Mark Twain Research Paper

Grade 8

4th hour advanced

Mrs. Johnson Mark Twain or Samuel Langhorne Clemens wrote many books, short stories, and essays. One of the books he wrote was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which he wrote in 1876. Critics view this novel as a wonderful story and one of the most famous classic novels in the world.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri (Bio.com, 2016). His parents were John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens. Twain’s father died when he was twelve. Twain had four brothers and two sisters. His brothers were Orion, Pleasant, Benjamin, and Henry; and his sisters were Pamela and Margaret (“Mark Twain House and Museum”, 2016). Twain left school when he was thirteen to be a

Her parents were Jervis and Olivia Langdon. She had a younger brother named Charles and an adopted older sister named Susan. Her birth name was Olivia Louise Langdon although she was called “Livy” by her friends, family, and her husband (Samuel Clemens). Twain was very fond of her. A quote from Twain summarized his feelings for Olivia, “I take as much pride in her brains as I do in her beauty (“Olivia “Livy” Langdon Clemens”, 2016). Twain and Olivia lived in Buffalo, New York. Here, Twain became a partner, editor, and writer for the Buffalo Express. They had their first child here (“A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L.Clemens, 1835-1910.”, 2016). Twain and his wife had four children, a son named Langdon and three daughters; Susy, Jean, and Clara (“Mark Twain House and Museum”, 2016). In 1871, Twain moved his family to Hartford Connecticut. This was the year their only son Langdon died. Langdon was two years old, he died of

Twain’s top ten books are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), A Connecticut Yankee in King, Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, The Innocents Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, Letters from the Earth, The Diary of Adam and Eve, Pudd’nhead Wilson, and Roughing it (“Best of Mark Twain”, 2016). His top five short stories are, “After” Jenkins, “Party Cries” in Ireland, $30,000 Bequest, About Barbers, and About Magnanimous-Incident LIterature. His top five essays are, As Concerns Interpreting, At the Shrine of St. Wagner, Concerning Tobacco, Essays on Paul Bourget, and Is Shakespeare dead? (“Work(s) of Mark Twain.”, 2016).

Twain won many awards. A few of the awards he won are a Master of Arts Degree (Honorary) from Yale University in 1888, Doctor of Letters Degree (Honorary) from Yale University in 1901, Doctor of Letters Degree (Honorary) from Oxford University in 1907, and Fastest Typesetter in Missouri(“Mark Twain.”, 2016).

Later in life, Twain made bad investments and eventually became bankrupt. After he became bankrupt, he and his family moved to Europe. In order to pay off his debt, he was forced to go on a worldwide lecture tour to earn money (“A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens, 1835-1910.”,