November 30, 1835
Florida, Missouri, U.S.
Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn , he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism. Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Many of Twain’s works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools.
A complete bibliography of his works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or were not written down; thus, the collection of Twain’s works is an ongoing process. Researchers rediscovered published material by Twain as recently as 1995 and 2015.
View Mark Twain’s full biography on Wikipedia.
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Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens), November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called “The Great American Novel”.
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. After an apprenticeship with a printer, he worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to the newspaper of his older brother, Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his singular lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. In 1865, his humorous story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” was published, based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention, and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain was born shortly after a visit by Halley’s Comet, and he predicted that he would “go out with it”, too. He died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the “greatest American humorist of his age,” and William Faulkner called Twain “the father of American literature.”
Plays by mark twain.
Essays by mark twain.
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
And as Ernest Hemingway wisely observed: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn ." "
Christened as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the man who would call himself Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in the small river town of Florida, Missouri, just 200 miles from Indian Territory. The sixth child of John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton, Twain lived in Florida, Missouri until the age of four, at which time his family relocated to the town of Hannibal in hopes of improving their living situation.
By lineage, Twain was a Southerner, as both of his parents' families hailed from Virginia. The slaveholding community of Hannibal, a river town with a population of 2000, provided a mix of rugged frontier life and the Southern tradition, a lifestyle that influenced Twain's later writings, including the Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Few black slaves actually resided in Hannibal, and the small farms on the delta were no comparison to the typical Southern plantation. In Hannibal, blacks were mostly held as household servants rather than field workers, but were still under the obligations of slavery.
In his youth, Twain was a mischievous boy, the prototype of his character, Tom Sawyer. Though he was plagued by poor health in his early years, by age nine he had already learned to smoke, led a small band of pranksters, and had developed an aversion to school. Twain's formal schooling ended after age 12, because his father passed away in March of that year. He became an apprentice in a printer's shop and then worked under his brother, Orion, at the Hannibal Journal , where he quickly became immersed in the newspaper trade. Rising to the role of sub-editor, Twain indulged in the frontier humor that flourished in journalism at the time: tall tales, satirical pranks, and jokes.
However, over the next few years, Twain found himself unable to save any wages and grew restless. He decided to leave Hannibal in June of 1853 and accepted a position in St. Louis. Soon after, rather than settling in St. Louis, Twain proceeded to travel back and forth between New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Iowa, working as a journalist. After his wanderings, Twain ultimately switched professions, realizing an old boyhood dream of becoming a river pilot.
Under the apprenticeship of Horace Bixby, pilot of the Paul Jones , Mark Twain became a licensed river pilot at the age of 24. Earning a high salary navigating the river waters, Twain was entertained by his work, and enjoyed his traveling lifestyle. In 1861, with the beginning of the Civil War, Twain's piloting days came to an end.
After returning home to Hannibal, Twain learned that military companies were being organized to assist Governor Jackson, and he enlisted as a Confederate soldier. Within a short period, he abandoned the cause, deserted the military, and along with thousands of other men avoiding the draft, moved West. On his way to Nevada, twelve years after the Gold Rush, Twain's primary intentions were to strike it rich mining for silver and gold. After realizing the impossibility of this dream, Twain once again picked up his pen and began to write.
Twain joined the staff of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise , and became an established reporter/humorist. In 1863, he adopted the pseudonym Mark Twain, derived from a river pilot term describing safe navigating conditions. In 1869 he published his first book of travel letters entitled Innocents Abroad . The book was criticized widely and discouraged Twain from pursuing a literary career. In the years that followed, Twain published various articles, traveled the lecture circuits, and relocated between San Francisco, New York, and Missouri. During this time he also met Olivia Langdon, whom he married on February 2, 1870. In November of the same year, their first son, Langdon Clemens, was born prematurely.
The Clemens family quickly fell into debt. However, when over 67,000 copies of Innocents Abroad sold within its first year, the American Publishing Company asked Twain for another book. Upon Olivia's request, the couple moved to the domicile town of Hartford, Connecticut, where Twain composed Roughing It , which documented the post-Gold Rush mining epoch and was published in 1872.
In March of 1872, Twain's daughter Susan Olivia was born, and the family appeared prosperous. Unfortunately, their son Langdon soon came down with diphtheria and died. Twain was torn apart by his son's death, and blamed himself. Moreover, Roughing It was only mildly successful, which added to the family's hardships.
After traveling to Europe for a lecture series, Twain experienced a turning point in his career. Twain's newest novel, The Gilded Age , written in collaboration with Charles Dudley Warner, was published in 1873. The novel is about the 1800s era of corruption and exploitation at the expense of public welfare. The Gilded Age was Twain's first extended work of fiction and marked him in the literary world as an author rather than a journalist.
