Mark Twain

Introduction

An icon can be defined as someone who is well known or famous for doing something. Mark Twain is an example of an American icon since he is famous in his literature works which were unique compared to works of other people. Mark was a known entrepreneur, writer, lecturer and a publisher. Twain also worked as a typesetter and contributed to articles in the American newspapers. He was a captain of a boat at the Mississippi river before he headed to Nevada. He wrote humorous stories based on the places he went to and later published those books which were well loved by the people. Mark was a friend to many people including other icons such as artists and presidents since his works had made him famous. He earned a lot of money from his works and tried to invest it in other businesses which failed at times. Therefore this essay will describe Mark Twain as an American icon showing and explaining why he is said to be an icon.

Mark Twain is famous since he contributed much in the American literature through writing well known books which were well loved by the American people. His books and works were humorous and this ensured that most people read the novels and appreciated his work. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adventures of Tom Sawyer are examples of works written by Mark and are by the people. These two works are said to be the most contributions Mark made to the American literature since no other person had come up with such works before (Twain, Gerber, Baender, & Williams, 2010).People praised these two literatures since they were unique in nature and were considered as the best works of Mark. These two novels made him famous since they were humorous because Mark wrote experiences he had gone through thus inspired other people. He was an inspirational writer who inspired other people in his works and ensured people did not give up on life since he had not given up. He is an example of a famous person who inspires people through writing his own experiences and teaching people that giving up is not the option when people face challenges (Messent, 2001). He was loved by people because of his inspirational teaching and therefore contributed positively to the American literature since other writers had not published such humorous and inspirational books.

Mark Twain was full of humor in all his works especially his stories and personal tragedies that took place in his life. He had passed through tragedies that made him write and inspire people. He was a well known journalist who wrote inspiring articles that people loved thus people loved being associated with him. He contributed much to the American literature by writing books where he described nature for instance use of caves, rivers, abandoned houses and other tragic places in order to create suspense and humor in his works (Leonard, 1999). This made Americans love reading his well known novels since they described the environment well and were humorous thus interesting to read. He described everything in the novels and ensured the readers understood the surrounding which enabled them follow the interesting stories and characters. William Faulkner described Mark as the father of American literature since he enjoyed reading his works and none of the works matched the works of other writers. Mark described all phenomenons and wrote from all types of views including political, cultural and social works thus considered as a hero since he was famous because of these works.

Mark Twain died many years back but is still remembered and honored as a literature icon that will be known across all the generations since his books are still read and loved by people. He was actually the first American author to write his works in vernacular, a language native people would understand (Twain, 2004).Other writers did not use vernacular in their works but Mark used vernacular thus ensuring all people read his works and understood. This was a simple language which was easily understandable and the language of everyday which is loved by people. By writing this, he was famous across America where people read his work and through sale of his books he got a lot of money since people loved and appreciated his interesting works. He was a well known activist of slavery where he did not support slavery since it violated the rights of other people (Twain, 2004). He was against slavery and termed it as an antisocial behavior that made innocent people suffer. He therefore wrote on slavery, advocating for an end in slavery where he did it in a humorous manner which would not cause him trouble.

It cannot be denied that Mark is the father of American literature since he well known as one who contributed much to the American literature through writing books that were unique compared to those of others. Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog is an example of a story written by Mark that made him gain fame across America and was not limited to Nevada and California (Twain & Davidson, 2004). The Innocents Abroad became the bestselling book and ensured be became popular across America because of this and other great books (Messent, 2001). Mark believed in religion thus wrote some works about religion where he believed in God but did not believe in the bible. He believed there existed God but did not support various works of missionaries who forced people to become Christians. He often criticized actions of missionaries through his works since he did not believe in the existence of a bible which missionaries forced people to believe in and follow it (Roark, 2014). He often attacked the missionaries unapologetically since missionaries paved way for introduction of slavery in other countries .Mark Twain is therefore known as an American who was not only a writer but an activist and a lecturer who taught students literature unique literature skills. He will therefore be remembered in the American literature as the father since he contributed positively towards development of the literature.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it cannot be denied that Mark is an important contributor towards the making and growth of American literature. He is a well known icon since his works were unique and humorous unlike works of other writers. His works were based on real life experiences where he passed through activities that ensured he wrote inspirational works. He is therefore remembered and will be remembered since he shaped the American literature and came up with vernacular works which other writers had not considered. He is therefore seen as a unique writer who used humor in his work and ensured readers followed his stories through describing the surrounding.

