Essays by Mark Twain
About Barbers
Close Reading
After closely analyzing Mark Twain’s story about barbers, a question comes to mind, Is this story really about barbers? If not, then what is the purpose of the story? Twain illustrates a man’s desire to not have his hair cut by a certain less ept barber. He despises every action the barber does as Twain elaborates in his phrase “after the miscarriage of this last enterpr...
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Vocabulary Analysis
Twain’s writings are easier understood than some of the older writers of past centuries for the vocabulary used back then and now have not endured significant change in definition. The audience back then would have very little struggle with understa...
Journalism in Tennessee
Rhetorical Analysis
Mark Twain’s “Journalism in Tennessee,” illustrates the contrasting differences of how a journalist lives in one part of America and how they live in Tennessee. The narrator or the main character of the story was told by his physician “that a Southern climate would improve my (his) health.” After experien...
How to Tell a Story
Essay Comparison
People typically have certain writing styles. For Twain, his settings of his essays are a reminder of an old western town with a saloon, a barbershop, the local paper, and a sheriff's office if the town is lucky. What could spur this type of writing, perhaps the time period in which Twain grew up or the city or county like “Calave...