Mark Twain

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Mark Twain

• By Lori Mason

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Biography

• Sam Clemens
• Born 1935 in Florida, MO
• Moved to Hannibal, MO in 1939
• Married
• Family life important to him
• Daughters

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Professional Life

• Mark Twains most popular books
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court
• Puddn Head Wilson
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• Adventures of Huck Finn

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Main CharactersThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer

• Tom Sawyer
• Huck Finn
• Becky Thatcher
• Injun Joe

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

• MOST of the adventures recorded in this
  book really occurred one or two were experiences
  of my own, the rest those of boys who were
  schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from
  life Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual
  -- he is a combination of the characteristics of
  three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to
  the composite order of architecture.  The odd
  superstitions touched upon were all prevalent
  among children and slaves in the West at the
  period of this story -- that is to say, thirty or
  forty years ago.
•       Although my book is intended mainly for
  the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it
  will not be shunned by men and women on that
  account, for part of my plan has been to try to
  pleasantly remind adults of what they once were
  themselves, and of how they felt and thought and
  talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes
  engaged in.

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Hannibal, MO

• Yearly Activities
• Fence Painting
• Tours
• Toms House
• Hucks House
• Jackson Island

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Mark Twain House, Exterior, Farmingham Avenue,
Hartford, CT
American Memory collection, LOC
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Westward Expansion Influences

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), left
  Missouri in 1861 to work with his brother, the
  newly appointed Secretary of the Nevada
  Territory. Once settled in Nevada, Clemens fell
  victim to gold fever and went to the Humboldt
  mines. When prospecting lost its attractions,
  Clemens found work as a reporter in Virginia
  City.
• In 1864, Clemens moved to California and worked
  as a reporter in San Francisco. It was there that
  he began to establish a nationwide reputation as
  a humorist.

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Experiences Influence His Writing

• Roughing It, first published in 1872, is Clemens
  account of his adventures in the West. He devotes
  twenty chapters to the overland journey by boat
  and stagecoach to Carson City, including several
  chapters on the Mormons.
• Next come chronicles of mining life and local
  politics and crime in Virginia City and San
  Francisco and even a junket to the Hawaiian
  Islands.
• The book closes with his return to San Francisco
  and his introduction to the lecture circuit.

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Did You Know..

•  Twain was the first modern celebrity!
•  Twain  had the first endorsement
• contracts!
• Twain was one of the most interesting
• humans ever!

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Evidence of His Fame
LOC Amer. Memory Collection
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Cashing In On Fame
Twains popularity made him a natural to serve as
a product spoke-person.
Lux detergent keeps those famous white linen
suits clean!
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So famous he even had collector cards.
Emergence of Advertising Collection, LOC
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Photos and Information from the the Library of
Congress American Memory Collection.