Mark+Twain

= __ Mark Twain __ =

=
Samuel Clemens was an American writer who lived in the late 19th century, under his pen name Mark Twain he wrote famous Great American Novels such as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Samuel Clemens lived out his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri where he first encountered the type of people that would influence him in his later novels. Due to the Mississippi River Twain witnessed every type of person come through his town, from the thieves====== = =

and vagabonds to the excessively rich. These people, though initially appearing normal, eventually caused Twain to write about the evils of America with great use of wit and satire.
= Early Years =

=
Mark Twain was born on November 30th, 1835 in Florida Missouri. His real name is Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain became his pen name in 1863.) He was the sixth child of seven with the parents of John and Jane Clemens. At four years of age, Twain moved to Hannibal Missouri where he spent his childhood exploring Jackson Island, swimming in the Mississippi river, and living in the same town that his fictuitous characters lived in ie. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn from //The adventures of Huckleberry Finn// and //The adventures of Tom Sawyer.// At twelve years old, Twain's father passed away resulting in Twain's first job where he worked at his brothers newspaper. After a couple more years Twain began work as a printer where he moved around through the major cities. During his childhood in Hannibal, Mark Twain along with all of his friends of the time shared the same ambition of being a steamboatman. One boy from his town became a steamboatman and was the envy of all the other boys. Soon after this many other boys managed to become steamboatmen as well and live the good life. Young Samuel Clemens, like some of his other friends, was not allowed to go become a steamboatman on the river and because of this, he decided to run away and become one anyway. A few months after initially runningfrom home with the plans of becoming a steamboatman and eventually a pilot, Samuel Clemens realizes that he has made little progress and is running low on money. He finally decides that his best option is to go and look for new opportunities in New Orleans. Samuel Clemens was now a traveler. During his journey to New Orleans, Clemens began to grow close to the crew of the boat that was the agent of his travels. Eventually he managed to convince one of the pilots of the ship to teach him how to be a pilot himself. It was soon after this that Samuel Clemens realized just how difficult this would be. His first lesson was that he must know the river so well that he could recognize every little detail and every twist and turn that the river made in its 3 thousand mile journey. While still in the company of his teacher, Mr. Bixby, Clemens went aboard a much larger and nicer boat than the one that he was previously traveling on. This new boat was where he would learn all that he needed to know about being a steamboat pilot. Every time he thought he had steamboating figured out, young "Mark Twain" was told how little he really did know by Mr. Bixby. After learning a new piloting tactic by his teacher known as "reading the water" Mark Twain remarks that the river loses its beauty and its poetry. Everything that at one point would have seemed beautiful to Twain is now reduced to its practical implication, such as a beautiful sunset meaning nothing but the mere fact that there will be wind the next day. In 1859 Twain received his much desired steamboat license. He would have been content to continue being a steamboat pilot for the rest of his life however his time as a pilot was cut short by the outbreak of the civil war in 1861. After a short stint in the civil war, Mark Twain decided that he wasnt a huge fan of the army and decided to try his hand at some other profession. Because the steamboating business became less lucritive when the civil war began, Twain decided instead to try silver mining out west in Nevada. When this failed he attempted instead to be a newspaper reporter. After that he went to become a gold miner in California and then Twain didn't stay in the army long as being hunted like a rat wasn't his style, instead he went out west and tried his hand at gold mining, and although he failed miserably he finished writing his first short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in 1867 launching his career as a writer.====== . =Life as an author= Mark Twain's life as a writer began as a child of twelve years of age when he worked in his brothers newspaper company as a typesetter as well as contributing various articles to the paper, knowing little of what was to come. After Twain published his first short story, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean. When Mark Twain went to meet the publisher of the American Publishing Company he met Olivia Langdon, his bride to be. Two years later Mark Twain married her and moved to New York city. Mark Twain's final profession was that of an author or as he puts it "A scribbler of books". This profession was Twains most successful and his most infulencial in history. He wrote several books that are now considered classics. While in the process of writing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain was also working on another book which he was able to publish much sooner called "Life on the Mississippi". "Life on the Mississippi" was a memoir about Twain's life and adventures as a steamboat pilot. As he writes enthusiastically about the joys of his early life, he also quotes an excerpt from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". He noted in his book that he had been working on "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" for 6 years and wouldnt be surprised if it took him another 5-6 years to finish it. This book that he spent so much time on eventually became one of his most classic works and one of the most important books he ever wrote. He and Olivia had several children while Mark Twain's reputation as an author continued to grow. He published many books in this time including two of his most popular, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Mark Twain eventually died on April 21st 1910 in Redding Connecticut. This was one day after halley's comet came to earth for the first time since the year he was born

