O.Henry, Mark Twain, and John Steinbeck. These are three authors that have had great experience in writing classic literature. Classic authors use their unique style to withstand the test of time. Their styles allow them to have themes that are still relevant.
O. Henry’s unique style is shown in his work. He writes with situational irony. This is a plot twist, or surprise ending. In a short story, The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry, Della cut off her precious hair and sold it so she could have enough money to buy Jim, her husband, a present. Selling his watch to have the money, Jim bought Della a Christmas gift(SPP). “And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed
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One of Mark Twain writing styles is social commentary. This is when he makes fun of things that he thinks people take too seriously. This is shown in the novel Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. When Tom was in Sunday school and the guest speaker came, everyone was showing off to try and impress him(CX). “And above it all the great man sat and beamed a majestic judicial smile upon all the house”(Ch 4). This proves that he is making fun of people that think they are better and smarter than everyone around them. Everyone can relate to the fact that there is always that one person who thinks they rule everything, and no one could ever be as good as them (CD). Another way that he shows his style of writing is with sarcasm. This is shown when Tom was in Sunday school and the guest speaker was trying to get everyone 's attention and one girl was looking outside. “I am afraid she thinks I am out there somewhere-perhaps up in one of the trees making a speech to the little birds”(Ch. 4). This proves that he was making a snide comment about the girl looking outside instead of paying attention. People all over love Twain’s hilarious remarks and the way he plays with words. Bringing a nice twist to his writing, Mark Twain shows his style in his work with a great sense of humor and a great way of bringing a nice twist to his writing …show more content…
Noteworthy examples of his style are symbolism and poverty. Symbolism is shown in his book The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, in chapter three. After the main character, Kino, obtains a pearl worth a great amount of money, he is attacked by a shadow entity and is injured. While his wife is helping him, she is trying to convince him to get rid of the pearl(CX). “ ‘This thing is evil,’ she cried harshly. ‘This pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us,’ “. This passage tells us the true misfortune that is to come with the pearl, that each day they choose to keep it is another day closer to their destruction. It also shows that the pearl is symbolic of manipulative evil. Shining in the sun, the pearl seemed like a blessing(SPP). Secretly, however, the pearl causes Kino and his family’s lives to change for the worse. Another example of his style in the book is the poverty shown in it. In chapter one, it shows Kino and his people’s daily life, and how their poverty structen village goes about living. The wealthy towns people live in plaster houses, and Kino’s people life in brush houses(CD). “Across the brush fence were other brush houses, and the smoke came from them too…” This passage shows that Kino’s village does not get the pleasures other cultures do. They do not get to live in plaster houses that are welly lit. Instead, they live in highly flammable brush houses. The townspeople never have to worry about not eating, while the
(110). Unable to recall the source of the conflict, Buck discerns the honor his family takes in defending their name, so he picks up a gun a follows suit. Twain’s ridicule of the family’s pomposity shows how easily individuals are able to adopt the behaviour of others around them. Furthermore, we see satire present
In his essay titled “Corn-pone Opinions,” the famous American author Mark Twain explores the idea of public opinion and its correlation with human nature. Twain, known as the “father of American literature,” was particularly talented at observing and analyzing the people around him. He discusses corn-pone, or bland, opinions, and how they are a result of a lack of uniqueness and independence in people. According to Twain, trends in society are born from conformity, and die by the habits and opinions of outside influences, rather than the independent thinking Twain believes in.
As Douglass also discussed, “Don’t you reckon that the people that made the books knows what’s the correct thing to do?” (Twain 7). Tom is easily drawn into the idea that people have their best interest in mind, which may not always happen. He believes what he is told because he feels that others have their best interest in mind, which is not always the case. He is quick to trust and he never questions anything he is told.
Additionally, Fitzgerald does the same in his book. He makes the characters speak very differently based on their social class to display the differences. “To them a man who talked after this fashion was either raving drunk or raving crazy” (Fitzgerald, 298). The lower class men are taunting the upper class man for speaking in an educated manner, whereas the intellectual is treated the inferiors as superiors making it ironic. This is satirical because Fitzgerald uses situational irony to convey the maturity of the social classes.
