Mark Twain Satire

Diagnostic Essay Assignment Mark Twain is a name everyone is familiar with. Twain was a humorist, writer, and novelist who challenged issues across America involving racism, class barriers, and education for all. At the time this stood out to the public, being that they were new ideas that were different from the rest. Twain was very successful in life, publishing twenty-eight books in total. Along with all those publications, Twain also wrote the essay Presidential Candidate, which has a different tone than other written pieces at the time. The essay commentates on the state of American Politics and addresses many issues at the time. Some aspects of the essay may seem serious but overall Twain is attempting to be humorous. Presidential Candidate,

According to Mark Twain, The American Humorist, from the beginning, Mark Twain was always a humorist, especially in his publications. Samuel Clemons, the man behind the name Mark Twain, is labeled as ‘the American Humorist’ by others. In the making of Mark Twain the concept of humor was essential, this humorous attitude caused laughter, joking, irreverence, and clownishness. Nevertheless, at the time period, this joking personality in stories made readers, critics, and Sam Clemons himself work to make sense of this humorist. The term ‘humorist’ was compared to a prominent literary figure rather than a low culture position. Mark Twain was seen as famous across the United States creating stories that made people laugh and addressing issues that many were blinded to at the same time. As Mark Twain started spreading this different tone in his publications and many other publishers started to use this mocking or sarcastic tone in their pieces, which allowed American humor to start trending across the states. Many people question where this humor came from in Mark Twain since it

Twain wrote stories that involved problems in society at the time, which included class barriers, education for all, and racism. Most of these were avoided by politicians hence why Twain wrote his essay about running for president explaining why he would be a ‘better fit’. Racism was an issue as slavery was just being abolished in 1865. Twain did discuss this in his publication of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which added a humorous twist as he did in Presidential Candidate. The book was staged in 1852 even though it wasn’t published until after slavery was abolished, but Twain includes characters that are trying to escape slavery while hiding from slave-catchers. The character Huck in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can be found in many humorous situations throughout the story, like befriending two hopeless fools or playing parts in books that don’t relate to the book. As well as the character Finn who tends to find many comedic situations on his travels that give him comedic relief. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn includes many scenes that portray the humor, “The men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same. It was prety ornery preaching-all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresome” (Twain page 3, chapter 18) This quote shows irony