Annotated bibliography

Leonard, J. S. (1999). Making Mark Twain work in the classroom. Durham, NC [u.a.: Duke Univ. Press.

This book is a collection of essays which described practical methods that can be used by instructors in ensuring that students are able to understand literature and gain literature skills. The books talks about racism, role of women, gender, religion and language as described by Twain since he was against racism and oppressive laws that would oppress people especially the women. Twain ensured that instructors learnt the skills of ensuring students understood literature and the necessary skills for them to understand the world and the surrounding.

Messent, P. B. (2001). The short works of Mark Twain: A critical study. Philadelphia, Pa: Univ.         of Pennsylvania Press.

This book describes the works of Mark and explains to the readers the achievements of Twain and impact of Twain in the American literature. It is comprised of many stories written by Twain which inspired people in the olden days and currently as well and which ensured Twain removed popular. The books give stories written by twain for example The Innocent Abroad which shows the lives of the people living abroad whereby Twain gives his real life experience.

Twain, M., Gerber, J., Baender, P., & Williams, T. (2010). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1st         ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

This book describes the story written by Mark Twain about a young boy who grows by the Mississippi river. It is a fiction story where Mark describes all the events taking place in the life of the boy and describes the surrounding environment. Mark is able to describe the surrounding well since he lived there thus gives his experience when he was living near that river. It is an inspirational story where Mark Twain inspires his readers through giving them his real life experiences.

Twain, M., & Davidson, K. (2004). The best short works of Mark Twain.

This book describes the life of Mark Twain explaining who he was and his achievements as the father of American literature. Mark was a known entrepreneur, writer, lecturer and a publisher. Twain also worked as a typesetter and contributed to articles in the American newspapers. He was a captain of a boat at the Mississippi river before he headed to Nevada. The book describes his achievements since he was a popular man in regard to the American literature since he was able to write unique works.

Twain, M. (2004). The adventures of Tom Sawyer. London: CRW.

The book describes the early life of Mark Twain, his history, achievements and his work by the name The Adventures of Sawyer. He describes the life of a boy who was living by the Mississippi River describing the entire environment since he knows it well. He had lived by the river and understood the surrounding therefore was able to relate his writing with that environment and inspired people to survive through the hardships just like he did.

Roark,. (2014). Beneath Mark Twain. The Mark Twain Annual, 12(1), 14.             http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/marktwaij.12.1.0014

This article describes the work of Mark Twain and relates it to the outside world. Roark relates the work of Mark Twain and showing the influence it has on the literature. Roark expands the work of Mark Twain since he was the father of American literature therefore explaining his achievements in the world of literature.

 

References

Messent, P. B. (2001). The short works of Mark Twain: A critical study. Philadelphia, Pa: Univ.   of Pennsylvania Press.

Leonard, J. S. (1999). Making Mark Twain work in the classroom. Durham, NC [u.a.: Duke         Univ. Press.

Twain, M., Gerber, J., Baender, P., & Williams, T. (2010). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1st    ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Roark,. (2014). Beneath Mark Twain. The Mark Twain Annual, 12(1), 14.             http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/marktwaij.12.1.0014

Twain, M., & Davidson, K. (2004). The best short works of Mark Twain.

Twain, M. (2004). The adventures of Tom Sawyer. London: CRW.