Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County Summary
Mark Twain’s biography and influences contributed to his purpose for writing “Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, to create an amusing short story to illustrate southwestern humor. Mark Twain, then known as Samuel Clemens, was born on November 30th, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. When Clemens was four, his family moved to the small frontier town of Hannibal, Missouri, right along the Mississippi River. Missouri was a fairly new state and it was also a state that leaned towards slavery. Clemens’ father was a slave owner himself and his uncle owned several spaces. During his childhood, Clemens spent summers playing in enslaved people’s quarters, listening to tall tales and the spirituals that he would enjoy throughout his life. When Sam
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There Twain discovered his talent for humor. “There is nothing that makes me prouder than to be regarded by intelligent people as authentic,” said Mark Twain. Twain’s humor was about how individuals performed rather than expressed their characters. Stand up comedians perform oral narratives, usually monologues, in which they appear to express themselves rather than play a role. This is the role Mark Twain chose for himself as a lecturer from 1866-1874, a century before the comedians that most critics discuss today. Throughout his career, Twain saw his talent for comedy as both a money making enterprise and a way to support his work as a writer. He went on several comedy tours, such as “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands”, “The American Vandal Abroad”, and “Roughing It On The Silver Frontier”. He used these tours to promote some of his most famous books, such as “Innocents Abroad”, “Roughing It”, and Huckleberry Finn.” A majority of Twain’s humor in his early performances came from his platform presence. He had several tactics during his performances to get the attention of the audience, like mocking himself, telling a combination of information, ridicule, jokes, purple prose, and a self-deflation for the rest of his performances. In his early years of comedy, he affected mental slowness through bewildered facial
There Twain discovered his talent for humor. “There is nothing that makes me prouder than to be regarded by intelligent people as authentic,” said Mark Twain. Twain’s humor was about how individuals performed rather than expressed their characters. Stand up comedians perform oral narratives, usually monologues, in which they appear to express themselves rather than play a role. This is the role Mark Twain chose for himself as a lecturer from 1866-1874, a century before the comedians that most critics discuss today. Throughout his career, Twain saw his talent for comedy as both a money making enterprise and a way to support his work as a writer. He went on several comedy tours, such as “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands”, “The American Vandal Abroad”, and “Roughing It On The Silver Frontier”. He used these tours to promote some of his most famous books, such as “Innocents Abroad”, “Roughing It”, and Huckleberry Finn.” A majority of Twain’s humor in his early performances came from his platform presence. He had several tactics during his performances to get the attention of the audience, like mocking himself, telling a combination of information, ridicule, jokes, purple prose, and a self-deflation for the rest of his performances. In his early years of comedy, he affected mental slowness through bewildered facial