Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Realism

1855-1900Slide2

Principles of Realism

1

. Insistence upon and defense of "the experienced commonplace".

2. Character more important than plot.3. Attack upon romanticism and romantic writers.

4. Emphasis upon morality often self-realized and upon an examination of idealism.

5. Concept of realism as a realization of democracy

.

Slide3

Identifying Characteristics of Realism

1. The philosophy of Realism is known as "

descendental" or non-transcendental. The purpose of writing is to instruct and to entertain. Realists were pragmatic, relativistic, democratic, and experimental.

2. The subject matter of Realism is drawn from "our experience," - it treated the common, the average

, the non-extreme, the representative, the probable.

3. The morality of Realism is intrinsic, integral, relativistic -

relations between people and society are explored

.

4. The style of Realism is the vehicle which carries realistic philosophy, subject matter, and morality.

Emphasis is placed upon scenic presentation, de-emphasizing authorial comment and evaluation

. There is an objection towards the omniscient point of view.

There is the belief among the Realists that humans control their destinies; characters act on their environment rather than simply reacting to it. Character is superior to circumstance.Slide4

Realistic Techniques

The Realists generally reject the kind of symbolism suggested by Emerson when he said "Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact." Their use of symbolism is controlled and limited; they depend more on the use of images.

1. Settings thoroughly familiar to the writer

2. Plots emphasizing the norm of daily experience

3. Ordinary characters, studied in depth4. Complete authorial objectivity

5. Responsible morality; a world truly reported Slide5

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called

Huckleberry Finn

.”

- Ernest Hemmingway

One of the great writers of American literature, Twain is admired for capturing typical American experiences in a language which is realistic and charming. Slide6

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

By Mark TwainSlide7

Realistic Techniques

The Realists generally reject the kind of symbolism suggested by Emerson when he said "Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact." Their use of symbolism is controlled and limited; they depend more on the use of images.

1. Settings thoroughly familiar to the writer

2. Plots emphasizing the norm of daily experience

3. Ordinary characters, studied in depth4. Complete authorial objectivity

5. Responsible morality; a world truly reported Slide8

Frame Story

A frame story (also known as a frame tale

 or frame narrative) is a 

literary technique , whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories.

The

frame story leads readers from a first story into another, smaller one (or several ones) within it.Slide9

The Local Color Movement (1865-1880)

American

wanted to know what their country looked like, and how the varied races which made up their growing population lived and talked. It was the age of the first mappings and surveyings

of the West; it was the age of the in which the rails of the first transcontinental railroad had bound East and West.

The East

asked what kinds of people leading what kinds of life are at the end of those bands of iron?

The

Western

regionalists answered: Men and women like yourselves, but dressed differently, speaking differently, with different social ways: fantastic deserts, mile deep canyons, mountains high enough to bear snow the year round, forests with trees as wide as man can stretch and wider, villages where the only woman was the town whore, camps where the only currency was gold-dust.

Writers of the

South

told of swamps where the cypress grew out the green-

scummed

water and the moss grew down into it, and of the cities where the obsessive blood-consciousness of its inhabitants testified to the mingling of the races.

Mid-western

authors narrated the tales of the plains where a man could be lost in the dust or ruined by hailstorm; of cities where

fortunes

were made or lost in a day's trading on the beef or grain exchanges. Slide10

Frame Story

Unknown narrator needs to seek information about Leonidas W. Smiley, as requested by a friend of his from the EAST. He will find Simon Wheeler to gather information about the

Jim Smiley

“lurking suspicion that L.W. Smiley is a myth”Just a gag to get Wheeler to talk about Jim Smiley

Simon Wheeler tells the tale of Jim Smiley

Jim Smiley is a bit of a gambler, has several pets he uses to swindle/dupe people out of their money. One such pet is his frog.

”A stranger” comes to town and bets Jim $40 that any frog could out jump the one Jim keeps in his box. While Jim is out looking for a frog the stranger feds the frog weights to weigh him down, hindering his ability to jump – subsequently winning the bet and immediately taking off with the money.

1

st

Narrative

2

nd

NarrativeSlide11

As you read:

Highlight, mark, color code the following things:

Cunning/Cleverness

CompetitionLies

and Deceit

East/West

or

Regions

Also keep track of our characters (what do you know about them?)

Jim Smiley

Simon Wheeler

Our narratorSlide12

Purpose of the frame story?

