Similarities Between Mark Twain And The Baron Of Grogzwig

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Renowned writers Mark Twain and Charles Dickens bear similarities in portraying humor in their stories “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and “The Baron of Grogzwig” respectively, although their method and execution differ in lots of ways. Twain used a small dash of satire with how he named the animals of Mr. Smiley after American politicians, drawing a caricature of prominent American symbols. Twain also utilizes the frame story form when he ends the story and we humorously learn that the long, dragged on narrative about Rev. Leonidas Smiley given by Simon Wheeler just wasted the time of the narrator. Dickens on the other hand uses a multitude of techniques and brings comical scenarios to life, a few being the silly descriptions in the narration, the slapstick-like antics of …show more content…

Dickens distributes the hilarity throughout the story and narrative, and it can get a good laugh out from the reader from time to time as they progress through it. Moreover, I found that the story sets in the mood of humor immediately in the first few paragraphs with a funny narration about the Baron. In contrast, Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” starts out without a hint of the story’s supposed mood. Furthermore, the story’s humor rests in the situation of the narrator and the story, and for some readers, the humor may go over their heads, requiring understanding of the whole situation to let the humor sink in. It is also worth noting that if the reader doesn’t know who Daniel Webster or Andrew Jackson are, they will be indifferent to the names, not knowing that they were actually names of historical figures. Missing that point will drastically lessen the humor for the