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Expository essay of the jumping frog of calaveras county s
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County setting
Mark Twain imagery
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Literary Analysis of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”
The 1867 folktale, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain, depicts the interesting events of Leonidas W. Smiley and his jumping frog through in depth detail which creates realistic imagery. The narrator tells of an inquiry that he receives, requesting information regarding Smiley. He goes about finding this information by tracking down a man named Simon Wheeler, Wheeler then goes to explain the story of Smiley and his gambling problem and how it rooted with his childhood when he captured and befriended a jumping frog. Once understanding Twain’s way of expressing imagery, it will be discovered that the only way his folktale, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” came across so well was because of his in depth description of all the events, characters and recalls of memories in the story makes it come alive.
When considering the imagery in the folktale one of the first noticeable depictions is when the narrator seeks out Wheeler and asks him of Smiley. Wheeler is not only given an in depth description of his outward appearance, but, is also described with full detail while he is recalling Smiley’s past. Twain writes, “Simon Wheeler backed me into a
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corner and blackaded me with his chair, and then sat me down and reeled of the monotonous narrative...he never smiled, he never frowned..” He illustrates this with descriptive diction on par with his other works and camptivates with the imagery of Wheeler. While Wheeler is recalling Smiley’s past; much like a storyteller would, he puts a generous amount of verbal illustration throughout the account.
He first explains more recent events such as his more serious gambling affairs, Wheeler recalls a dog from one of these situations, “ He was a different dog; his under jaw began to stick out like the fo’ castle of a steamboat… and bite him, and throw him over his shoulder two or three times.” this literary example in particular is a direct reflection of how extraordinary Twain’s skill in writing imagery is. He not only explains certain things well, but he also, makes comparisons to things in daily life that help illustrate these events in the minds of
readers. As Wheeler gets to the root of the gambling issue he happens upon the memory of a frog that Smiley took in as his own and trained. According to the way he recalls these events, Smiley was very demanding with the frog because he wanted to ensure that it knew how to jump. Twain has Wheeler recall, “ He ketched a frog one day and took it home, and said he cal’klated to educate him… next minute you’d see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut…” Only could Twain make a child teaching a frog how to jump as entertaining as he did, and he did it through imagery much like the other parts in this folktale. Mark Twain’s “ The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” has a vast amount of imagery that meshes perfectly with the theme of the folktale. Through the scenes he illustrated the entirety of the story was played out in the minds of the readers and the world of Leonidas W. Smiley was unfolded.
A friend has asked the narrator to find Simon Wheeler and to ask him about the Reverend Leonidas W. Smiley.Simon Wheeler doesn’t remember a Reverend Smiley,but he does start to tell a tale about Jim Smiley,a man who loved to make bets.We learn from the start that Smiley loves to gamble,but more importantly perhaps,he likes to bet an animals.”I found simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by the bar-room store of old dilapidated tavern in the ancient mining camp of Angels.”Here explains how Simon is,his behavior this part shows he's a lazy an old school sleeping in a ancient camp that looks like from Angels.”Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blocked me there with his chair and then sat me down and rolled off the monotonous narrative which
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.
Although both Twain and Douglass both lived in the south, Douglass was a slave and, therefore, faced greater hardships than did Twain. While Twain was preoccupied about becoming steamboat captain, Douglass was experiencing more dire troubles such as having “no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees” (Douglass). As a free, white male, Twain’s biggest worry was not accomplishing his goal of becoming a steamboat pilot (Twain). Another difference is the use of joyful and troubling memories. While Twain ends his narrative in despair because he “somehow… could not manage…” to become a steamboat pilot, Douglass ends his narrative in the hopeful and thankful tone of a freed slave. Douglass proclaims “this good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise”(Douglass). Finally, another narrative technique that differs Twain from Douglass is that Twain speaks for all of the boys of his town while Douglass only recounts his own experiences. According to Twain, “when I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman.”(Twain). Douglass, although alluding to other slaves, does not depict their desires nor does he show a kinship with them. Douglass’
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
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates several traits that are common in mankind. Among these traits are those that are listed in this essay. Through characters in the story Twain shows humanity's innate courageousness. He demonstrates that individuals many times lack the ability to reason well. Also, Twain displays the selfishness pervasive in society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many aspects of the human race are depicted, and it is for this reason that this story has been, and will remain, a classic for the ages.
