ipl-logo

Jumping Frog

511 Words3 Pages

The basis of any tall tale is that is obviously fictional, and there are many elements of the story that are far fetched. Mark Twain carries these characteristics through in his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Twain sets up many implausible situations in the story and uses these components in order to create humor. One of the most improbable parts of the story includes Jim Smiley and his jumping frog. Twain first makes the reader question the creditability of the frog story by using a specific type of language. He begins the story of the frog by saying how Jim Smiley found him. "He ketched a frog one day, and he cal'klated to edercate him." This grammatically incorrect statement made by Simon Wheeler about Smiley and his frog creates humor by poking fun at the people of the old west, who spoke in similar to this. Reading these types of sentences today, it is hard to believe that people ever spoke in this manner because in today's society, no one speaks this way. The author also uses implausible events in the story to create the humor. After explaining how the frog is found, Wheeler then goes on to explain how exactly Jim "eduercated" his frog. "...and so he never done nothing for 3 months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump." This situation is exaggerated to such an extent that it is …show more content…

"You never see a frog so modest and straightforward as he was, for he was so gifted." By writing this way, Twain personifies the frog by giving him human traits. He also characterizes the frog as a student willing to learn. "Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do most anything and I believe him." This part of the story is obviously fiction because frogs do not really have these characteristics. The anthropomorphism used in this passage of the story helps generate comedy by creating the idea of a frog acting as a

Show More
Related

  • The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Compare And Contrast

    832 Words  | 4 Pages

    The narrator in The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County does very little storytelling. He introduces us to Simon Wheeler by a barroom stove in an old tavern; then we spend the next three full pages listening to him (Twain 662-665). The narrator interrupts Wheeler and he ends our story (Twain 666). In The Outcasts of Poker Flat the narrator is outside the story and we do not know who it is. The narrator follows John Oakhurst from the beginning when he becomes an outcast (Harte 674) to the end when he dies (Harte 684).

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's Rhetorical Analysis

    187 Words  | 1 Pages

    Twain proceeds with his vivid metaphors which he calls experiments. He persuades his readers to examine the ill traits of humanity and see the world through his eyes. One example of this is when he describes an article about how three monks were burnt

    Read More

  • I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read Analysis

    855 Words  | 4 Pages

    Twain, like any author, was a product of his time, but because values are always tied to the time a piece was written, it would be difficult for a teacher to separate the values that could offend a student from the rest of the

    Read More

  • Mark Twain Theme Of Freedom In Huckleberry Finn

    904 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire that Mark Twain had written with the motive to correct the vices of the American Society and government. Mark Twain was not

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Hop-Frog And The Cask Of Amontillado

    654 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe wrote many thrilling and allegorical short stories, which are very similar to each other when closely looked at. “Hop-Frog” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are two very intriguing stories that have many similarities and few differences; in the end, it is revealed that the themes are strikingly similar. These two thrilling stories reveal that the unstable trait that is pride has many detrimental effects. Pride is what drove Montresor and Hop-Frog to kill their oppositions.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Twain's Two Ways Of Seeing A River

    711 Words  | 3 Pages

    Twains essay “Two Ways of seeing a River” shows a complex usage of literary tropes. Throughout the text twain establishes a love for the beauty and features of the river; however, The text transitions this voice to one in which only the purpose of the river is seen. The river becomes linked to twain through these viewpoints. This allows for a Pedagogy to develop in which a Master-Student relationship is created. To create the pedagogical link between twain and the river we must first begin to construct the context, which through irony the text begins to craft the master and novice perspective.

    Read More

  • How Does Twain Use Verbal Irony In Huck Finn

    98 Words  | 1 Pages

    Twain uses Verbal Irony through Huck when he reveals how Tom Sawyer was the "gladdest" of all when Tom has a bullet in his leg. Normally, most people wouldn't be happy to have a bullet in their leg, so it was ironic for Tom to be so happy with a bullet in his leg. This verbal irony was used to show the readers Tom Sawyer's tendency and passion for romanticizing and exaggerating a situation. It also reveals Tom's love for adventures as he was willing to sacrifice his life and get hurt to go on life threatening adventures.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mark Twain And Frederick Douglass

    247 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass both have interesting ways of writing. There are similarities and differences in their writing. They each have their own personal preference toward their style, tone, and perspective. Each story was a remembrance of boyhood written in first person. As evident, Twain’s story takes place as a boy in a town on the Mississippi River.

    Read More

  • The Notorious Jumping Frog

    875 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, the dialect establishes the tone between the narrator and Wheeler by having Wheeler tell a series of stories about a betting man named Smiley. The narrator makes a point to emphasize that Wheeler is a just average person and that he has little interest in interviewing him about a likely mad up story about a man named Smiley. This results in the tone of the story being nonchalant. For example, “…it would remind him of his infamous Jim Smiley, and he would got to work and bore me to death with some exasperating reminiscence of him as long and tedious as it should be useless to me. I that was the design, it succeeded.”

    Read More

  • Examples Of Corruption In Huckleberry Finn

    2101 Words  | 9 Pages

    On their journey, they meet people from different walks of life, engage in a decades long feud, and even attend a circus. However, this novel is not all fun and games. Mark Twain blatantly demonstrates his beliefs in

    Read More

  • The Notorious Jumping Frog Analysis

    1035 Words  | 5 Pages

    The use of language in writing is a form of self-expression and is a way to reveal key things about narrators’ characters. The narrators in “The Notorious Jumping Frog” and “Baker's Bluejay Yarn” by Mark Twain, have a very specific style of language which reveals things about their characters. In “The Notorious Jumping Frog” the narrator’s name is Simon Wheeler, The story takes place in Calaveras County, a mining town in California. Wheeler is originally asked about a man by the name Leonidas W. Smiley, but Wheeler started talking a completely different man by the name of Jim Smiley, a man with a gambling problem, who once lived in town. In “Baker's Bluejay Yarn” the narrator's name is Jim Baker.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras Country

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wheelers story applied to the real-life scenario between the narrator and him. The story was about how Smiley wasted his time on Dan’l the frog and how he could jump higher than any other frog could ever do. Just like Wheeler was there with the narrator wasting his time with an unimportant story about a man and a frog. Wheeler, the “hick”, essentially out-smarted a sophisticated man who purely believed of Wheeler’s inability to tell a good story. Harte:

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's Cannibalism In The Cars

    411 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Mark Twain, humorous stories are very different from comic and witty stories. Humor adds amusement and interest in the message that is being delivered. “Cannibalism in the Cars” delivers the humorous message by using irony, satire, and syntax. The irony in the short story is in the way that the senators speak so sophisticated.

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Symbolism Analysis

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote shows how Huckleberry was treated by his father and that he felt trapped. Twain discusses slavery and the standards of civilization is very mature manner using symbolization

    Read More

  • Tom Sawyer And Huckleberry Finn Analysis

    1366 Words  | 6 Pages

    As a fiction writer, Mark Twain, whose original name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, stands apart as a comic genius. In America, Mark Twain had popularized this new genre through two of his well- known novels. One is 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ' and the other 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn '. Mark Twain 's idea of a boy character is based on the picture of an average American boy. The American boy, by nature, is enterprising and mischievous, not a reserved character like his counterpart in England.

    Read More

More about Jumping Frog

Open Document