1 English Society Writer of the Month Mark Twain BIOGRAPHY Mark Twain was an American writer born in Florida, Missouri in 1835 who lived to the age of 74. As a young man, he sampled several different professions before he chose to embark on a career in writing. Some of the jobs he worked at the starting from the age of 11 included being an apprentice printer and working as a typesetter. After he began writing, he contributed humorous and satirical articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. In later years, he became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before joining the silver-mining industry. However, it did not work out for him as a miner, so he left this career and worked at a Virginia City newspaper as a reporter, which was a significant turning point in his life. While working as a reporter, he wrote a humorous story called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which received national acclaim. Through the irony and humour he displayed in his writing, many people took a great interest in his works. Twain also managed to extend his body of work to a wider audience by marrying a woman from a wealthy but liberal family, where he gained access to presidents, artists, industrialists, and even European royalty. This made his career more successful and he even gained help when he faced financial troubles. In his later life, he was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age, and became known as "the father of American literature." FAMOUS WORKS
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1
English Society
Writer of the Month
Mark Twain
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Twain was an American writer born in Florida,
Missouri in 1835 who lived to the age of 74. As a young
man, he sampled several different professions before he
chose to embark on a career in writing. Some of the jobs he
worked at the starting from the age of 11 included being an
apprentice printer and working as a typesetter. After he
began writing, he contributed humorous and satirical articles
to his older brother Orion's newspaper. In later years, he
became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before
joining the silver-mining industry. However, it did not work
out for him as a miner, so he left this career and worked at a
Virginia City newspaper as a reporter, which was a
significant turning point in his life. While working as a
reporter, he wrote a humorous story called "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which received
national acclaim. Through the irony and humour he
displayed in his writing, many people took a great interest in
his works. Twain also managed to extend his body of work
to a wider audience by marrying a woman from a wealthy
but liberal family, where he gained access to presidents,
artists, industrialists, and even European royalty. This made
his career more successful and he even gained help when he
faced financial troubles. In his later life, he was lauded as
the "greatest American humorist of his age, and became
known as "the father of American literature."
FAMOUS WORKS
2
The most well-known and celebrated novels written by Mark Twain are “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and its
sequel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. The latter is considered as a great American Novel. In the books, Twain
used Tom Sawyer to represent himself as a child. The setting of the novel was inspired by the port town of Hannibal near
the Mississippi River where Twain and his family lived during his youth. Twain was also one of the first authors to deal
with the issue of slavery in his novels in a sympathetic manner.
“ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is wild and thrilling, it is all about the adventurous lives of a mischievous town boy
named Tom, his homeless friend Huck and the dazzling girl, Becky, with whom Tom falls in love. They experience the
panic of witnessing a murder, the thrill of becoming pirates, the homesick feelings that come with living on a deserted
island, the justice in arresting the murderer and the unexpected joy of finding treasure. The character of Tom Sawyer is very
complex --- he is brave and witty; raises many interesting questions and is very eager to try out new things. At the same
time, he is a wild child with unlimited imagination who creatively solves problems. The degree to which Tom Sawyer
mirrors his creator is a matter of speculation, however, the fact that the novel has remained a much-loved classic is
indisputable.
MARK TWAIN IS ONLY HIS PEN NAME
Mark Twain is merely a pen name. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was his real name. But how and where did he
get his pseudonym?
Clemens had aspired to be a steamboat pilot from a really young age and he thought of it as an ideal job. "Mark
Twain" was what the leadsman on a riverboat called the water when it was two fathoms (12 feet) deep --- this depth
was considered safe for most boats of the era to travel through the water. “Mark Twain” was thus a very significant
professional term used in piloting steamboats. Being an admirer of pilots, Clemens kept this phrase in mind as it
helped him to recall many happy memories on the river. It also served as a reminder of the carefree and wild teenage
years when he was deeply devoted to his dreams without having to face reality.
Since this term was so significant to him, Clemens made this his pen name in 1863 after he wrote a parody
based on an old steamboat pilot who he knew. Clemens’ decision to take on the name of “Mark Twain” came after
the pilot had reflected to him that he felt offended by the piece. It was through this pen name that Clemens gained
the freedom to express his thoughts openly without offending the subjects he was writing about.
The general impression that people have of Mark Twain is of a playful, sarcastic and humorous man. However,
this was only a façade to hide his dark side, which was known to be serious and harsh, a side of him he was not