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The Damned Human Race Analysis Essay

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The Damned Human Race by Mark Twain Critical analysis essay Mark Twain uses a very aggressive approach to prove “The Descent of Man from the Higher Animals” (Twain) which is more probable than Darwin’s theory claiming man has come from a lower animal, claiming that humans are far more advanced. Twain 's use of sarcasm and scientific reasoning by use of extensive field testing proves his opinion to be correct that humans are the lower species. Twain truly attacks humans proclaiming “Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man)” (Twain) and providing feedback that there is not a trace of these characteristics linked to higher animals. He also proves the point that man is the only animal that is a slave, patriot, religious and reasoning animal. He truly makes valid points which make the reader want to evaluate the morals that they have. Twain begins by providing the …show more content…

As he continues to draw the reader in more he starts playing with their emotions attacking the vulgarity and indecency of man. Twain uses historic things to prove his point trying to voice how cruel man is. One of the examples he uses is “in the first Richards time he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it” (Twain) Twain 's constant use of sarcasm and his own beliefs stating that a cat is not cruel like humans it only plays with the mouse before he eats it. Twain provides his own emotions about a man and how they are slaves, whether they are in bondage or they are working for someone else for a wage. Where higher animals work for themselves. The man is a Patriot who fights for his country and tries to take from others. His scorn looks at religion and how a man should treat one another, but then will be there to “cut his throat his theology isn’t straight” (Twain). He proclaims that with the information that he has provided that man is not a reasoning animal. The man is at the bottom. He questions the intelligence of man and how foolish they

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And this is a great example of symbolism. Mr.Twain represents Mr. Sherburn and the mob is the rest of the audience who is hateful and bigoted and also that deny the African American people to receive equal rights. And through Symbolism we see that Mr.Sherburn is right about the mob and their lack of courage. He explains how all of them are pitiful and how they are all cowards. And this is true for them and the people in real life who hunt, mistreat, and even kill African American people they are all cowards, they don’t have honor.

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As a slave he got poor education because he was not supposed to be smarter than his white owners. Twain’s work, therefore, should not be banned because of the poor grammar and spelling, which show the historic views in the

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798 Words | 4 Pages

He was very effective in making his audience feel the emotions he felt. Mark Twain wrote this essay in a pessimistic and biased manner, which forced his readers’ to reflect upon a deeper meaning. His writing style was biased by not including any favorable qualities that people possess. He spoke of man's moral sense being worse than the disease of rabies, yet didn't offer any solutions. He disproved his own thesis by basing his stated theory on satire, which leads one to believe his stated thesis was not his motivation in writing this

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This is evident in the way that he portrays Jim --who is a good man-- a slave, who would “call [Huck], so [he] could go on sleeping;” although the citizens believe they are following the traditional protocol of capturing slaves, this is not considered humane to use other lives to support their own. Twain makes the society appear as a hypocrite in order to undermine slavery and expose their flaws demonstrating that a society that makes up civilization does not always depict civilized decorum. He directs the piece to the Confederates because the piece is written about racial problems even after the Civil War: he calls out for abolition when even Huck decided to “go to hell” to save his dear

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536 Words | 3 Pages

Money and fine clothes could not mend the defects or cover them up; they only made hem more glaring and more pathetic.” (136)Even though he was a “white man”, he still acted as a slave. Twain is proving that the nurture, or family that someone is raised by shapes their true

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429 Words | 2 Pages

Mark Twain, an 18th century humorist, was known for his critical and satirical writing. In one of his most famous essays, “ Fenimore Coopers Literary Offenses” Twain addresses Coopers inability to realistically develop a “situation” and his failure to effectively back up his stories in order for them to be more plausible. To dramatically convey his unimpressed and sarcastic attitude, he applies biting diction, metaphors and hypophora throughout this work . By continuously using biting diction, Twain develops a mocking tone towards Fenimore Cooper’s incapability to create even the simplest of storylines. In the title of the work a sarcastic tone is evident; the word choice is utilized to reinforce the argument stating how Coopers work is an offense to the world of literature.

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471 Words | 2 Pages

Many a time I had seen a couple of boys, strangers, meet by chance, and say simultaneously, “I can lick you,” and go at it on the spot; but I always had imagined until now that that sort of thing belonged to children only, and was a sign and mark of childhood; but here were these big boobies sticking to it and taking pride in it clear up into full age and beyond. (23) The type of action that the people were engaging in was childish, and in the Yankee’s eyes, it had to be only the young doing it. To conclude, in order to get satiric effect, Mark Twain uses three tools of satire; exaggeration, parody, and

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The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.

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The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain shatters the illusion that the human species is superior in every way to animals. The essay satirizes that animals are superior to the human species through the use of made up experiments. Twain utilizes these experiments to demonstrate the parallels between the behaviors of animals and man. These experiments showcase how animals are the “higher animals”. Even more, the experiments are attempting to prove how we, as man, have descended from these higher animals only to lose a few of their favorable traits.

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Twain’s perspective on slavery and ideas regarding racism had been a source of debate. This theme of racism and slavery and Twain’s perception of it is developed throughout the “plot” events of the book. Twain was passionately anti-slavery during his

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559 Words | 3 Pages

He is not interested in the novel until his instructor mentions the critics of the novel and where it should end. Similar to these critics, the class debates whether Twain’s ending draws away from his critique of Racism and Graff found that even famous authors were capable of mistakes that could be found at his level. Now that the author has controversies to watch out for, he is able to draw a personal engagement form the books he reads as the arguments of critics guided his reading. Due to the controversy over Twain’s novel, the author then has a realization that reading and intellectual discussion could have an effect on his life, and he became less embarrassed about doing such

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1276 Words | 6 Pages

1. Twain’s main purpose in “Corn-Pone Opinions” is to explain how human nature determines what is favored in the society. In paragraph 9, Twain states, “It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist” (718). Since the birth, each individual are instilled with this conformity that cannot be ignored. Twain wants his readers to realize that the reason behind conformity is to obtain other people’s approval, even if the individual pretends to be someone else.

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768 Words | 4 Pages

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Twain places the reader in a situation that requires much pondering of meaning and deep, intelligent insight into the commonalities performed by leading political

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1124 Words | 5 Pages

The book is seen as a controversial element due to the fact that it contains many slurs and a language that is seen as vulgar and crude. Twain’s attitude infers that the ideal thought of slavery and racism are in fact are somewhat the traditional views of the past, but he used satire and irony to insure his readers

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1233 Words | 5 Pages

However, despite Twain’s Confederate influences, his opinion on slavery was not impacted, showing that regardless of the fact that he had seen the South’s opinion on slavery he knew that someone was responsible to address the cultural tensions that the nation faced. Nevertheless, there are people who greet this novel with unjust disapproval. Stephen Carter says “Once upon a time, people hated the book because it struck them as coarse. Twain himself wrote that the book’s banners considered the novel ‘trash and suitable only for the slums.’”. The idea that this novel faced such a negative response at release is almost a social commentary that speaks for itself, and unquestionably confirms the fact that this was one of the first real attempts in American literature on social reformation that was met with such

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