Twain example essay topic

The profession of riverboat piloting paid well and brought Twain much attention, which he enjoyed. His piloting experiences also allowed him to observe the many kinds of people who traveled aboard the steamboats. He later reported that "in that brief, sharp schooling, I got personally and familiarly acquainted with about all the different types of human nature that are to be found in fiction, biography, or history". The beginning of the American Civil War (1861-1865) abruptly closed commercial traffic on the Mississippi River. After serving for two weeks with a Confederate volunteer company, Twain chose not to become involved in the war. He traveled to Carson City, Nevada, in 1861 with his brother Orion.

Later, in Roughing It (1872), Twain humorously described his unsuccessful attempts at prospecting for gold and silver during this time and his eventual conclusion that he must support himself by newspaper journalism. He joined the staff of the Virginia City, Nevada, Territorial Enterprise in the summer of 1862. He first began publishing under his pen name on Feb. 3, 1863, while working for the Enterprise. "Mark Twain" comes from a riverboat term meaning two fathoms (a depth of 12 feet, or 3.7 meters). Twain next drifted westward to California, where he wrote for the San Francisco Morning Call and a literary journal, the Californian. On Nov. 18, 1865, his first popular story-about "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"-appeared in the New York Saturday Press.

In 1866, Twain traveled to the Hawaiian Islands, where he acted as a correspondent for the Sacramento Union. Following his return to San Francisco, he began a profitable lecture tour. Twain soon began to sense that his talents were growing beyond the limitations of the West Coast newspapers and magazines of his day. In 1867, Twain took a voyage to Europe and the Holy Land aboard the steamship Quaker City. His travel letters to the San Francisco Alta California and the New York Tribune were collected in a popular book, The Innocents Abroad (1869). In the book, Twain ridiculed the sights and manners of the countries he visited, and the American tourists traveling abroad.

Encouraged by the prospect of future wealth from a literary career, Twain courted a young woman from Elmira, New York, named Olivia L. Langdon, whose brother had sailed with him on the Quaker City. The couple were wed on Feb. 2, 1870. Following Twain's brief career as a newspaper editor and columnist in Buffalo, New York, he and his wife moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1871. Their infant son, Langdon, died in 1872, but three daughters, Susy, Clara, and Jean, were born between 1872 and 1880. In 1874, Twain and his family moved into a luxurious new 19-room house in Hartford. There, Twain entertained many prominent authors.

Literary periodicals in Boston and New York City published many of his writings. In his 20 years in Hartford, Twain wrote most of his best works either at home or in his study at Quarry Farm, near Elmira, New York".

Bibliography

" Biography. com / mark twain Works by Mark Twain: 1865 The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Stories 1869 The Innocents Abroad Stories 1872 Roughing It Stories 1873 The Gilded Cage Collaborations 1875 Mark Twain's Sketches, New and Old Stories 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Novels 1880 A Tramp Abroad Stories 1882 The Prince and the Pauper Novels 1882 The Stolen White Elephant and Other Stories Stories 1883 Life on the Mississippi Novels 1884 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Novels 1889 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Novels 1892 Tom Sawyer Abroad Novels 1892 The American Claimant Novels 1894 The Tragedy of Pudd " n head Wilson Novels 1895 Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Novels 1896 Tom Sawyer, Detective Novels 1897 Following the Equator Stories 1897 How to Tell a Story and Other Essays Other 1900 The Man That Corrupted Hadley burg Stories 1902 A Double Barrelled Detective Story Stories 1904 Extracts from Adam's Diary Other 1905 King Leopold's Soliloquy Other 1906 Eve's Diary Other 1906 What Is Man? Novels 1907 Christian Science Other 1909 Extracts from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven Other 1909 Is Shakespeare Dead? Other 1924 Autobiography Autobiography 182 -- 64 Territorial Enterprise Editor Twain based The Adventures of Tom Sawyer largely on his personal memories of growing up in Hannibal in the 1840's. In his preface to the novel, he states that " [m] ost of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred" and that the character of Tom Sawyer has a basis in "a combination... of three boys whom I knew". Indeed, nearly every figure in the novel comes from the young Twain's village experience: Aunt Polly shares many characteristics with Twain's mother; Mary is based on Twain's sister Pamela; and Sid resembles Twain's younger brother, Henry. Huck Finn, the Widow Douglas, and even Injun Joe also have real-life counterparts, although the actual Injun Joe was more of a harmless drunk than a murderer.