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| Publicity photo from a silent film version of Pudd'nhead Wilson (1916) (Wikimedia) |
Note: We take for granted some of the most common "CSI"-type technology. But there was a time when fingerprint technology was unknown. This combines with a story of racial inequality to make one of Twain's more interesting novels.
Get Ready: What do you think might happen when a child is raised to believe certain things about himself, and discovers in his 20s that they just aren't true?
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| "Let him in!" (Gutenberg) |
Note: Less well-known than Twain's other works--but still popular--this simple "switching places" story becomes a vehicle for Twain to examine ideas of social justice.
Get Ready: Have you ever met someone who looks almost exactly like you? Do you think such a person is out there?
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| Tom tricks friends into whitewashing the fence (from a U.S. Postage stamp) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Mark Twain introduced his character Huckleberry Finn in this previous book, about Huck's friend Tom Sawyer.
Get Ready: How did you spend your childhood? Were you able to run about the neighborhood freely, or did you mostly stay inside? Which would you prefer?
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| Huckleberry Finn with a rabbit (Wikipedia) |
Note: A candidate for the Great American Novel, Twain's masterpiece is also a scathing indictment of the practice of slavery.
Get Ready: Is it sometimes all right to help a person out of a terrible situation, even if it meant breaking the law?
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| Mark Twain in later years (Wikipedia) |
Note: Mark Twain's colorful life provided the inspiration for many of his best-known works. Find out where it all came from!
Get Ready: Are there any experiences in your life--something you did, or a true story someone told you--that would make good material for a short story or even a novel?
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| "Smiley was pretty
surprised when Dan'l couldn't jump!" (Gutenberg) |
Note: The story of Dan'l Webster, Mark Twain's "Celebrated Jumping Frog," is one of this humorist's funniest. Have a good laugh at the duping of Jim Smiley in this lesson.
Get Ready: Have you ever bet on anything? Did you win?
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| "Aunt Rachel" (actually Mary Ann Cord) (Chemung County Historical Society) |
Note: Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is widely known for such impressive books as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. But many of his shorter stories and essays packed a powerful punch as well. Let's read about one.
Get Ready: Is it possible to maintain a positive attitude even though one has experienced great suffering?
