Lesson-6-Mark-Twain--Mirror-of-America.ppt

1、Mark TwainMirror of America,外国语学院 王建栋 20140105101030,Background Information,Contents,About the article,Brief introduction of Mark Twain,Periods of Mark Twains life,About the article:,“Mark TwainMirror of America” is a feature article Noel Grove wrote for the National Geographic. This magazine, as th

2、e name suggests, mainly explores geography. However, it is not only about geography but also about various aspects related to the central subject of geography including people, culture, environmental issues, history, etc.,Brief introduction of Mark Twain:,Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langho

3、rne Clemens (18351910), Americas most famous humorist and the author of popular and outstanding autobiographical works, travel books and novels. The first 36 years of Clemens life as a boy in a little town in Missouri, as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi, as a reporter on the far western frontie

4、r and as a traveler abroad supplied him with copious material which he used later for his best and most successful writings.,Periods of Mark Twains life,Boyhood:,Born in a small village of Florida, Missouri on Nov. 30, 1835, young Clemens was the third son and sixth child of a storekeeper. When Samu

5、el was four his fathers business failed, and the family had to move to Hannibal where he spent his boyhood.,Early life:,Sam had relatively little schooling. After his fathers death, he had to help the family by taking up odd jobs during summers or after school. He left school at 13, and became a ful

6、l-time apprentice to a printer. At 18, he became a tramp painter, and went to New York, then to Philadelphia and Washington, and finally to Iowa to set type for his brothers local paper. By then he had tried his hand at writing juvenile burlesque.,Experiences on the Mississippi River:,At 22, he set

7、out again, with the intention of seeking his fortune in South America, along the Amazon. But on his way down the Mississippi toward New Orleans, he ran out of funds and was persuaded by a steamboat pilot to become his apprentice. About two years later, he was licensed as a pilot in his own right. He

8、 worked on the river till 1861. He found his life during his period both instructive and interesting.,The birth of “Mark Twain”:,In the Journey West, he was failed at gold mining, so he turned to do reporting for local papers. It was in Virginia City on February 3, 1863, that “Mark Twain” was born w

9、hen Clemens, then 27, signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym. The new name was appropriate, for it was a rivermans term for water that was just barely safe for navigation.,Career as a journalist:,He took the trip to Honolulu as a correspondent for the Sacramento Union in 1866; the foll

10、owing year he boarded the steamship Quaker City for a voyage to Europe and the Holy land; in 1869, the book version of his travel sketches was published under the title The Innocents Abroad.,His most productive years:,He married in 1870, and moved to Hartford, where he lived his most productive year

11、s. The move was turning-point in his life. Up till then, he had been mainly accumulating material. Now he began to write out of that accumulation. In 1876: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 汤姆索亚历险记 In 1884: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 哈克贝利弗恩历险记,Financial difficulties and personal misfortunes:,He s

12、tarted his own printing shop, invested largely on a new type-setting machine and became bankrupt. Heavily in debt, he made a lecturing tour abroad and succeeded in paying all his debts, but ruined his own health. In this period occurred the deaths of his son, daughters and wife.,Last years:,He wrote What Is Man? The Mysterious Stranger and dictated his autobiography. He died in 1910. Some of his other major works: Roughing