910
Mark’s surviving daughter, Clara, lived until 1962
Clara had a daughter of her own who died childless
There are no direct heirs to Clemens surviving today
Interesting facts
• In 1857, 21 year old Twain fulfilled one of his dreams by
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beginning to learn the art of piloting a steamboat on the
Mississippi River
As a riverboat pilot, Twain earned from $150 to $250 a
month
During the Civil War, Twain formed a Confederate militia
known as the “Marion Rangers”
Militia is a term now commonly referred to as military force
composed of ordinary citizens
The militia disbanded after approximately two weeks
Twain left Missouri after his militia disbanded and moved
to Nevada, there he worked as a miner
To pay off debts accumulated as a result of failed business
ventures, Twain toured the world as a lecturer, publishing
his experiences in Following the Equator
Interesting Facts
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Mark Twain grew up in Missouri, which at the time was a slave
state
In 1888 he was awarded an honorary Master of Art degree from
Yale University
Mark Twain published more than 30 books throughout his career
From 1901 until his death in 1910, Twain was vice president of the
American Anti-Imperialist League
“Huckleberry Finn” was ranked as the fifth most frequently
challenged book in the United States by the American Library
Association
Prior to adopting Mark Twain as his pen name, Clemens wrote
under the pen name Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass for a number of
humorous pieces that he contributed to the Keokuk Post
Interesting facts
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Twain had no problem ridiculing and attacking those he didn’t
like. One of his most famous literary targets was James
Fenimore Cooper, who he wrote about in his essay, “Fenimore
Cooper's Literary Offenses”
After his short time in the Civil War, Twain moved to Nevada
and worked as a miner
In 1868 Twain met Harriet Beecher Stowe who was an american
abolitionist and author
Twain first donned his famous white suit in 1906, when he
appeared before Congress to testify about copyright law
The New York Times carried a headline the next day
proclaiming “Mark Twain in White Amuses Congressmen.”
He wore a white suit from then on, arguing that “light-colored
clothing is more pleasing to the eye and enlivens the spirit”
Interesting facts
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“Mark Twain” was the original pen name of Captain Sellers,
an old steamboat pilot who wrote rather all-knowingly about
river conditions for the New Orleans Picayune in the mid1800s
As a tribute to the old man and steamboat traditions,
Clemens started using the pen name of Mark Twain in 1863
On the Mississippi River, 'mark twain' meant 'two fathoms
deep.'
In 1907, Mark Twain received a Doctorate in Letters from
Oxford University
The Twain’s home base was now Hartford, Connecticut,
where in 1874 Twain built a home, though they traveled often
Twain received an honorary doctorate from Oxford
University in 1907
Interesting facts
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Mark Twain was fond of cats, his childhood home is
rumored to have been shared with as many as 19 cats
As an adult, Twain always kept at least two cats around
Clemens claimed to have seen his brother's death in a
dream before it happened, sparking an interest an
parapsychology
Mark Twain was said to have been working on a ghost
story right before his death
No one ever found it for he ordered all his manuscripts
burned when he died
Twain suffered from color blindness
Bermuda was the last foreign place Twain visited before
he died
Interesting facts
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Mark Twain was the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne
Clemens and it first appeared on February 3rd, 1863, in a piece
he contributed to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise
From 1853-1856 he worked as a journeyman printer, traveling
to St. Louis, New York, and Philadelphia
Mark Twain and Olivia Langdon Clemens were married for 34
years
Twain was born in 1835 and died in 1910 the years in which
Halley's Comet passed by earth
In “Mark Twain: A Biography,” he is quoted as saying, “I came
in with Halley's comet in 1835. It's coming again next year,
and I expect to go out with it.”
From 1901 to 1910, in his last years, he worked as the vice
president of the American Anti-Imperialist League
End notes
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Twain's life and works were defined by
America. All of his experiences from growing up in
Hannibal to life in the West gave him insight into
America's principles and permitted him to write
and portray the American experience very
precisely. He was well known and respected
throughout the world as a humorist during his life,
and since his death, his reputation across the
country has only grown. Today, Mark Twain is
known as a great writer as well as a humorist and
American icon.
Twain in 1907
The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut that is
visited by 60,000 people yearly.
Olivia Langdon Clemens
Twain, Olivia, Susy, Clara, and Jean
Clemens on a stamp in
1940
Mark Twain headstone in
Woodlawn Cemetery
Susy Clemens
Langdon Clemens
Clara Clemens
Twain’s home
Jean Clemens