Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens to John Marshal

Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens. He was born on November 30, 1835

in Florida. But Samuel, however he did not live most of his childhood

life in Florida, but he moved a lot. His family moved to Hannibal, MO

when he was four years old .And that is where he went to school. But

when he was twelve years old his father died and Sam felt like it was his

fault so he had blamed himself. But it wasn't really his fault that his father

died and, that he said the reason was cause he did not act like he was to his

father and did not give his father the help that he had needed. Also as you

can tell the death of samuel's father had a great impact on him and that hurt

him a lot so he began to Wright about stuff that he had had on his mine.

But little that he new was going to be a famous person in the future.

Also another reason why he was so upset about his dad's death was he

promised his mother that he wouldn't brake her heart. Then He got a job

and learned how to set type and sometimes worked as reporter or assistant

editor. And he also found a great interest in reading during this time and he

read anything he could get his hands on and some days would read till he

could not keep his eyes open. And then he began to read large amounts of

history. Orion, his older brother, in 1851. His brother offered to pay three

and a half-dollars a week but money never seemed to be around. Orion

owned a newspaper called the Hannibal Journal and he hired both Sam and

his younger brother Henry to be typesetters. However knowing Sam he did

more than typeset for Orion. He also wrote for the Journal occasionally.

Usually he wrote humorous sketches, but sometimes he also wrote satirical

stories, local news reports, and poetry. Samuel first used the pen name Mark

Twain for his letters published in the Virginia City, Territorial Enterprise in

1863.also one example is that in his adventures as a boy in many novels,

such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, and many

others. Also he said the novel A Yankee in King Arthur's Court was

strongly influenced his life and encouraged him to Wright somewhat. Then

in 1861 The Civil War broke out and Samuel Clemens decided to side with

the Confederacy unlike his whole family. He joined a volunteering unit and

fought with the Marion Rangers for some time. And most of the time the

small unit was retreating. Also During his life, Mark Twain always had

some trouble. He had had many jobs but he was often in need of money.

One of his job was he worked as a pilot on the Mississippi During. this time,

he took a job watching freight piles during the night for some money. Also

one of his famous quotes was that "I can be anything that I want to be" also

after the Civil War began Samuel had to find a new job for all river traffic

was halted. So His brother Orion was appointed secretary of the newly

created Territory of Nevada and he asked Sam to come along. So he said yes

and Samuel was only going to stay in Nevada for three months, but the three

months later turned into six years. Also in Nevada Mark tried getting rich

quickly by mining and did not succeed. But however in this year's it gave

him much to Wright about. and during this time his first book was written

during his time there and was based on a fellow miner's story. And this book

was called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country and Other

Sketches." Also Clemens became part owner of the Buffalo Express 1869,

married Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York in 1870, and served for a time

as a newspaper editor in Buffalo and a column conductor in the Galaxy. He

soon severed connections with the newspaper and the magazine, move to

Hartford, and devoted all his time to writing and lecturing. And some books

he wrote were, notably Roughing It (1872), The Gilded Age (1873), The

Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Life on the Mississippi (1883). The

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Pudd'nhead Wilson (1884),

The Prince and the Pauper (1882) and A Connecticut Yankee in King

Arthur's Court (1889) the first of which dealt seriously and the second

humorously with historical materials; and A Tramp Abroad (1880), a travel

book. Also though out his life there were many deaths in his family.

And he often felt depressed because and each death made him more stressed

out. also during this time he experienced the death of his younger brother

Henry, his oldest daughter Susy, his son Langdon, his father John, his other

daughter Jean who had died in 1909 December twenty fourth and, his wife

Olivia who developed heart condition, his mother Jane, his friend Charles

Dudley Warner, and his brother Orion. Another thing is that Mark Twain

was widely recognized during his life. He was very famous for his lectures

and his novels. Also he just famous in the United States but also in foreign

countries like England as well. Then in 1910 mark twain died and the nation

was shocked along with other countries. Because of this they all took one

time of their time and prayed for him. But still today his novels are still read.

And are still discussed with people all over the world. Also Mark Twain

uses irony in describing the beliefs of the common people. Also the one

theme that I remember is that authority and aristocracy issue. And the theme

of work is also a famous quote "The law of work does seem utterly unfair

- but there it is: … the higher the pay in enjoyment the worker gets out of it,

the higher shall be his pay in cash also." And so that was how Mark Twain

had lived so of his life.

The End

1. The World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed., Volume 19. Pg. 528-530 Kunitz and Haycraft.

2. "Clemens,Samuel Langhorne." American Authors: 1600-1900. Pg.159-161

3. Also in the encyclopedia look under letter T and the page 528-529.

4. Mark Twain ,title Samuel Langhorne Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain 1835-1910 www.robinsonresearch.com/LITERATE/AUTHORS/Twain.htm

5. Also found in the book called Twian and the image of history . writinged by roger

Salomon . Found in library 817.4 Sa