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Examples Of Satire In The Celebrated Jumping Frog

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Satire in Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” Throughout this short story Twain’s satire of people and the preposterous stereotypes give readers a glimpse into the 19th century. The first example includes Jim Smiley’s addiction to gambling and the silliness of how he conducts this business. Simon Wheeler describes Smiley as “always betting on anything that turned up” (Twain Para. 3), “any way that suited the other man would suit him any way just so’s he got a bet, he was satisfied” (Para. 3). Smiley’s eagerness to create a bet causes him to lose his mind, he would bet on any subject and take any side. For example, “if there was two birds setting on a fence, he would bet you which one would fly first” (Para. 4), at a glance this scenario seems absurd. A man with any common sense would first ensure he had the higher probable chance to win, before he jumped to …show more content…

Thus the distinction between the educated and uneducated was created, influencing the difference between Eastern and Western Americans as well. Settlers in the west, represented by Simon Wheeler, did not have the education to speak grammatically correct in comparison to those that had a full education. The narrator of the short story speaks with high purpose and grand words, while Wheeler used grammatically incorrect language or slanged words. For example, instead of saying “this-here” Wheeler said “thish-yer” (Para. 7) or said “he cal’klated to edercate him” (Para. 7) as he strung words together or mispronounced them. In contrast, the narrator used lavish phrases with elegant wording such as “interminable narrative there ran a vein of impressive earnestness and sincerity” (Para. 3), proving he was able to obtain a proper and expensive education, perhaps study for months on end in the

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