聊城大学外国语学院美国文学史与选读课件 Lecture14.pptVIP

Mark Twain (1835-1910) Life of Mark Twain Born Samuel Longhorn Clemens in Florida, Missouri on Nov. 30, 1835 (when Halley’s Comet was visible in the sky, so was when he died) Doing odd jobs after his father’s death from 12 years age (apprentice to a local printer; traveling reporter to several newspapers) 2 years from 1857, apprentice to a captain on a ship on the Mississippi Life of Mark Twain Civil War and Twain participating it (2 weeks) Beginning sign articles as “Mark Twain” in 1863 Tragic Years for Mark Twain Bankruptcy after a few investments in 1890s Daughter Susy’s death of meningitis in 1896 Wife’s death in 1904 Daughter Jean’s death in 1909 Exhausted creative source Death in 1910 Mark Twain’s Literary Career Works of Humor (1860s-1870s) A wild humorist in American literature (west humor) Bold design Exaggerated style Colloquial language Literary and biblical allusions Funny narrators Satirical effect and social criticism The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865) Mark Twain’s Literary Career Social Critical Novels (1870s-1890s) Peak of Mark Twain’s literary creation The falsity of American democracy, falsity of prosperity, weakness of humanity Vanity of upper class Superficiality of individualism Monetary worship Mark Twain’s Literary Career The Gilded Age (1873) The Man that Corrupted Handleyburg (1900) The Prince and the Pauper (1882). One-Million Pound Note (1893) Mark Twain’s Literary Career Anti-Imperialist Works (1890s-) U.S.A. government’s aggressive imperialist policies To the Person Sitting in Darkness (1910) Following the Equator (1891) Mark Twain’s Literary Career Pessimistically Sentimental Works Personal disasters Exhaustion of creative source What is Man (1906) The Mysterious Stranger (1916) Mark Twain’s Literary Contributions and Features inheritance and development of humorous tradition of literature American literary colloquialism heavy rural atmosphere and nostalgia Various kinds of subject matters sharp