After the broad success of The Gilded Age , Twain began a period of full-time writing. In 1880, his third daughter, Jean, was born. By the time Twain reached age fifty, he was already considered a successful writer and businessman. His popularity sky-rocketed with the publications of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1882), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). By 1885, Twain was considered one the greatest character writers in the literary community.
Twain died on April 21, 1910, having survived his children Langdon, Susan and Jean as well as his wife, Olivia. In his lifetime, he became a distinguished member of the literati, and was honored by Yale, the University of Missouri, and Oxford with literary degrees. With his death, many volumes of his letters, articles, and fables were published, including: The Letters of Quintas Curtius Snodgrass (1946); Simon Wheeler, Detective (1963); The Works of Mark Twain: What is Man? and Other Philosophical Writings (1973); and Mark Twain's Notebooks and Journals (1975-79). Perhaps more than any other classic American writer, Mark Twain is seen as a phenomenal author, but also as a personality that defined an era.
Other works include:
Punch, Brothers, Punch! and Other Stories (1878)
A Tramp Abroad (1880)
The Stolen White Elephant (1882)
Life on the Mississippi (1883)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)
Merry Tales (1892)
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (1896)
How to Tell a Story and Other Essays (1897)
A Dog's Tale (1904)
Is Shakespeare Dead? (1909)
The adventures of huckleberry finn mark twain.
Throughout the twentieth century, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has become famous not only as one of Twain's greatest achievements, but also as a highly controversial piece of literature. In certain Southern states, the novel was banned due...
With the publishing of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain introduced the two immortal characters of Tom and Huckleberry to the "Hall of Fame" of American literature, as well as re-invented the traditional frontier tale. Written around 1870,...
In a very symbolic, but also rather literal way, Mark Twain was engaging in a bit of gold prospecting himself when he penned “The Californian’s Tale.” While Twain seemed to have an unerring knack for putting his finger directly on the pulse of...
Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was a huge success when it was published on November 18, 1865 in the New York Saturday Press . It established Twain’s reputation as a humorist with a great ear for regional...
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was the last of Twain's novels written during the apex of his career. As a work it shows his more mature writing, hinting at some of the cynical and dark themes that he would obsess over in his final...
The Diaries of Adam & Eve were, at first, two separate short stories written by American author, Mark Twain. The first one, Adam's Diary, was first published in 1893 and the second one, Eve's Diary, in 1906. The two tales were reunited in...
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is considered a short story rather than a novel, but many argue about this, as the work is too big to be a short story, and too small to be called a novel. Thus, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg stands on the...
Mark Twain is one of the most famous figures in American literature, and is known for his novels like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. What is not as widely known about him is the surprising amount of essays...
“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was originally published in the Saturday Press in 1865 before appearing two years later in Mark Twain’s Sketches, New and Old. The story can present something of a prickly problem for old-fashioned...
The Prince and the Pauper is a book written by American classic writer Mark Twain published in 1881. First published in Canada, it is the first historical fiction book written by Mark Twain. The book is set in the early 1500s, where readers follow...
Pudd'nhead Wilson was written during Mark Twain's "pessimistic period." At the time, Twain was living in Italy, attempting to recover from his recent bankruptcy. To raise some funds, he sold the rights to the novel to Century Magazine for $6,500....
Mark Twain asserted that his literary hybrid Roughing It was nothing more than a simple personal narrative, absent any intent to present that account as history or philosophy. Well, Mark Twain said a lot of things, some of them not to be trusted....
Mark Twain (1835–1910) was an American writer most famous for his children’s books ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. Born Samuel Clemens, he used the pen name Mark Twain for his writing career. Here you can find out more about this ‘father of American literature’ whose charm and wit won him many friends.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
“If you love what you do you’ll never work another day in your life.”
Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens in 1835 in Florida, Missouri, USA. He was the sixth of seven children born to John Clemens, a lawyer, and his wife Jane, although three of Samuel’s siblings died in childhood.
When Samuel was four, the family moved to Hannibal, a town on the Mississippi River. Samuel loved to watch the riverboats and dreamed of being a riverboat pilot . Many of his stories were inspired by his adventures in Hannibal.
When Samuel was 11, his father died. To support his family, Samuel became a printer’s apprentice at the Missouri Courier. He learnt a lot about writing and used public libraries in the evenings to educate himself. Later, Samuel worked as a typesetter for the Western Union, his brother Orion’s newspaper. Samuel created articles and sketches for the paper, and became known for his humour .
At 17, Samuel left Hannibal and found print work in St Louis, New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Then in 1857, he returned to study for two years to become a riverboat pilot.
