StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
This research paper examines the technique of humor in most of Mark Twain's literary works. This includes exaggeration, satire, irony, high and low comedy, parody, absurdity, and other forms of humor. …
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.2% of users find it useful
Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature"

Artistic Technique of Mark Twain in American Literature Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain employed the technique of humour in most of his literary works. This includes exaggeration, satire, irony, high and low comedy, parody, absurdity, and other forms of humour. In his literary works, Mark Twain was more influenced by his literary profession and less by the past humourist novelists. He undertook his training in the school of newspaper fun-making and humorous lecturing, including an introduction to the Orthodox arts.

He worked as a newspaper printer, then as a newspaper writer, with considerable exposure and interaction with famous writers. This experience therefore, shaped Twain and improved his writing expertise. The kind of humour and satire employed by Mark Twain did not result in any indecency or fierce seriousness (“Bartleby.com”). He meant for laughter of people, to take a break from their serious life. His humour equally ridiculed things and people of all statuses, including the poor and the rich, the poets and the fools, and the sinners and saints (Bellamy 52).

Therefore, as much as Twain employs humour, he leaves his audience with the responsibility of identifying the moral lessons in his works, as serious issues affecting society are presented lightly by Twain. In most of Twain’s books such as The Innocent broad, Following the Equator, The adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp Abroad, Roughing It, and The Adventures of Huckleberry, some of the characters are involved in either domestic or foreign travel. In his real life, Twain loved travelling both within U.S.A.

and abroad. His travelling experiences helped him compare different world cultures with the American culture. With this, he bluntly exposed the differences between what travel guidebooks wrote about attraction sites, and what he saw as an observer. His expeditions also highly influenced the content of his works. These gave him the opportunity to address different issues in a range of tones such as irate, outraged, appreciative, and annoyed. Twain’s other works such as A Pen Warmed Up in Hell, is an example of his works that employs the humour technique of high comedy.

In this book, the travels made by some of the characters, such as when Satan visits paradise and when Captain Stormfields visits heaven, are quite interesting, and as well based on social, theological, and philosophical perspectives (Bellamy 62-66). Mark Twain also employed the technique of using the eyes of the present to view the past. For example, he makes some of his nineteenth century characters travel into the ancient past. These visits to ancient history by Twain’s characters gave him an opportunity to veer into the past, and analyse the nature of events, places, and people who lived during different eras of the ancient past.

Similarly, this analysis gave him a basis for proclaiming judgement on the past atrocities, social evils, and corruption of the church and political systems in society. In addition, the nature of past societies helped him to compare the past technology with the technology in his era, as well as past philosophy and ideologies with those of his generation. In some of his works, Twain allows characters of different social classes to trade their status. When a rich person takes a poor man’s position, they get the opportunity of understanding how it means to live in poverty.

Twain therefore uses this to condemn social evils in the society, which propagate poverty of the poor through their oppression and alienation (“Bartleby.com”). Therefore, Twain uses different forms of the humour technique to address important social, political, and religious issues in society. Works Cited “Bartleby.com.” Mark Twain. n.d. Web. Retrieved 13th December 2012 Bellamy, Gladys. “Mark Twain as a Literary Artist.” New York: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature Assignment”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1611743-artistic-technique-of-mark-twain-in-american-literature
(Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature Assignment)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1611743-artistic-technique-of-mark-twain-in-american-literature.
“Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature Assignment”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1611743-artistic-technique-of-mark-twain-in-american-literature.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Artistic Technique Of Mark Twain In American Literature

Anti keylogger techniques

2007, “A Robust technique of Anti Key-Logging using Key-Logging Mechanism”, IEEE, Digital Ecosystems and Technologies Conference, 2007.... In the contemporary society, ‘key-loggers present serious challenges to security… This literature review presents an analysis of some contemporary techniques proposed to avert key-loggers. Baig and Mahmood (2007) confirm that it is essential to address system security and privacy in a timely manner.... This literature review presents an analysis of some contemporary techniques proposed to avert key-loggers....
2 Pages (500 words) Literature review

Why America Won't Get the Health-Care System It Needs

hellip; The conclusion from this paper states that rather than having an entirely government-controlled health care system, the structure of a private health insurance system regulated by the government should be considered as a solution to help every single american to be able to get affordable health care by referring to other well-designed international models.... Knowing the success of the Korean system first-hand, rather than instituting a government-controlled health care system, the american federal government ought to structure the private health insurance system (through regulation) in such a way to help every single american acquire affordable health care....
5 Pages (1250 words) Literature review

A Literary Analysis of The Hunger Artist by Kafka

The author analyzes Kafka's story “The Hunger Artist” and states that the major themes in the story include alienation, loss of personal identity, and guilt.... The hunger artist feels guilt because he has changed into a freak and can no longer work, and therefore he is no longer the family breadwinner … Anti-heroes almost unanimously display this sense of frustration with and disillusionment by the superficial levels of society, and in turn provide the world with their own front of taciturn and ironic rebellion against its perceived superficiality, which is something that the hunger artist definitely does   The hunger artist especially guilty when the people who don't understand watch him because he feels so guilty about letting everyone down (not fasting for long enough)....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

Managing Autistic Students

This literature review "Managing Autistic Students" discusses the inclusion of autistic children into the learning environment.... The help of a paraprofessional is important according to the IEP plan as it entrusts the teacher with the responsibility of ensuring the students fit into the classroom....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Historical Perspective of the Collaboration Between Artists and Engineers

This literature review "Historical Perspective of the Collaboration Between Artists and Engineers" discusses the collaborations between artists and engineers or scientists that enhance them to work together in order to break new grounds in scientific and artistic practices.... Artists as well require the works of the engineers as they undertake their artistic duties....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

Wal-Mart Value Chain Activities

… The paper "Wal-Mart Value Chain Activities" is a great example of a marketing literature review.... The paper "Wal-Mart Value Chain Activities" is a great example of a marketing literature review.... The strategy of Wal-Mart has been a success through simple and innovative practices in value chain activities such as purchasing, logistics, and information management, which resulted in offering lower price value offers everyday (Magretta 2002, p....
1 Pages (250 words) Literature review

Techniques for Dealing with the Hazardous Radioactive Wastes

… The paper “Techniques for Dealing with the Hazardous Radioactive Wastes”  is a convincing example of a literature review on environmental studies.... The paper “Techniques for Dealing with the Hazardous Radioactive Wastes”  is a convincing example of a literature review on environmental studies.... As Oh (2001) highlights, vitrification is an acknowledged technique used in the disposal as well as the storage of radioactive wastes....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

Mark Twain - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

The paper "mark twain - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" analyzes a plain folk tale into an artistic short story.... In his first successful story, mark twain uses a local dialect, customs of the time, and patterns of social status to create a reasonable view of the area in which the narrative takes place.... hellip; twain's literary achievement in this story is dazzling.... The public status of the key characters in Jumping Frog of Calaveras County also was something that twain take into consideration in writing this story....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us