Education now a days is a fairly easy thing to obtain, whether it’s through cheap public schools or more expensive private schools, but in the 1800’s education was more of rarity than a commodity. In the story Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and the auto-biography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by himself, shows the more unconventional ways that people may have needed to go through to have something that resembles an education. Where Huck Finn had simply lived his life and traveled the lands to gain his knowledge, and Frederick Douglass using sly trickery and a piece of bread to gain his own knowledge. With this, both of these men learned through the interactions of people, and with that, may have received a better education than people get
He is not interested in the novel until his instructor mentions the critics of the novel and where it should end. Similar to these critics, the class debates whether Twain’s ending draws away from his critique of Racism and Graff found that even famous authors were capable of mistakes that could be found at his level. Now that the author has controversies to watch out for, he is able to draw a personal engagement form the books he reads as the arguments of critics guided his reading. Due to the controversy over Twain’s novel, the author then has a realization that reading and intellectual discussion could have an effect on his life, and he became less embarrassed about doing such
Twain's use of humor brings out criticisms on American society. Introduced to the characters, Twain uses humor to describe their social classes and standing in education, not to shame upon them, but to bring fourth it in a different approach. Huck is in one of the lower social classes, it is shown by his education, and speech. "I had been to school most all the time and could spell and read and write just a little, and could say the multiplication table up to six times seven is thirty-five" (Twain 25). He puts humor in the fact that Huck thinks that six times seven is thirty-five, when it is really forty-two.
I believe that Mark Twain’s purpose in “Corn-pone Opinions”(1923) is to illuminate his audience on the idea of how humans are so influenced on what they are surrounded by that they do not form their own reasoning. According to Twain “We are creatures of outside influences as a rule we do not think, we only imitate”(32). In other words, Twain is saying that people are creatures that search for influences in their surroundings. Therefore, mimicking is something that humans do instead of trying to develop an independent thought on things.
Often times when Mark Twain talks about Sunday school or church in generals in the book Tom Sawyer he uses satire to explain some things in the book. When we hear about Sunday school or church we are often made to think of it as a funny or joking situation. We are told about a typical Sunday morning that begins with Sunday school. To get ready tom decides to go to Sid to “get his verses”. Sid had memorized his lesson days before tom who decides to get a “vague general idea of his lesson, but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought and his hands were busy with distracting recreations.”
For example, Twain creates humor by using hyperboles and understatement, while Douglass uses no emotional words or word choice. Twain used a lighthearted yet semi-serious tone in his writing to give the best description of the story as possible. “[...] instantly a negro drayman, famous for his quick eye and prodigious voice, lifts up the cry, "S-t-e-a-mboat a-comin'!" and the scene changes!” This shows the semi-serious tone of Twain’s text.
These two autobiographical narratives, Life on the Mississippi and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, respectively describe the author’s younger life. As the prominent and talented writers, Mark twain and Frederick Douglass were recognized by their distinctive styles. Frederick Douglass, as a former slave, lived an unusual life. In the time when discrimination to the black still existed inherently inside people’s minds, Douglass was considered to be not intelligent and had little talent in writing. The purpose his work served is to convince the people and to illustrate what the slavery was really like; along with that, another tough task was to prove to the audience that he was the writer and telling the truth.
The “greatest American humorist of his age”, Mark Twain once said, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.” From Missouri to Nevada, apprentice to father of American literature, short stories to novels—Twain became the well-known author he is today because of the impact his life adventures and trial had on him (5). Author of the excerpt from A Presidential Candidate, Twain often used humor and wit to illustrate his stories and make his point known. Through his use of satire, irony, and rhetorical questions, Twain exposes the perceived truths of the Presidential campaigns and candidacies. In his excerpt, Twain uses satire to illustrate how anyone can run for President regardless of experience (14).
Mark Twain was a prominent humorous American writer in the late 19th century who was infamous for satirizing many elements of society and writing in a vernacular that most people could understand. He believes that humor is “strictly a work of art” and that it is much subtler than comedy which “shouts [the nub] at you … every time” (Source A). Using his sense of humor, Mark Twain writes “Cannibalism in the Cars” and uses repetition and irony to achieve a humorous effect. Throughout the whole story, Twain uses repetition through anaphora and alliteration which creates suspense by emphasizing certain parts of his story to make the end seem more humorous.
Many a time I had seen a couple of boys, strangers, meet by chance, and say simultaneously, “I can lick you,” and go at it on the spot; but I always had imagined until now that that sort of thing belonged to children only, and was a sign and mark of childhood; but here were these big boobies sticking to it and taking pride in it clear up into full age and beyond. (23) The type of action that the people were engaging in was childish, and in the Yankee’s eyes, it had to be only the young doing it. To conclude, in order to get satiric effect, Mark Twain uses three tools of satire; exaggeration, parody, and
These techniques revealed Twain’s attitude by showing his overall feeling of how knowledge affects one’s view of nature. In Two Views of the River, Mark Twain uses a combination of imagery, a shift in perspective, and figurative language techniques to reveal his attitude towards the river. Together, they reveal that Twain believes the