mark twain bio

Contemporaries of Mark Twain include

Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison

What does the name "Mark Twain" mean?

2 fathoms (12 feet)

Mark Twain had to quit school at the age of 12 because

his father died

A riverboat pilot's phrase meaning two fathoms deep

mark twain

Mark Twain's ___ died in 1904, after one of his daughters died while he was on his (world lecture) tour

wife

(___ ___ ___) ___ ___, Mark Twain's sequel for Tom Sawyer, turned into a very complex book

(The Adventures of) Huck Finn (Huckleberry Finn)

(___ ___ ___) ___ ___ was such a success, Mark Twain decided to write a sequel (People would pay just to hear him talk - almost like stand up comedy)

(The Adventures of) Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain was the first major American writer to

1) Deal with themes and topics important to Americans; 2) Use an unlikely hero (Huck Finn); 3) Use dialect as a means of social criticism

The year Mark Twain was born

1835

Mark Twain got his riverboat pilot's license in ___

1859

Mark Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in ___

1876

Mark Twain lost all his money in ___

1893

Mark Twain's wife died in ___, after one of his daughters died while he was on his (world lecture) tour

1904

Halley's comet did announce Mark Twain's departure - just days before his death on ___ ___, ___

April 21, 1910

The ___ ___ ended riverboat trade

Civil War

Mark Twain enlisted in the ___ ___, but he couldn't take military service seriously; Mark Twain and his brother thought war would be fun and games - it wasn't

Confederate army

In 1861 when the Civil War broke out, Mark Twain became a

Confederate soldier

Which of Mark Twain's novels is about time-travel from his day back to the 5th century?

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." (or Mark Twain was ahead of his time)

Ernest Hemingway

The Missouri settlement of only 100 people where Mark Twain was born is called

Florida

Where Mark Twain was born

Florida (Missouri)

Mark Twain enjoyed pointing out that ___ ___ was blazing across the sky when he was born

Halley's comet

The village on the Mississippi River where he spent his childhood days is

Hannibal

Where Mark Twain moved to after living in Florida, Missouri

Hannibal (Missouri)

Mark Twain is called

King of all Literature

Some of Mark Twain's other important works include

Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Pudd'nhead Wilson

While eulogizing Mark Twain, William Dean Howells called Twain the "___ of our literature."

Lincoln (both are against slavery and are the best at what they do)

During his years in the west, he began signing his pieces "___ ___"

Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born in 1835 on

November 30

In 1870, at the age of 35, Mark Twain married the love of his life

Olivia

What is Mark Twain's real name?

Samual Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain's real name

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain's real name, given at birth, is

Samuel Langhorne Clemes

Mark Twain and his wife had three daughters named

Susy, Clara, and Jean

Mark Twain published ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ in 1876 (this story was about his boyhood)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The major use of memories from his childhood are represented in his successful novel, written in 1876, called

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

One of the most successful books Mark Twain ever wrote (wrote in Europe)

The Innocents Abroad

Where do critics think that Mark Twain took a hiatus from writing the book?

after the raft was wrecked by the steam boat

Mark Twain said the ___ would reappear to announce his departure

comet (Halley's comet)

In 1909, Mark Twain's younger ___ died, leaving him sick, angry, and unhappy (his daughters and wife died in a 10 year span)

daughter

Mark Twain had two ___

daughters

Sadly, while on the (world lecture) tour, one of Mark Twain's two ___ died

daughters

At the age of two, their son (Mark Twain and Olivia), Langdon

died from diphtheria

Mark Twain worked as a printer's assitant when he was 11 years old, after the death of his ___

father

In 1895 Mark Twain found himself humiliated because

he could not pay his debts

Why did Mark Twain dessert from the Civil War?

he thought it would be fun and games; it wasn't

Mark Twain's father, John, studied to become a

lawyer

Mark Twain's travels resulted in a string of ___ ___

lecture tours

After traveling for a year, Mark Twain became an international hero because of his

lectures

The river term for "safe water" is

mark twain

Mark Twain lost all his ___ in 1893

money

Mark Twain was notoriously bad with ___

money

Mark Twain began writing for ___ and ___

newspapers; magazines

Mark Twain didn't like to stay in ___ place for very long

one

Mark Twain first began to write while working in a

print shop

Mark Twain's first job was working in a

print shop

Mark Twain worked as a ___ ___ when he was 11 years old

printer's assistant

By the age of 25, Mark Twain had fulfilled his dream of becoming a

riverboat captain

Mark Twain became a ___ ___ apprentice

riverboat pilot's

Mark Twain got his ___ ___ ___ in 1859

riverboat pilot's license (this is difficult to obtain as you almost need to be born into the profession to have someone train you)

Mark Twain went west to mine ___ and ___

silver; gold

One fathom is equivalent to ___ feet

six

Mark Twain developed an unwillingness to ___ ___

stay put

After being a printer's assistant, a riverboat pilot, a Confederate soldier, and a miner, Mark Twain began work as a ___ ___

travel correspondent

Mark Twain regained the fortune (lost all of his money in 1893) by giving a ___ ___ ___ (organized by his love, Olivia)

world lecture tour