Samuel L. Clemens Pen Name- Mark Twain

Samuel Clemens  Born- November 30, 1835 November 30, 1835  Died- April 21, 1910 April 21, Haley’s Comet- appeared the year of his birth and the year of his death -He predicted this would occur

Clemens's Early Years  Born in Hannibal, Missouri  Grew up along the Mississippi  Father died in 1847 when he was 12  Apprenticed as a printer  Worked with brother-Orion - at his newspaper-The Hannibal Journal  Learned early about frontier humor

Clemens's Early Adult Years  Worked as a reporter/printer in - New York - Philadelphia - St. Louis - St. Louis - New Orleans - New Orleans  Learned trade of steamboat pilot before the Civil War- a well paid but dangerous the Civil War- a well paid but dangerous job job  Served as a Confederate soldier

Clemens's Early Adult Years  Traveled west to Nevada  Mined for gold and silver  Wrote for the Virginia City paper  Started writing under the name of Mark Twain to hide his identity  “mark twain” is a river boat term meaning two fathoms deep (twenty feet)- safe water

Clemen’s Writing Career  Wrote many short stories  Considered to be a great humorist  Started to travel the lecture circuit to tell his stories  became a fulltime writer

Twain’s Personal Life  Married Olivia Langdon in a progressive lady and an abolitionist  Moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1871  Wrote -Tom Sawyer Tom Sawyer Prince and the Pauper Prince and the Pauper Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (7 years to write) 1884 (7 years to write)

Twain’s Challenges  Bad businessman - often broke  Had debts from bad investments  Suffered from depression  Lost two children

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  Based on the life of a childhood friend - Tom Blankenship  Considered the greatest American novel - used regular language and dialects - dealt with real American themes and - dealt with real American themes and issues issues - gave respectability to less educated - gave respectability to less educated people people

Major Themes and Motifs  is a satire about America, its people, religion, politics, education, slavery, and customs  Huck Finn is a satire about America, its people, religion, politics, education, slavery, and customs  is a book about the moral development of Huck Finn-(the main character)  Huck Finn is a book about the moral development of Huck Finn-(the main character)  is a book about growing up and adventure  Huck Finn is a book about growing up and adventure

Major Themes and Motifs  is an allegory-  Huck Finn is an allegory- -God and man -God and man -good and evil -good and evil  The River and the Land  The book had 3 main parts - St. Petersburg - the river - the Phelps plantation

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  Has been a banned book Considered to be too violent Considered to be too violent Considered to be a put down to blacks Considered to be a put down to blacks Considered to be a put down to religion Considered to be a put down to religion