International Journal of Advanced System and Social Engineering Research. ISSN 2278 – 6031 Vol1, (1), 2011, pp1-4. http://bipublication.com
MARK TWAIN: THE MAN AND THE WRITER Neelavva S. Koti Saptapur, Dharwad-580 001
ABSTRACT The article covers brief life sketch of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The Biographical sketch includes his childhood and family events. In 1963 Clemens adopted ‘pseudonym’ Mark Twain. Chronologically enumerated the works of Mark Twain from 1867 to 1890. Critically analyzed the few noted works of Mark Twain such as chaliced age, the adventures of Tom Sawyer etc. the author has quoted single reference to his article. Keywords: 19th century English literature, Biography, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, well-known with his pseudonym, ‘Mark Twain’s the greatest American humorist writer. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in Florida in 1835. His parents John Marshall Clemens and mother Jane Lampton Clemens were Virginians. His father moved the family to Hannibal and Clemens spent his boyhood there. In March 1847, when Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia.[1] The next year, he became a printer's apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. He joined the union and educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school.[2] At 22, Twain returned to Missouri. Mark Twain, had little education and he spent his early years in a printing press. He began writing burlesques. His one hobby was boating on Mississippi and he knew the river like a book. There was the disturbance of Civil War. Twain joined Orion, who in 1861 became secretary to James W. Nye, the governor of
Nevada Territory, and headed west. Twain and his brother traveled more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City. The experiences inspired Roughing It and provided material for The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Twain's journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he became a miner.[3] Twain failed as a miner and worked at a Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise.[4] Here he first used his pen name. On February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous travel account "Letter From Carson – re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnson's; music" with "Mark Twain".[5] Twain moved to San Francisco, California in 1864, still as a journalist. He met writers such as Bret Harte, Artemus Ward, and Dan DeQuille. The young poet Ina Coolbrith may have romanced him.[6] His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in a New York weekly, The Saturday Press, on November 18, 1865. It brought him national attention. A year later, he traveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) as a reporter for the