Oren+Smith

Unknown. "Twain, Mark, 1835-1910." ProQuest Biographies. 2006: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 02 Dec 2010.
 * 1) Mark Twain helped people accept the idea of local color
 * 2) Twain observed that Americans are not too aware of other cultures
 * 3) He published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn right after the rise of the KKK
 * 4) He wrote Huckleberry Finn to draw on a racial and social context in the South
 * 5) Mark Twain attacked racism in Huckleberry Finn
 * 6) Huckleberry Finn is seen as the "Incarnation of America"
 * 7) He wrote Huckleberry Finn to display the positive and negative elements in the United States
 * 8) The novel brings in "broader insights about southern culture"
 * 9) Twain was criticized for his attitude toward slavery
 * 10) This was because he displayed the slave in Huckleberry Finn as an idiot
 * 11) People said Twain was stereotyping slaves
 * 12) Twain would use the "N word" several times throughout the novel
 * 13) Critics argued that Twain was simply trying to capture the language of the time
 * 14) The novel is scrutinized for it's attitude towards slavery
 * 15) Twain is praised for finding a distinctive American voice
 * 16) The book displays independence and freedom
 * 17) In 1906 Twain saw no hope for the human race
 * 18) Avid critic of American Society
 * 19) He attacked the actions of nations in Africa, China and the Philippines
 * 20) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is usually seen as a "portrait of the New World"

The Mark Twain House. 2004 themarktwainhouse.org. 3 Dec. 2010 .


 * 1) "Twain watched a young United States evolve from a nation torn apart by internal conflicts to one of international power"
 * 2) He experienced the country's growth and change
 * 3) Twain displayed the poor treatment of slaves in his time in some of his novels
 * 4) Twain's writings "questioned the humanity of the human race"
 * 5) His father owned a slave
 * 6) His uncle owned several slaves
 * 7) Played in the slave quarters as a child at his father's farm
 * 8) This is when he realized what slavery was
 * 9) Wrote about real life encounters with African Americans in Roughing It
 * 10) In later years, his writings became dark
 * 11) Railed against failures of reconstruction in Huckleberry Finn
 * 12) Railed against the treatment of African-Americans in Huckleberry Finn
 * 13) In 1873 his focus turned toward social criticism
 * 14) Co-wrote a novel that attacked political corruption
 * 15) Wrote The Prince and the Pauper and criticized oppression
 * 16) Major Books- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
 * 17) Most of these books attack something like racism or class relations
 * 18) Started writing at age 12 after his father died
 * 19) The Boer War in South Africa fueled his anger towards imperialistic countries
 * 20) With the Spanish-American and Philippine War in 1898‚ his anger was directed toward the American Government

Sacks, Sam. "Restoring the Man in White." Commentary (Vol. 129, No. 4). April 2010: 73-76. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 07 Dec 2010.


 * 1) Was 33 when he wrote his first full length story
 * 2) His first book was about foreign twins
 * 3) Displayed "as an object lesson in America's progress from a dreaming, free-spirited young republic to a stifled and disillusioned plutocracy"
 * 4) Wrote as many as 100,000 letters
 * 5) One of the country's favorite writers
 * 6) Humor was Twain's "shield" against the world's absurdities
 * 7) Wrote for three days straight including Christmas day about his daughters death
 * 8) Some people hated him and some people loved him
 * 9) Ernest Hemingway said that "all of American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called //Huckleberry Finn//
 * 10) Most people that haven't read any of his books know about them
 * 11) Although his daughter and wife died, he continued to still write
 * 12) Some guy was writing a biography on Twain before he die
 * 13) ^ That's how important he was
 * 14) Some movies extracted material from some of his books
 * 15) He once drew close distinctions between comedy, and smarts
 * 16) His comic fiction depended less on jokes and more on situation and character
 * 17) Mark Twain can be seen as a poet or a country boy
 * 18) Arguably the greatest writer of all time
 * 19) People argued that Twain was rascist
 * 20) Would often write scenes in his books using comedy

Blount Jr., Roy. "Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar." Web. 7 Dec. 2010. .


 * 1) Twain was anti-slavery
 * 2) Twain was for pro-equality
 * 3) Conversations between Huck Finn and other characters show Twain's pro-equality
 * 4) Twain wrote 28 books
 * 5) Also wrote over 20 short stories
 * 6) He "skewerd" the powerful
 * 7) His target was human folly and hypocrisy
 * 8) He was said to have come from America's Heart
 * 9) Twain's real name is Samuel Clemens
 * 10) TwaBin was a river man's term meaning 12 feet
 * 11) Came to national attention in 1865
 * 12) Became famous with the short story: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
 * 13) He was the "Nation's first rock-star"
 * 14) Got money for writing a book called The Innocents abroad
 * 15) This was the first book he got money for
 * 16) Critic of the Gilded Age
 * 17) In the 1890's he established his "celebrity" in Europe
 * 18) The Spanish- American war influenced Twain to write more
 * 19) Once called Roosevelt "The Tom Sawyer of the political world of the 20th centuryw
 * 20) He was referred to as merely a humorist with his early writings