Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, was a famous American author best known for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri on the Mississippi River and later became a licensed riverboat pilot. Twain wrote many of his major works, including Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, in his large home in Hartford, Connecticut where he lived with his wife and children. Regarded as one of the greatest humorists of American literature, Twain focused on issues of the time in his works, using realistic language and focusing on racial prejudice and the aftermath of

1. MARK TWAIN
Also known as:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens

2. BACKGROUND
 Samuel Langhorne Clemens:  Moved to Hannibal, Missouri in
1839, on the Mississippi River
 Born: November 30, 1835 in
Florida, Missouri.  His father passed when he was just
12 years old and soon after begin
 Parents: John Marshall and Jane writing for his brother Orion’s
Moffit Clemens and was the sixth newspaper. “Hannibal Journal”
child.  Twain contributed reports, poems,
 Since Samuel was born 2 months and humorous sketches to the Journal
premature and therefore he for several years.
suffered for the first 10 years with
his health.

3. MISSISSIPPI RIVER
 Twain persuaded a riverboat pilot
by the name of Horace Bixby to
teach him the skills of piloting.
In April of 1859, Twain had
become a licensed riverboat pilot.
 Mark Twain was established on
February 3, 1863. “The phrase,
meaning two fathoms deep, was
called in making soundings from
Mississippi Riverboats”.

4. BACKGROUND
 Married: Olivia L. Langdon on
February 2, 1870.
 They had four children. One son
Langdon and three daughters:
Susy, Clara, and Jean.
 In 1872, Langdon their infant son
died.
 In 1874, Mark Twain and his
family moved into a 19- room
house in Hartford, Connecticut.

5. MARK TWAIN
Tw a i n w r o t e t h e m a j o r i t y o f h i s
Twain’s Quote: major works at home
To us, our house…had
heart, and a soul, and
eyes to see us with; and
approvals and
solicitudes and deep
sympathies; it was of
us, and we were in its
confidence and lived in
its grace and the peace
of its benediction.

6. A FEW OF TWAIN’S SHORT
STORIES AND NOVELS
 1873: 1st Novel: Roughing It. The  Adventures of Huckleberry
title refers to the decades Finn was considered to be
succeeding the Civil War. Twain’s greatest work.
 1876: The Adventures of Tom  1889: A Connecticut Yankee in
Sawyer. Twain’s first major use of
King Arthur’s Court.
memories of his childhood.
 1880: A Tramp Abroad.  1892: The American Claimant.
 1882: The Prince and the Pauper.  1894: The Tragedy of Pudd’n
 1883: Life on the Mississippi.
head Wilson.
 1884 in the United Kingdom and  1889: The Man That Corrupted
1885 in the United States: Hadleyburg.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

7. MARK TWAIN

8. AS THE HUMOR
UNFOLDS
 Twain was best known as a
humorist.
 “He was a great fictionist and a
rough-hewn stylist” (Garland)
 “His verbal mannerism became a
trademark: impassive, diffident,
drawling, even bumbling” (Perkins)
 Twain was constantly the binary
man, speaking with a dual voice.
His nom de plume, expressed this
split personality.
 “Twain was an improviser, an oral
performer depending on an
audience for his best effects”.
(Perkins)

9. WHAT OTHER AUTHORS
SAID ABOUT TWAIN:
 He is “A gifted raconteur,
distinctive humorist, and irascible
moralist, he transcended the
apparent limitations of his origins
to become a popular public figure
and one of America's best and
most beloved writers”. (Author
Unknown)
 “He was, at the very least, already
a double creature. He wanted to
belong but he also wanted to
laugh from the outside”. (Kaplan)

10. MARK TWAIN
 With each book Twain focused on a multitude of things here’s
a few examples.
 Huckleberry Finn: was written in the aftermath of
Reconstruction after the Civil War. He used realistic language
in this novel.
 Life on the Mississippi: describes the history, sights, people,
and legends of the steamboats and towns of the Mississippi
River region.
 The Tragedy of Pudd’n Head Wilson: Twain focused on racial
prejudice as the most critical issue facing American society.

11. HIS FINAL CHAPTER
 As his career cultivated, he
seemed to become more and
more removed from the
humorous, cocky image of his
younger days.
 Twain Died: April 21, 1910 in
Redding, Connecticut of a heart
disease
 He left behind numerous
unpublished manuscripts,
including his large but incomplete
autobiography.

12. WORKS CITED:
Craven, Jackie. The Mark Twain House. About.com. 2007. New York Times Co.
http://architecture.about.com/od/housetours/ig/Mark-Twain-
House/Mark-Twain-House.-0ia.htm
Garland, Hamlin. NAR. June 1910. p. 833
Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain (Simon). 1966. p.18
Leninger, Phillip., Perkins, Barbara., Perkins, George. Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia of American
Literature. 1991. Harper Collins Publisher.
Mark Twain. 2011. A & E Television Networks., http://www.history.com/topics/mark-twain