Why does Twain use the frame story structure in his short story? And to what effect does the structure contribute to the overall meaning of the story? Slide13

Local Color Movement & Setting

Friend from the EAST – sets him on his missionNarrator presumably from the EAST

“ancient mining camp of Angel’s” (3

)County

CalaverasJim Smiley

Simon Wheeler

EAST

WESTSlide14

Naming

Leonidas W. Smiley vs. Jim Smiley

Simon WheelerUnnamed narrator

Andrew Jackson - a westerner and the seventh president

of the United States. He was a man of the people

and believed in democracy for all.

Dan’l

(Daniel) Webster -

was an attorney who became one of the leading American statesmen, serving as a senator and Secretary of State. He ran unsuccessfully for president three times and was known for being a very good narrator.

In

this short story, a common frog with no name beats the educated frog (

Dan’l

Webster). The moral of the tale could be that the uneducated, common frog was only able to beat the educated frog through cheating. Alternatively, given Webster’s politics, it might be possible read more deeply into this and suggest that the tale is subversively arguing for equality for all Americans.

Analyze the author’s choices concerning why his characters would have these names, and how that effects the work as a whole. Slide15

Contrasting motifs that help develop theme:

Motif = a narrative element with a symbolic meaning that repeats itself throughout a piece of literature

Theme = underlying message that a writer wants the reader to understand. It is a perception about life or human nature that the writer shares with the readers, in most cases themes are not stated directly but must be inferred.

Love is not a theme, it’s a topic. What is the message about love?Love stinks.

Unrequited love can be the most painful type of love.

Love can solve all problems. Slide16

In your small groups . . .

1. Find all examples of your motifs and make a list with the textual evidence and the paragraph number.

2. Once you’ve found all the examples you can look at the evidence you’ve gathered and come up with a theme. What is the message the author is trying to tell you about this topic?

3. Write one elaborated paragraph defending what theme you think is present in the story.

GROUPS

SPADES - Cunning/Cleverness

CLUBS - Competition

HEARTS - Lies and Deceit

DIAMONDS - East/West or RegionsSlide17

1.

Find all examples of your motifs and make a list with the textual evidence and the paragraph number.

Wheeler “regarded it as a really important matter, and admired its two heroes as men of transcendent genius in finesse” (3)

“It always makes me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of

his’n, and the way it turned out” (6)

“You never see a frog so modest and straightforward as he was, for all he was so gifted” (7)

“Smiley was monstrous proud of his frog” (7)

Narrator comments that this information on Rev. Smiley is probably just a wild goose chase where Wheeler “would go to work and bore me nearly to death with some infernal reminiscence of him as long and tedious as it should be useless to me” (1)

Narrator comments that Wheeler narrates the story of Jim “without ever smiling” which is “exquisitely absurd” (3)

Mare (5)

Pup (6)

Frog “Smiley said all the frog wanted was education” (7)

“Filled him full of quail shot” (17)

Admiration

Absurdity Slide18

2. Once you’ve found all the examples you can look at the evidence you’ve gathered and come up with a theme. What is the message the author is trying to tell you about this topic?

Theme = Sometimes respect or admiration for something means believing in the impossibility or absurd qualities of something.

Theme = Admiration for something means allowing yourself to be in wonder of the absurdity of a situation.

Theme = In order to completely admire something you have to both respect and accept the absurdity of a situation. Theme = Part of being able to admire something is the ability to accept the absurdity of a situation. Slide19

In your small groups . . .

1. Find all examples of your motifs and make a list with the textual evidence and the paragraph number.

2. Once you’ve found all the examples you can look at the evidence you’ve gathered and come up with a theme. What is the message the author is trying to tell you about this topic?

3. Write one elaborated paragraph defending what theme you think is present in the story.

GROUPS

Cunning/Cleverness

Competition

Lies and Deceit

East/West or RegionsSlide20

Why do you think Wheeler is so interested in getting people to listen to his tall tales? Does he just like to hear himself talk, or does he think they can learn something from him?

Why did Jim Smiley give his pets famous political names?

Why is it significant that Smiley’s animals all seem to have no use or value until Smiley finds one? What conclusions can you draw from the fact that despite clear limitations, they almost always win?

Why is it ironic when Smiley loses?

What is the significance of the frog race?

What is “Local Color Movement,” and why is the use of dialect and slang so important to the humor of this story?

How do you know there are cultural differences between the Eastern and Western regions in this story?