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Mark Twain Research Paper

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Mark Twain been dead for over a hundred years, and yet we know so much about him... How do we know this, you ask? Mark Twain's prominent characteristics can be determined by the work he did while he was alive, especially in his autobiography. Twain, otherwise known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a man of many titles-- from author, to publisher, to entrepreneur, to scholar and lecturer. He was also a man with many fantastic characteristics. Mark Twain’s most admirable qualities include his wit, sense of honor, and his insight and intelligence.

To begin, of course I must address his wit, which can be found throughout his autobiography and other renowned works. The man with the wild mustache, Twain, was so in tune with his comedic side that he's even described as a humorist on his Wikipedia page. Examples of his wit can be found in the second chapter of his autobiography. While describing the anger of Carleton, a publisher he once met with, he compares the size of the swelling of rage on the man's face to, "the dimensions of a god of about the second or third …show more content…

Twain describes a conversation between a friend and himself about Twain's first book. His friend informs Twain that his supposedly original work shares a similarity with The Innocents Abroad, a work of Doctor Holmes (Oliver Wendell Holmes).Twain first feels angry, but upon his friend proving this statement and seeing the similarity for himself, Twain feels compelled to write Holmes himself and formally apologize and explain that it was entirely an accident. He had read works of Holmes's before, and these works were an unconscious influence to Twain as he wrote himself. Fortunately, Holmes was an understanding man. I find Twain's reaction to the situation to be incredibly honorable. He was quick to admit his faults and contact the man he had unintentionally stolen from and resolve the

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