Mark Twain Biography & Works
What story did Mark Twain start gaining fame from?
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County"
What was Twain's first book?
"The Innocents Abroad"
How does Mark Twain describe the lie that provides the foundation for slavery?
"a silent lie of assertion" or "the national lie"
In what year was volume one of Mark Twain's official biography published?
2010
How old does Twain claim to be when he tells his second lie in "My First Lie and How I Got Out Of It"?
9 days old
The man Mark Twain claims to meet "at his funeral" in "Encounter with an Interviewer."
Aaron Burr
How long was Mark Twain in the confederate army?
About two weeks
When did the civil war start?
April 12, 1861
When did Mark Twain die?
April 21, 1910
What was Samuel Clemens first apprenticeship?
As a printer for the newspaper "Hannibal Gazette"
How did Samuel Clemens come up with his pseudonym?
Bar Tab (Mark Twain adding another drink to his tab)/ Boat (Mark Twain being two marks deep in the river)
What types of humor does Mark Twain often utilize?
Dry, droll, anecdotal, epigrammatic, dark
"I have made it a rule never to smoke more than one cigar at a time"
Example of epigrammatic humor
"if you go back fifty or one hundred years to your early married life"
Example of hyperbolic humor
Where was Samuel Clemens born?
Florida, Missouri
Setting of "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed"
Hannibal, MO; summer of 1861
Where did Samuel Clemens live during his childhood?
Hannibal, Missouri
Where did Mark Twain live with his wife and children?
Hartford, Connecticut
What did Samuel Clemens do after his father died of pneumonia?
He left school and became a printer's apprentice
What did Mark Twain do as a local reporter.
He often wrote false and exaggerated stories with yellow journalism.
What job was Twain fired from?
His job as a journalist in San Francisco
What literary technique does Mark Twain mostly use?
Humor
What river did Samuel Clemens grow up near?
Mississippi
Does Mark Twain have any surviving descendants?
No, Mark Twain's daughter Clara Clemens only had one daughter who died without having children.
How many living descendants does Samuel Clemens have?
None
When was Mark Twain born?
November 30, 1835
What is Mark Twain's wife's name?
Olivia Langhorn
How did Twain meet his beloved wife, Olivia?
Olivia Langhorn's brother introduced them to eachother
What was Mark Twain's real name?
Samuel Clemens
What was Mark Twain's dream job as a child?
Steamboat pilot
Why did Mark Twain quit his dream job?
The Civil War closed all traffic on the Mississippi
Marion Rangers
The Confederate Unit Mark Twain joined for about two weeks.
To whom does Twain deliver the speech, "On the Decay of Lying"?
The Hartford Historical and Antiquarian Society
What caused Mark Twain to stop working his dream job as a steamboat pilot?
The Mississippi river was shut down due to the start of the Civil War
Colonel Ralls
The veteran from the Mexican War that the Marion Rangers talk to in "Private History"
How did Mark Twain meet his wife?
Through Olivia's brother at a speech in New York.
What is one example of Mark Twain's notable piece of work?
Tom Sawyer
To whom is the toast to "The Babies" delivered?
Ulysses S. Grant and members of Army of the Tennessee
Where was Aunt Rachel born?
Virginia (Fo'ginny)
How did Mark Twain give his speeches?
With dry delivery
