An uneducated frog beats and educated one. A dog with no back legs wins the fight. From an educated frog, to a fighting dog, Mark Twain's “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is full of irony, satire, and humor. Andrew Jackson is the name given to Jim Smiley’s fighting dog, named after the seventh president of the U.S. During the story told by Simon Wheeler, Andrew Jackson would always win the fight. The dog would wait until the bets were against him, and then use his foolproof plan: he would latch onto one of the opposing dogs hind legs and not let go until the other side gave up. Ironically, during one fight, the opponents dog did not have any back legs. So he was unable to use his method; to latch onto the opponent, therefore losing the fight. Andrew Jackson was so embarrassed and ashamed that he laid down and died. The use of satire was used in exaggeration by comparing Andrew Jackson’s lawyer career to a fighting dog. Furthermore exaggerating that the president either could not handle losing, or lack thereof. …show more content…
This educated frog, was taught by Smiley to jump faster, higher to catch flies or bugs, better than any other frog. Despite this difference, it looked like an ordinary frog. One day, Jim Smiley bet a passing stranger that his frog could out-jump the strangers frog. The stranger didn’t have a frog, so Smiley went to go get a frog for the stranger. The stranger filled up Dan’l Webster's mouth with buckshot while Smiley was gone. When the bet was on, the uneducated frog jumped, Dan’l Webster stayed put. While it is unclear the connection intended between the fictional frog and Daniel webster, but to satirize his running for president, as he did fail. He was a highly educated man, and was secretary of state and a senator. This also proves the irony that the educated lost to the less educated; to correspond to Daniel
What is the most important element of a good story? Although interesting characters, engaging plot development and didactic story lines certainly embellish the story, one could argue that the setting is the most crucial. Not only does the setting provide a baseline of necessary background information, it can also be used to enhance the story, just like the other elements listed. Edgar Allan Poe certainly takes advantage of this in “Hop Frog”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and the “Masque of the Red Death”. In each of these stories, gruesome horrors occur, and because of the ingenious way Poe uses and manipulates the setting to his advantage, these stories’ horrors are amplified. In “Hop Frog” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, the main characters
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain during the late 1800’s (Mintz). The book brought major controversy over the plot, as well as the fact that it was a spin-off to his previous story, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book has remained a success due to Twain’s interesting techniques of keeping the audience’s attention. Chapters eleven and twelve of “Huckleberry Finn,” uses a first person limited point of view to take advantage of the use of dialogue while using many hyperboles to add drama to entertain the reader by creating description within the story without needing to pause and explain.
“Mark Twain Prize for Humor.” Kennedy Center. Mark Twain Foundation Trust. 2013. Web. 2 Apr
Mark Twain’s use of humor in the story mocks and shines light on the issues of our society’s political system from back then that continue
Twain uses mock heroic diction in throughout his essay, most prominently seen through the example of the anaconda and the Earl. Although many assume that the Earl has better moral values than the anaconda, Twain contradicts this idea by proving the anaconda is a better animal. The anaconda only destroys
In the novel Huck Finn, the author repeatedly uses satire to ridicule the insanity of racial ignorance and inequity of the time period. With his masterful use of role reversal, irony, and the obvious portrayal of double standards, Twain exemplifies the injustices of different races contrasting them with example after example of counter-argument shown through the friendship and adventures of Jim and Huck together.
Andrew Jackson is one of the most controversial presidents. Many regard him as a war hero, the father of the Democratic Party, an inspiring leader, and a spokesman for the common man. While there is plenty to praise about the seventh president, his legacy is tarnished by his racism, disregard for the law of the land, cruelty towards the Native Americans, and ruthless temper. Jackson was an intriguing man who was multi-faceted. One must not look at a singular dimension, and cast judgment on him as a whole. To accurately evaluate one of the most complex presidents, it is crucial to observe Jackson from all possible angles. Prior lifestyle, hardships in life, political ideology, lifestyle of the time, political developments, and his character
The two stories that I chose to discuss are Mark Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog" and Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”. These stories had very different settings, yet they both reeked of irony. In Mark Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog” Jim Smiley is a betting man and frankly bets on everything, from the health of another man’s wife, to a dog, and eventually a jumping frog. One day he found a frog and this frog, Dan’l Webster how to jump. Jim Smiley was confident that his frog could beat any frog in the entire land in a jumping contest. He ran into a stranger and expressed his faith into his frog. The stranger said that he didn’t have a frog to bet against, so Jim Smiley asked the stranger to hold his frog while he goes to and finds a frog to challenge Dan’l Webster. While Jim is gone looking for a frog, the stranger loads Dan’l Webster down with
In Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, Twain uses setting and characterization of Smiley to show how gambling could have you stuck thinking about the consequences in the case that you lose. In the story, an unnamed character from the East
Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain lived in completely different times, yet the stories they wrote both tell of the human condition in such a true way the characters in them are as familiar as pedestrians walking on the sidewalk. Two stories by them in particular accentuate a good cha racter. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown and Mark Twain's the Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Young Goodman Brown is a gothic story about a man, and the town with him, that allows curiosity to lead him astray, while the Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is about a compulsive gambler. Readers who haven't ever heard of these authors are familiar with these type of characte rs. They are real enough to cause nostalgia in the stomachs of the most
For example, during the National Bank Veto incident. Jackson, a man who grew up in a world where a bank represented predatory practices, abuse, and corruption, was fiercely distrustful of banks so large and powerful that they could manipulate the economy, vetoed the recharter of the bank. He believed that banks were the intrinsic enemies of the common man and his interests. This episode shows how Jackson was willing to defend the interests of the common man even if it meant destroying one of the most powerful institutions in the nation along with angering their political allies.
For example, Simon Wheeler was, “fat and bald-headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity. . .” (Twain 115). This laid-back description was typical of folks in Angel’s Camp. Also, Twain portrayed the individuals as uneducated. This was evidenced by Wheeler’s statement that Jim Smiley, “ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'lated to educate him” (Twain 117). Since frogs have the innate ability to jump it is rather preposterous to believe that an educated man would attempt to train a frog to jump. Another characteristic of folks in this camp was that they had a great deal of leisure time to sit and talk. This was supported by the narrator’s statement that Wheeler, “backed me into a corner . . . sat me down and reeled off the monotonous narrative. . .” (Twain
The first thing to think about transporting a Whites Tree Frog is you know where you are going;
As a very gifted writer and philosopher, Mark Twain, maintains his audience with the use of humor. He starts the essay out by saying, “You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinion is” (1). The
In the “notorious jumping frog of calavera country” as Twain tells his story he says the following “He would have foller that straddle bug to mexico”,showing how the words they used, and they way they spoke were different.Instead of saying follow he uses the word “foller”.Another quote that Twain uses which help develop the character happened later on in the story when Smiley was talking about his frog which he has been training to jump. Smiley say “If he hadn't no talent”.Smiley uses a double negative showing how he isn't so bright,since he said “hadn't