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by 郑羽婵 and 吴易

Born November 30, 1835 Florida, Missouri, U.S.

Died April 21, 1910 (aged 74) Redding, Connecticut, U.S.

Pen name Mark Twain

Occupation Writer, lecturer

Notable works The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Spouse Olivia Langdon Clemens (m. 1870–1904)

Children Langdon, Susy, Clara, Jean

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Early LifeTravels & Fami

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Later Life

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Financial Troubles 03

sixth/seven children/only three/survive/childhood Twain/born/two weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley's Comet.

4 mother died, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri

11father died of pneumonia;

printer's apprentice.

16 he began working as a typesetter

18 he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City

24he received his steamboat pilot license;

foreseen his brother’s death

26the American Civil War ;

Confederate volunteers for two weeks

Early Life

Travels & Family

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Orion / Nevada Territory / headed west / traveled / 2 weeks / stagecoach / the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City.

Twain failed as a miner and found work at a Virginia City newspaper, as a journalist in the Territorial Enterprise. Here he first used his famous pen name.

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His first great success as a writer.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

national attention / travelogues / popular

During his seventeen years in Hartford (1874–1891), Twain wrote many of his best-known works.

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married Olivia Langdon in February 1870 in Elmira, New York.

Later, Their son Langdon died of diphtheria at 19 months.

36they moved his family to Hartford, While living there Olivia gave birth to three daughters: Susy (1872–1896), Clara (1874–1962)and Jean (1880–1909).

Financial Troubles

investmentsinventions&technology

publishing housebiograpgy

Later Life61---- D.Litt. Degree; his daughter Susy died of meningitis69---Olivia's death71---Twain formed a club in 190672---Oxford University awarded Twain an honorary doctorate in letters (D.Litt.)

In 1909, Twain is quoted as saying"I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. "

Death75----His prediction was accurate – Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.

When he passed away, newspapers around the country declared, “The whole world is mourning.” By then, Sam Clemens had long since ceased to be a private citizen. He had become Mark Twain, a proud possession of the American nation.

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Prince and The Pauper

Life on the Mississippi

some of Twain's major works

Writing characteristics of Mark Twain

• Early stage:active&humor• Mid-term:satire-----like a sharp weapon• Later period- pessimistic&desperate

about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnbefore the civil war/satire on southern culture two points about his satire in this novel1)he showed the readers how the poor whites thought they were better than black slaves.2)The second object of satire is the upper-class southerners.

Writing characteristics of Mark Twain colloquial idioms/colloquial syntax/ full of allegories politics, religion,slavery and the persecution of the Chinese and the Jews. persons who were innocent, simple, naive and ignorant as his heroes or heroines

Comments 海伦 · 凯勒曾言：“我喜欢马克 · 吐温——谁会不喜欢他呢？即使是上帝，亦会钟爱他，赋予其智慧，并于其心灵里绘画出一道爱与信仰的彩虹。”威廉 · 福克纳称他为“第一位真正的美国作家，我们都是继承他而来”。海明威曾经说过“一切当代美国文学都起源于马克 · 吐温一本叫《哈克贝里 · 费恩历险记》的书”。

thank you !