Forging New Frontiers

1. Forging New Frontiers Unit 3 Part 2

2. Literary History • Mark Twain steps outside of European themes and writes about American themes • Twain is called the American Bard

3. The man of many names • Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass • W. EpaminandosAdrastus Blab • Josh • Mark Twain • Birth name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens

4. New frontier • Life in the Old West • Unique time and place in American literature • Greatly different from any other literature • Pioneers • Prairies • Bitter elements of Yukon

5. Life on the Mississippi • Steamboats • Religious revivalists • Circus performers • Minstrel companies • Showboat actors • Clemens grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which is on the Mississippi River, and the people and things he saw became the basis for his writing

6. Closing of the Mississippi • 1861 – Civil War closes the Mississippi to river boat traffic

7. Mark Twain • Riverboat captains used to yell, “By the mark, twain.” • Reporter for Virginia City newspaper • Begins publishing short stories • Distrusted technology and political figures

8. “American” speech • Writing using the way Americans actually speak • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn contains words that are not cultural sensitive today, but in the time period were words that were actually spoken and acceptable. There is conflict today over the novel.

9. Humor • Humor is writing that is intended to amuse • Incongruity – differences in logic or degree • Hyperbole – exaggeration of details or embellishment of events beyond logical • Comic uses of language – funny names • Social commentary – critique of society • Dialect – way of speaking that is particular to a group of people or geographic area

10. Greek prefix mono- • Alone, one, or single • Theism = belief in god or gods • Monotheism = belief in one god • Logue = speech; speaking • Monologue = one person speaking • Lith = stone • Monolith = one stone (usually large) • Syllable = unit of sound • Monosyllable = one syllable

11. Conflict • Struggle between opposing forces • Internal – occurring within the mind of a character • External – occurring outside the mind of the character • Character vs. Character • Character vs. Society • Character vs. Nature

12. Terms • Setting – time and place of the action • Irony – difference between what is said and what is meant or between what is expected and what actually happens • Dramatic Irony – contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader knows to be true

13. Latin Root –pend- • To hang • Impending = imminent, something hanging over those who are awaiting it • Pendulum = an instrument that hangs from a fixed point • Suspend = to hang something from a single point • Perpendicular = at a right angle, one thing that hangs on another • Pendant = a hanging ornament, usually on a necklace

14. Introductory Phrases and Clauses • A group of words that acts as a single part of speech is called a phRase • A group of words that has both a subject and verb is called a clause • Introductory phrases and clauses come at the beginning of a sentence • If they are more than 5 words in length, they should have a comma at the end • Some shorter introductory phrases and clauses also require a comma after them especially if it creates confusion without it. When in doubt, don’t leave it out