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Table of Contents
Born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain was the known author/novelist of two American classics, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
See the fact file below for more information on the Mark Twain or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Mark Twain worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EARLY AND PERSONAL LIFE
- Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens.
- Until the age of 17, Clemens stayed in Hannibal which is located on the Mississippi River. At 21, he studied piloting a steamboat and got his license after two years. With his skills, he began a well-paying job traversing channels.
- In 1861, his career as a pilot was halted by the outbreak of the Civil War.
- When the Civil War began, Clemens joined the Confederate Army in June 1861 but only for couple of weeks. The following month, he headed to Nevada and California where he spent a couple of years in prospect of gold and silver.
- By mid-1862, he was financially broke and desperate to find a regular job.
- In September of the same year, he worked as a reporter for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and wrote news stories, sketches, and editorials. This was when he adopted Mark Twain as his pen name. Mark Twain was steamboat slang for 12 feet of water.
AS MARK TWAIN
- In 1865, Mark Twain got a major break with his tales about a mining camp entitled “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” after they were published in newspapers throughout the country.
- In 1869, he published The Innocents Abroad which was a product of his five-month cruise in the Mediterranean. By the age of 34, with his charm and good looks, Twain became a prominent and sought-after American writers.
- In February 1870, he married Olivia Langdon, the 24-year-old daughter of a wealthy New York coal merchant. The couple had four children.
- In 1875, Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, followed by the sequel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885.
- Twain also wrote novels in foreign settings including The Prince and the Pauper in 1882 and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in 1889.
- Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn particularly attacked the institution of slavery in the United States. He exposed the failures of the Reconstruction era and continued discrimination of African Americans.
- This book (regarded by many as the Great American Novel) was also the first book he published under his own printing house, the Charles L. Webster Company, established in 1884.
- Among his famous works were The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Roughing It (1872), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), The War Prayer (1916 posthumously), The Innocents Abroad (1869), and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865).
LATER LIFE
- Amidst his fame, Twain suffered several failures in his life. He was particularly unlucky in business and investments. As years passed, much of his income from publications and lectures was used to pay off debts.
- In 1891, his family moved to Europe with hopes to improve his wife’s health.
- In 1896, his daughter Susy died of spinal meningitis. In 1904, his wife Livy also died, followed by his second daughter Jean in 1909.
- On April 21, 1910, Clemens died of a heart attack.
- After joining the Confederate militia during the Civil War in his early years, Clemens became a strong supporter to end slavery. He was also an advocate of women’s rights and suffrage.
Mark Twain Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Mark Twain across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Mark Twain worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Mark Twain who was the known author/novelist of two American classics, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Mark Twain Facts
- A.k.a Mark Twain
- Famous Contemporaries
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Twain Says
- The Great American Novel
- Writer’s List
- Match Up!
- Reader’s Corner
- Best of Friends
- Writer’s Block
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Link will appear as Mark Twain Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 25, 2019
Use With Any Curriculum
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