In the 1850's, a new literary movement emerged. This movement, termed regionalism, shows fidelity to a particular region or culture, namely through character's speech, manners, and beliefs. One distinct characteristic of regionalism present in all such texts is the idea that people within these cultures are very difficult to change because the characters want to preserve their distinct way of life. Two short stories in particular effectively demonstrate regionalism—Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," published in 1865, and Bret Harte's 1868 publication of "The Luck of Roaring Camp." Both Twain and Harte use regionalism within their short stories; however, they do so by utilizing completely different aspects of local
on the road” (Twain pg 681). Twain’s description of Jim Smiley, he exaggerates Smiley’s proneness to bet on anything or declaring a bet. Twain’s use of hyperboles enhances a character’s characteristics, like Jim Smiley’s excessive use of betting on unthinkable things. This creates a humorous effect to the story because it exaggerates some truths about characters to show how humorous Smiley’s actions are when he places many bets. In addition, exaggeration is a great way to bring out singularities of characters in the story, “ … if there were two birds setting on a fence, he would bet you which one would fly first ” (Twain pg 681). In this case, the exaggeration here is Jim would find a way to make a bet out of anything. It would not matter how insignificant something was, Smiley would seek an opportunity to turn any situation into a way to make a profit and will satisfy his gambling urges. Twain’s use of hyperboles is an excellent way to bring out the characters’ characteristics and revealing interesting information. Rather than explaining that Smiley has trouble controlling his gambling urges and bets on anything and takes advantage in any opportunity that he sees he could make money. Twain wants the reader to get interested and wants the reader to know how serious Jim Smiley’s
Twain incorporates complex syntax to portray the protagonist’s life as the pilot of a Steamboat. In the first paragraph, the author uses compound-complex sentences to reveal his initial observation of the river to the reader effectively; the river is “graceful” and “majestic” and enriched with “new marvels of coloring.”(Twa...
In "Two Views of the River," an excerpt from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi, Twain comes to the realization of the realities of the river. After a life along the river and knowing "every trifling feature that bordered the great river as" well as he knew his alphabet, (Twain 1) Twain sees the reality behind the "beauty" (1) and "poetry" (1) of the river. A comprehensive analysis reveals Twain's argument questions the value of learning a trade, as his images of "the majestic river" (1) and the peril it may cause for the steamboat, show the comparisons of the beauty and the reality of the river.
Twain describes local customs and the ways that the characters behave to create a more realistic setting for the story. In the story the characters engage in behavior or activities that would be unusual for a regular person to do. For example, the narrator says:
First, Mark Twain uses educated diction and obscure descriptions of Simon Wheeler in an attempt to entertain the general public reading the newspaper “The Saturday,” the newspaper where Mark Twain published his original version of his short story. To begin, Mark Twain uses the character of Jim Smiley to interest the reader and keep them hooked at the obscure personality of Mr. Smiley and his frog. Jim Smiley, a man addicted to gambling and competition, fools others through deception and false manipulations and gains the reader’s attention through his dedication to win and compete. Through clever manipulation of words, Jim downplays the skill of his...
Twain’s novel was greatly influenced by the times and criticizes the imperfections in society. These errors in society were subjective to the current events during the Gilded Age. The following show the effects of the current times that influenced the context of the novel. One of America’s leading historians of America in the west, Patricia N. Limerick well elaborates on what happened in the Gilded Age. The following quote fro...
At the young age of twelve, Twain lost his father. Ever since the loss of his father, he began to work in various jobs. From starting as “an apprentice, then a composer, with local printers, contributing occasional squibs to local newspapers” (“Mark Twain”). The early start of responsibility was just the beginning of his career. During the time, he was working for the newspaper, for six years in the newspaper company, he “finally ended up as an assistant to his brother, Orion” (“Samuel Langhorne Clemens.”). He stayed in Iowa by his brother’s side until he
Mark Twain is world renowned for his authentic portrayal of southern dialect. Twain’s phonetic spelling of words, such as “genuwyne” rather than “genuine” and “swaller” instead of “swallow,” communicated the southern way of speech of his diverse characters in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain 54-78). He breathed life into his characters and gave them personality through his style and word choice. For example, Aunt Polly’s diction differed significantly from that of Huck Finn’s, and this hinted at the education, age, and gender of each character. Variations in the dialogue of characters and narration evoked a wide range of emotions as well as completed the imagery of each character and scenario. Additionally, the language of each character was kept consistent, realistic, and natural. Twain’s convincing prose distinguished him from the decorous authors of that time who wrote with acute formality.
“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain is about an extremely talkative man by the name of Simon Wheeler who migrated from the East to the Western mining town. The man is then approached by Mark Twain (the narrator) which asks him if he possibly knows of a man called Leonidas W. Smiley. Rather than providing Mark Twain with the information he urgently needs Simon Wheeler starts to explain to him a tall tale story of a completely different man named Jim Smiley. He tells him the lifestyle of this particular man and all about him in great detail, which is pretty much pointless to Mark Twain.