Mark Twain's Short Story 'Advice To Little Girls'

When I was reading Mark Twain’s short story “Advice to Little Girls”, it was not what I was expecting. Seeing the title made me think of advice that helps little girls with daily tasks. In reality the story told little girls to obey everything her brother or mother told her to do. Paragraph four says, “If at any time you find it necessary to correct your brother, do not correct him with mud, or any account throw mud at him, because it will spoil his clothes.” Reading this line made me think of a little girl getting picked on and not defending herself because she was told to obey what others told her. “If your mother tells you to do a thing, it is wrong to reply that you won’t…” this sentence was in paragraph five. I do believe what he is saying in the sentence because I don’t believe you should tell your parents no, if they ask you to help around the house. At the very end of the short story it says “Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged. You ought never to “sass” old people unless they “sass” you first.” I completely agree with this. I believe that you should treat people how they treat you. So always treat people with kindness unless they do you wrong. All in all, I would say the short story was okay. I would not give this advice to any little girl or anyone matter of fact. I think the advice everyone needs is to learn how to stand up for yourself and others.

It is a little short and sweet poem of only eight lines. Just in the title it states my three favorite things, warmth, summer and the sun. In lines three through four it says “Warm southern wind, blow softly here.” it made me feel like I was laying on the beach getting a tan. When I read about summer and sun, so many memories come back to me. The poem ends “Good night, dear heart, Good night, good night.” I imagine laying out beneath the stars falling asleep. The poem is so sweet and