But 1861 saw the end of Samuel’s river days once the Civil War started. He moved west to join the Confederate Army, although he left before fighting began. After working briefly as a miner, he became a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City, Nevada, and began writing short stories under the name Mark Twain. These funny tales were full of adventure. Mark’s first popular story – ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’ –was published in 1865. It received international acclaim and soon Mark was one of the most famous American celebrities of his day. He was asked to write his first (and best-selling) book ‘The Innocents Abroad’ (1869) about his travels, and other works followed including ‘Roughing It’ (1872), ‘The Prince and the Pauper’ (1882), and ‘Life on the Mississippi’ (1883).
In 1870, Mark married 24-year-old Olivia Langdon, the daughter of a rich coal merchant. They settled in Buffalo, New York, and had three daughters and a son. Their son sadly died in infancy.
Parenthood led to Mark’s famous ‘ river novels ’ for children. He read each chapter to his family as he wrote them. ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ (1876) and its sequel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ (1884) tell the adventures of two boys on the Mississippi River. Huckleberry Finn, in particular, has been called ‘The Great American Novel’ – a tale of a white boy helping a black man to escape slavery in the southern US. It was also one of the first novels to feature the colloquial (everyday) language of its characters. Mark Twain's "river books" have been banned in places as some characters in them use offensive, racist language that was common at the time of writing.
Mark’s writing earned him a lot of money, but he lost most of it by investing in risky ventures. In 1895, he began a world tour giving lectures to pay off his debts, which he did in 1898.
When Olivia died in 1904, Mark returned to New York, and later moved to Redding, Connecticut. It was here that he died from a heart attack in 1910, aged 74.
Here's an interesting worksheet to get older kids thinking about issues such as censorship and values. Do they think Mark Twain's books should still be used in schools today, due to some of the language and values now being thought of as offensive?
This printable story starter features the opening lines of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Why not have a go at writing your own story based on these first few lines. What will happen next?
It can be tricky to draw figures, but this step by step learn to draw sheet shows you how! This worksheet shows you how to draw American writer Mark Twain.
Our famous people booklets are a fun and different way for the kids to present their work. This booklet features a picture of Mark Twain - simply print out and fold (using our origami booklet folding instructions) .
Ask the children to colour in this picture of Mark Twain - a great way to introduce younger kids to the famous American writer.
Comprehension worksheets test the ability of older children to understand a reading passage and answer questions based on the text. This comprehension worksheet is all about the famous American author Mark Twain.
Our Mark Twain factsheet teaches the kids some well-known facts and background information about the famous writer. Great to read on its own or to use alongside some of our worksheets.
Our newspaper writing prompts are a fun way to research and learn some facts about famous people and practise some writing skills too. This newspaper writing prompt features the famous writer Mark Twain.
This notebooking page has a photograph of Mark Twain. The children can find out about his interesting life and record it on this handy page, and maybe draw a picture in the space provided. We also have a version with just lines too.
Here's an easy-to-print poster of famous American writer Mark Twain, pictured here smoking his pipe and holding a book and quill.
This has to be one of our happiest quote posters, featuring a quote about the power of laughter by Mark Twain, and a little boy having a good laugh!
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." Here's an inspirational poster featuring a Mark Twain quote that's perfect for displaying at home or in classrooms.
"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Can the children think about what this famous quote by Mark Twain means, and then write it in their own words on this quote worksheet?
Our quote worksheets are designed to encourage children to think about the meaning of a famous quote, and then try and rewrite it in their own words - this worksheet features a quote by Mark Twain.
This story paper is perfect for writing about Mark Twain. The kids can write about his life or collect some facts. Choose from either our lined or handwriting lined versions.
This second story paper for Mark Twain includes a photo of the famous author, and it's perfect for older kids to summarise what they have learned about him.
Can the children use our Mark Twain timeline to fill in the important events in the life of the American author and perhaps mark when he wrote some of his famous novels?
There are 12 words all about Mark Twain and his novels hidden in our word search grid, so it's quite a challenge! We've included the answers to help if you're stuck...
Kids can find out some fun facts about American writer Mark Twain, and think about what they might say to him if they were lucky enough to meet him...
Our writing pages are a fun way to start younger children researching and writing about well-known people - this writing page features the famous American writer Mark Twain. We've got two versions to print out, colour or black and white.
A pen name is a name an author uses instead of their real name when publishing their written work - for example, Mark Twain was the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
We've borrowed the opening line from Mark Twain's famous novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Use the printable to spark your child's imagination and see what sort of story they come up with.
