1. A Ghost Story
Mark Twain

2. Plot Part 1: paragraph 1-10 Creating a horrifying atmosphere
The bed clothes slipped away-a heavy footstep-huge footprint-a series of noises-pallid faces and white uplifted hands floating bodiless in the air-a huge,cloudy presence.

3. Plot
Part 2: paragraph Conversation between the ghost of Cardiff Giant and “I”
The ghost of the Cardiff Giant demanded that he be reburied. The ghost was so confused that he haunted Barnum’s plaster copy of himself.

4. The Cardiff Giant
One of the most famous hoaxes in United States history
A 10-foot (3.0 m)tall purported “petrified man” uncovered on October 16, 1869

5. Analysis Point of view: First-person narrative
Tone: shift from timorous to accusing
Mood: tension; anger
Theme: To criticize the ridiculousness of the fake duplication; voice sympathy for the general public that has been fooled by the fraud.

6. Character: The Ghost Benignant, friendly
When the narrator accused him of wrecking all the furniture, he answered with tears coming into his eyes. And when the narrator revealed the truth to him, he expressed an eloquent look of shame. This forms a sharp contrast to what we think a ghost should be like, especially after all the foreshadowing of scary haunting. It can be interpreted as irony that even the ghost could feel ashamed of himself.

7. Language: Auditory Description
For the Celtic peoples, the New Year was celebrated on November 1st of every year. This date marked the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter.
…I heard the muffled slamming of doors…
…I heard, at intervals, stealthy footsteps creeping in and out among the corridors, and up and down the stairs…
…I heard the clanking of chains faintly, in remote passages…
…I heard muttered sentences; half-uttered screams that seemed smothered violently; and the swish of invisible garments, the rush of invisible wings…
…I heard sighs and breathings about my bed, and mysterious whisperings.

8. Language: Auditory Description
For the Celtic peoples, the New Year was celebrated on November 1st of every year. This date marked the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter.
Unlike most of his works that are featured with colloquial speech, this novel does not contain much vernacular. However, Mark Twain also displays his excellent skill in describing different kinds of sound. Words like rustle, swish, rattle, clanking are illustrations of onomatopoeia. And phrases like “the swish of invisible garments, the rush of invisible wings” vividly reveal to us the psychological fear the narrator experienced as he couldn’t but let his imagination go wild.

9. Language: Synonym
For the Celtic peoples, the New Year was celebrated on November 1st of every year. This date marked the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter.
And as my reverie softened down to a sadder and sadder pathos, the shrieking of the winds outside softened to a wail, the angry beating of the rain against the panes diminished to a tranquil patter, and one by one the noises in the street subsided, until the hurrying footsteps of the last belated straggler died away in the distance and left no sound behind.

10. The Ending
“I heard his stately tramp die away, step by step down the stairs and out into the deserted street, and felt sorry that he was gone, poor fellow—and sorrier still that he had carried off my red blanket and my bath-tub.”
With the dying away of his stately tramp, the ghost vanished into the deserted street. It is left to the readers’ imagination where he would go. I think this ending symbolizes that although the fraud will be gradually forgotten by history, it remains a humiliation.

11. Thank You!