= Books written by Mark Twain = = = Shortstories and Sketches
 * "The Gilded Age:A Tale of Today"- published by American Publishing in 1873
 * "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"- published by American Publishing in 1876
 * "Life on the Mississippi"- published by James R. Osgood and company in 1883
 * "The Prince and the Pauper"- published by Chatto & Windus in 1884
 * "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"- published by Chatto & Windus in 1884
 * "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"- published by Chatto & Windus in 1889
 * "The American Claimant"- published by Webster in 1892
 * "Tom Sawyer Abroad, by Huck Finn"- published by Webster 1894
 * "Pudd'nhead Wilson:A Tale"- published by Chatto & Windus in 1894
 * "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc"- published by Harper in 1896
 * "Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven"- published by Harper in 1909
 * "The Mysterious Stranger:A Romance"- published by Harper in 1916
 * Simon Wheeler:Detective (unfinished) - published by New York Library in 1963
 * "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"- 1867
 * "Screamers: A Gathering of Scraps of Humour, Delicious Bits, and Short Stories"- 1871
 * "EyeOpeners: Good Things, Immensely Funny Sayings, and Stories"- 1871
 * "A Curious Dream, and other sketches"- 1872
 * "Mark Twain's Sketches"- 1876
 * "Merry Tales"- 1892
 * "The 1,000,000 Pound Bank-Note, and other new stories"- 1893
 * "Tom Sawyer, Detective, by Huck Finn, and Other Stories"- 1896
 * "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, and Other Stories and Essays"- 1900
 * "A Double Barrelled Detective Story"- 1902
 * "A Dog's Tale"- 1904
 * "Extracts from Adam's Diary"- 1904[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/1882._The_Prince_and_The_Pauper._A_Tale_for_Young_People_of_All_Ages.djvu/page1-445px-1882._The_Prince_and_The_Pauper._A_Tale_for_Young_People_of_All_Ages.djvu.jpg width="124" height="184" align="right" link="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/1882._The_Prince_and_The_Pauper._A_Tale_for_Young_People_of_All_Ages.djvu/page1-445px-1882._The_Prince_and_The_Pauper._A_Tale_for_Young_People_of_All_Ages.djvu.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1882._The_Prince_and_The_Pauper._A_Tale_for_Young_People_of_All_Ages.djvu&usg=__h7DKH4Mn5LwWx3cGxqRVF5qx0K0=&h=599&w=444&sz=51&hl=en&start=22&zoom=1&tbnid=S0WTiJH1FZldoM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=114&ei=x2tcTcOALsrVgQfH2Yy4DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BPrince%2Band%2Bthe%2Bpauper%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGIT_en%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D678%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C407&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=255&vpy=322&dur=3473&hovh=261&hovw=193&tx=106&ty=226&oei=qWtcTaqcNY3pgAf-roH7DQ&page=2&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:22&biw=1362&bih=678"]][[image:latech9hayan:The_advantures_of_Tom_Sawyer.jpg width="126" height="179" align="right" link="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://latech9hayan.wikispaces.com/file/view/The_advantures_of_Tom_Sawyer.jpg/58637722/The_advantures_of_Tom_Sawyer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://latech9hayan.wikispaces.com/&usg=__vAQBMJo5F83cR-RgkP-Fu9aXark=&h=400&w=290&sz=44&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Lawrttwu62EwVM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=109&ei=bGxcTYq9BYnUgAfsoazwDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTom%2BSawyer%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGIT_en%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D678%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=125&vpy=266&dur=1783&hovh=264&hovw=191&tx=108&ty=131&oei=bGxcTYq9BYnUgAfsoazwDQ&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0"]][[image:http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n6/n34414.jpg width="125" height="177" align="right" link="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n6/n34414.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/mark-twain/gilded-age.htm&usg=__Pam1CaaKV88Rp0yGVixWeQIjTBU=&h=475&w=312&sz=28&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=o9GhjJKI8OVhMM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=100&ei=5GxcTcDCL4HogQfeoIWDDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BGilded%2Bage%2Bbook%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGIT_en%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D678%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=240&vpy=145&dur=758&hovh=277&hovw=182&tx=102&ty=145&oei=5GxcTcDCL4HogQfeoIWDDg&page=1&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0"]]
 * "Eve's Diary Translated from the Original Ms"- 1906
 * "The $30,000 Bequest, and Other Stories"- 1906
 * "A Horse's Tale"- 1907
 * "The Curious Republic of Gondour, and Other Whimsical Sketches"- 1919
 * "Sketches of the Sixties"-1926

= ﻿Impact on us = Mark Twain's life was ﻿﻿﻿one that achieved great success, popularity, and acclaim both as a writer and a man. His books are now being taught in schools and his legacy as an amazing author and person live on in them. His most controversial and influencial book was "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and helped to show immorality of the south and of racism. His book was groundbreaking in putting a runaway slave in a positive light while traveling with a poor white boy. This book was extraordinarily controversial back when it was written for the character of Jim, and is still controversial now because of its extensive use of the "N" word and its uncensored view of the south.