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Mark Twain

Mark Twain. AKA Samuel Clemens. Basic Facts. Born April 30, 1835 in Florida, MS Samuel Langhorne Clemens Adopted Mark Twain as a pen name later in life Died April 21, 1910 in Redding, CT. Growing up in Mississippi. Grew up in Hannibal, MS Fascinated by life on the Mississippi River

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Mark Twain

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  1. Mark Twain AKA Samuel Clemens

  2. Basic Facts • Born April 30, 1835 in Florida, MS • Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Adopted Mark Twain as a pen name later in life • Died April 21, 1910 in Redding, CT

  3. Growing up in Mississippi • Grew up in Hannibal, MS • Fascinated by life on the Mississippi River • Father died when he was 11 • Began to work to support his family • Apprenticed with printers • Wrote his first piece at 17 • Comic sketch • “The Dandy Frightening the Squatter” • Published by a sportsman’s mag in Boston

  4. Career • 1853 – began wandering as a journeyman printer • St. Louis • Chicago • New York • Philadelphia • Set out to make his fortune at 22 on the Amazon River • Not so much – ended up a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi • At Civil War outbreak, he left

  5. Moving Westward… • 1861 – Travels to Nevada • Recklessly invested in timber and silver • Temper got him into trouble… so did his writing • Adopted the pen name Mark Twain to get out of trouble • Water that is just safe enough for navigation • 1865 – “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” won him national recognition

  6. Traveling Correspondent • 1865 – Sacramento Union commissioned him • Trip to Hawaii • Letters from the Sandwich Islands • Letters from Honolulu • 1866 – Alta California traveling correspondent – circled globe, writing letters • 1870 – Marries Olivia Langdon • Lives in upstate NY, editor/owner of Buffalo Express

  7. Married Life • Moves to Hartford, CT • Lives there for 20 years • Three daughters • Prosperity as writer/lecturer • Two trips to England • 1872 – Roughing It published • Recounts his stories in Nevada • Reprinted some Sandwich letters

  8. Atlantic Monthly • Published some of his steamboating experiences • Expanded to Life on the Mississippi in 1883 • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer had been in 1875 but… • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) was widely popular… and banned

  9. Tom Sawyer • Better organized than Huck • Tom & Huck witness a murder in a graveyard • Pretend to be dead to capture murderer • Turn up at their own funeral • Collect reward • Celebrates innocence and boyish adventure

  10. Huckleberry Finn • Huck fakes his own death to escape his life • Jim, a runaway slave, joins him • Huck is quick to deceive and VERY good at it • Tales of misadventure • Celebration of life on the Mississippi • “All literature begins with this book” – Ernest Hemingway • A book about children… but is it a children’s book?

  11. Twain’s twilight years… • Increasingly bitter writings • Moreso after his wife’s death in 1905 • Began to dictate his autobiography in 1906 • Explicit instructions on when/how to publish • Died on April 21, 1910

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