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Mark Twain (born November 30, 1835, Florida, Missouri, U.S.—died April 21, 1910, Redding, Connecticut) was an American humorist, journalist, lecturer, and novelist who acquired international fame for his travel narratives, especially The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), and Life on the Mississippi (1883), and for his adventure stories of boyhood, especially The Adventures of Tom ...
However, his service was cut short in 1861 by the outbreak of the Civil War, which halted most civilian traffic on the river. ... DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S MARK TWAIN FACT CARD. Mark Twain's Books.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), [1] known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist.He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," [2] with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." [3] Twain's novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of ...
Twain Writes his Most Famous Books While Living in Hartford. For the next 17 years (1874-1891)‚ Sam‚ Livy, and their three daughters (Clara was born in 1874 and Jean in 1880) lived in the Hartford home. During those years Sam completed some of his most famous books‚ often finding a summer refuge for uninterrupted work at his sister-in-law ...
Updated on September 23, 2018. Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens Nov. 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida, MO, and raised in Hannibal, became one of the greatest American authors of all time. Known for his sharp wit and pithy commentary on society, politics, and the human condition, his many essays and novels, including the American ...
Mark Twain Biography. Mark Twain (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910) was an American author, publisher and charismatic humorist. Twain is considered by many to be the 'Father of American Literature' - his best-known novels are ' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'. Early life of Mark Twain.
The name Mark Twain is a pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Clemens was an American humorist, journalist, lecturer, and novelist who acquired international fame for his travel narratives ...
AUTHORS (1835-1910); FLORIDA, MISSOURI. Mark Twain, author of classic books such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Gilded Age (plus a wide variety of short stories and other ...
Mark Twain, orig. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (born Nov. 30, 1835, Florida, Mo., U.S.—died April 21, 1910, Redding, Conn.), U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer. He grew up in Hannibal, Mo., on the Mississippi River and was apprenticed in 1848 to a local printer. ... The short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one ...
Mark Twain's Biography. by Gregg Camfield, PhD, University of California-Merced. On November 30, 1835, nearly thirty years before he took the pen name Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, a hamlet some 130 miles north-northwest of St. Louis, and 30 miles inland from the Mississippi River.
Mark Twain Biography. Born: November 30, 1835. Florida, Missouri. Died: April 21, 1910. Redding, Connecticut. American writer and humorist. Mark Twain, American humorist (comic writer) and novelist, captured a world audience with stories of boyhood adventure and with commentary on man's faults that is humorous even while it probes, often ...
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, age 15, better known by his pen name Mark Twain. Mark Twain was of English, Cornish and Scottish descent. He had six siblings; however only three made it past childhood. The three were Orion (1824-1897), Henry (1838-1858), and Pamela (1827-1904).
Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) was one of the best known American writers, and is considerd the greatest humorist USA had produced. William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". He wrote many novels, short stories, travel stories and essays. His best known novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry ...
Mark Twain on the Art of Writing, edited by Martion B. Fried, Salisbury Club, 1961. Selected Shorter Writings of Mark Twain, edited by Walter Blair, Houghton, 1962. Great Short Works of Mark Twain, edited by Justin Kaplan, Harper, 1967. "What Is Man?," and Other Philosophical Writings, edited by Paul Baender, University of California Press, 1973.
Mark Twain suffered from the nasty bout of paranoia and volcanic rages. He also experienced depression and spent most of the time, smoking, reading, and playing cards. Mark Twain died on 21 st April 1910 at the age of 74. Mark Twain's Writing Style. Mark Twain is one of the most important American writers of the 19 th century. The style of ...
Biography: Mark Twain. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel.".
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He would later go by the "pen name" Mark Twain as a writer. Young Samuel grew up in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri with his sister and two brothers. The town of Hannibal was located right on the Mississippi River and Samuel loved to watch the river boats pass by ...
Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens), November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel". Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. After an ...
Died: April 21, 1910. Born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Mark Twain "came in with the comet" and as he predicted "went out with the comet" passing April 21, 1910, the day after Halley's Comet. His real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens, and he took his pen name from his days as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River where the cry ...
Mark Twain Biography. ... Among his California works was "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," a short story that catapulted him to national prominence and established him as a ...
Biography of Mark Twain. Biography of. Mark Twain. Christened as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the man who would call himself Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in the small river town of Florida, Missouri, just 200 miles from Indian Territory. The sixth child of John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton, Twain lived in Florida, Missouri until ...
A Short Biography of Mark Twain. Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens in 1835 in Florida, Missouri, USA. He was the sixth of seven children born to John Clemens, a lawyer, and his wife Jane, although three of Samuel's siblings died in childhood. When Samuel was four, the family moved to Hannibal, a town on the Mississippi River.