Mark Twain 1835-1910

1. Mark Twain1835-1910

2. His Early Years • Born in a small town of Florida, Missouri • One of seven children • Lived an average childhood, creating chaos with neighborhood boys • Twains father died when he was at the age of 12 and left his mother, Jane Clemens, alone to support the children • At the age of 16, Twain left school to work as an apprentice for a printer to help support the struggling family

3. Adult Years • Two years later, he took another apprenticeship to become a steamboat pilot • Ending his job as a steam boat pilot, the Civil War broke out in which Twain trained for a short two weeks then was offered a job as a secretary • Twain then wrote his first book The Innocents Abroad which described his travels of Europe • His speeches and first book made him famous, people loved his slow speaking twangyhumor which helped him with his second published book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

4. Writing Highlights • Twain wrote a lot about his adventures he encountered as a young adult • He goes into detail through a story line on how hard times were, what actual people had to go through, and how they worked through their problems • He also put in humor, which made his stories famous

5. Historical Context of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court • During this time, there was a lot of social injustice in the England government • People were being punished for crimes that were not justified correctly, which then led to punishments beyond what they deserved such as imprisonment and death • People followed religion more extremely than what is seen today, and when something “unmoral” was happening, there was a lot more dissatisfaction • The higher class British took this novel offensively feeling as if Twain was making bias accusations towards his view of the Kings way of operating the government • The average citizens of the British communities liked Twains work because it gave them a voice of genuine insight which described the injustice of the system

6. Highlights of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court • While in the castle, Merlin sees the Yankee as a “hideous monster from a land of barbarians with enchanted clothes that prevent him from being injured” and sends him to the dungeon • Get gets dismissed from his execution because he says he can counteract with Merlin’s spell and create a spell of his own which destroys all life and blot out the sun, agreeing the the spell, King Arthur returns the Yankees clothes agreeing and announces him as a chief minister in which he could make the King profits • He overthrows the King and makes changes in the kingdom trying to make everything more fair

7. Historical Context of“About Smells” • A time of social structure and religion • There was an abundance of working men around this time because they were unable to support their families • Racism was everywhere, not everyone was equal

8. Brief Summary“About Smells” • Twain describes the difference in class structure between two men that enter the same church and how the higher class man does not want to encounter with the working class because he can smell him from across the room • Twain overall describes the higher class man negatively explaining no matter who you are or what you look or smell like you have a chance of making it to heaven because “All things are possible with God.”

9. Allusion • An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. • Twain makes biblical allusions • “We have reason to believe that there will be laboring men in heaven” • “Yet one feels that there must be a difference somewhere between him and the savior's first disciples.”

10. Metaphor • A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable • “My friend is not to blame for the sensitiveness of his nose, any more than you would flog a pointer for being keener on the scent than a stupid watch dog.” • “For if he were sitting under the glory of the Throne, and the keeper of the keys admitted a Benjamin Franklin or other labouring man…”

11. Irony • Refers to playing around with words such that the meaning implied by a sentence or word is actually different from the literal meaning. • He refers to the upper class Christian man as “good”then later discriminates him for not wanting to be around the working class man • “For if he were sitting under the glory of the Throne, and the keeper of the keys admitted a Benjamin Franklin or other labouring man, that "friend," with his fine natural powers infinitely augmented by emancipation from hampering flesh, would detect him with a single sniff, and immediately take his hat and ask to be excused.”

12. Love & Hate in“About Smells” • The love for God and church • Hate is expressed through the description of the way the upper class man looks down on the lower • Twain implies that just because there are certain ways people present themselves, God will still love them

13. More about Mark Twain • His real name is Samuel Clemens and is known by Mark Twain because that is his “pen name” • He wrote 28 books and 60 short stories