Born samuel langhorne clemens, mark twain has been captivating the imaginations of readers since he first began publishing articles in his brother's newspaper in the early 1850s. Today, you can find books of literary criticism dedicated to his work in every major library in the country, many complete texts of which focus on single themes in his novel the adventures of huckleberry finn. Twain's novels are rich for critical investigation because he tackled so many themes that were relevant to american culture during his time and many that are still relevant today.

Essay Papers The Sociological Perspective

For instance, you could study morality in the adventures of huckleberry finn and focus on how huck views mississippi christians, who claim to uphold a high moral code while allowing prejudices and external appearances to govern their judgments. You could also explore themes of liberty and friendship and how situational context can affect the morality of these ideas. For example, huck commits a crime by hiding jim but is loyal to his friend and believes he is helping jim achieve the liberty he rightly deserves. Essays on mark twain! just as huckleberry finn found peril along the waters of the great mississippi river, contemporary students often find themselves treading their own 'deep waters' trying to understand and interpret the works of author samuel clemens, a.k.a. But what huck finn never had, today's literature students do: the answer to any dilemma of interpretation.

study questions

how does tom sawyer change over the course of the story? the beginning of the novel shows tom as a crafty, intelligent, and imaginative boy with excellent theatrical skills and an intuitive understanding of human nature. He expends his immense personal resources mainly on tricks and games mdash on getting into and then out of trouble in the real world and on elaborate flights of make believe.

Tom rsquo s disregard of his own interest prepares us for even greater transformations in his character. In taking becky thatcher rsquo s punishment, tom exercises a preliminary heroism that conforms more to his storybook notions of chivalry and romance than it resolves a real conflict. His chivalry and competence while he and becky are trapped in the cave, however, represent a more meaningful, adult version of the same lesson in self sacrifice and concern for others.

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When tom encourages huck to return to the widow douglas rsquo s house in the final scene, his transformation is complete. Though he does not cease to be a playful and fun loving character, he has learned through experiencing various dangers and mistakes to value the resources of home and community and to accept a certain measure of outside authority. What role do alcohol and images of drunkenness play in the novel? for a children rsquo s adventure story, the adventures of tom sawyer is rich in references to drinking and alcohol.

Tom and huck accidentally find whiskey in the back rooms of the temperance tavern. Tom joins the cadets of temperance organization but then quits because it is too stringent. Even aunt polly dabbles innocently in alcohol, which is likely the main ingredient of the ldquo patent medicines rdquo she administers to tom and which he, in turn, administers to the cat. This obsession with alcohol fits into the larger themes of the novel because the adventures of tom sawyer is in many ways a story about pushing the limits of acceptable social behavior. Huck rsquo s father, pap, is a more ambiguous character because his debauchery has serious implications for his son. The issue of drinking also allows twain to expand on the charges of hypocrisy that he levels against so many social proceedings. The temperance violations offer a prime example of the kind of transgressions people may hide under a surface of respectability.

Even the schoolmaster, who should be a role model for the children, turns out to be a heavy drinker. Twain rsquo s focus on performances, charlatanism, and various kinds of false advertising finds another instance in the quack medicines of which aunt polly is so enamored. Unlike those who pretend to be sober but are not, aunt polly would probably be horrified to realize what she is actually getting for her money. Analyze the relationship between tom and huck finn, paying close attention to their trip to the graveyard and their hunt for treasure.

Analyze tom rsquo s relationship to the other boys his age, paying close attention to the whitewashing scene and the scenes at school. Discuss twain rsquo s portrayal of the town rsquo s authority figures, especially judge thatcher, mr. Juan samala grace high school 11th grade report mark twain mark twain, which is a pseudonym for samuel langhorne clemens, was born in 1835, and died in 1910. Maybe one of the reasons twain will be remembered is because his writings contained morals and positive views.

Because twain apos s writing is so descriptive, people look to his books for realistic interpretations of places, for his memorable characters, and his ability to describe his hatred for hypocrisy and oppression. Most authors relied on other people and what they said, but because twain was so solitary, he made himself so successful. When he was four years old, his family moved clemens twain into a port city on the mississippi river called hannibal however, his birthplace was florida, missouri. Missouri was their favorite place he ever lived because it was where he felt most respected. When his father died in 1847, clemens was apprenticed to two hannibal printers and that was one of his favorite occupations. In 1851 he began setting type for and contributing sketches to his brother orion apos s hannibal journal. While he worked as a printer, he lived in many cities such as, keokuk, iowa new york city philadelphia, pennsylvania and a few others.

Later clemens was a steamboat pilot on the mississippi river, which pulled him away from the publishing business, until the american civil war brought an end to travel on the river. In 1861 clemens served briefly as a volunteer soldier in the confederate calvary because he always wanted to. Later that year he accompanied his brother to the newly created nevada territory, where he tried his hand at silver mining. In 1862 he became a reporter on the territorial enterprise in virginia city, which brought him back to the writing he loved, and in 1863 he began signing his articles with the name mark twain. He picked apos twain apos for his writing name because it reminded him of an old mississippi river phrase meaning two fathoms deep. In san francisco, california in 1864, twain moved and met american writers artemus ward and bret harte, who encouraged him in his work.

In 1854 twain reworked a tale that he had heard in the california gold fields, and within months the author and the story, the celebrated jumping frog of calaveras county, had become national sensations. Twain lectured in new york city in 1867 and in the same year he visited europe and palestine because he loved apos antique apos places of sight seeing. He wrote of these travels in the innocents abroad 1869 , which is a book exaggerating those aspects of european culture that impress american tourists. Much of twain apos s best work was written in the 1870s and 1880s in hartford or during the summers at quarry farm, near elmira, new york. Apos apos roughing it apos apos 1872 which recounts his early adventures as a miner and journalist was first.