Mark Twain's Speeches

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 502K words
Chapters: 51

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mark Twain's Speeches by Mark TwainAuthor: Twain, Mark, 1835-1910,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 17, 2004

Editor's review

This collection of Mark Twain's speeches brings together texts delivered on various occasions, revealing another side of him as a humorist and public speaker. Compared with his novels, the speeches more directly reflect his quick-witted response to current affairs, his insight into human nature and social manners, and that deadpan comic narrative rhythm. The book includes both light, witty anecdotal expressions and gentle satire on serious issues, through which readers can feel the tone and atmosphere of late nineteenth-century American public life. As a public-domain eBook, it works well as supplementary reading for understanding Twain's colloquial style, and is also suitable for readers interested in speech rhetoric and American humor to dip into at leisure. There is no need to read it in one go; choosing pieces by topic and reading them aloud will better convey the rhythm and the placement of the jokes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like Mark Twain's novels and want to understand his speaking style
Readers interested in American humor and nineteenth-century American public speaking
Learners who need English speech texts as material for reading aloud or rhetorical analysis
Casual readers who want to use fragmented time to read short humorous pieces

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete novel or a systematic biography
Beginners completely unfamiliar with the nineteenth-century American background who are unwilling to look things up
Readers who prefer contemporary plain language and lack patience for old-fashioned English expressions

Reading tips

Choose topics that interest you and skip around rather than reading from beginning to end.
Pick passages and read them aloud to feel Twain's pauses, rhythm and where the punchlines land.
Look up the background of historical figures and events as you go to better understand what the satire targets.
After reading several pieces, compare them with passages from his novels to see the difference between written and spoken style.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a collection of speeches written by Mark Twain himself?

The book collects texts of speeches Mark Twain delivered on various occasions; it is a compilation of his speech works, not a novel or autobiography. The occasions and editorial sources of specific pieces vary by edition, so pay attention to each title and the preface notes while reading.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

The text is written in nineteenth-century American English, with many colloquial expressions and period allusions, which poses some challenge for non-native readers. Readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who are willing to look up background information will find it easier to get into; they can also start with a short piece as a trial.

How is this book different from Twain's novels?

The speech texts are closer to live spoken language, short and fast-paced, with humor mostly coming from improvised responses and a sense of interaction with the audience; novels have complete narratives and character development. Reading the two together gives a fuller view of Twain's language talent.

Comments

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About the author

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 Author

Mark Twain (1835–1910), born Samuel Clemens, was an American writer known for his humorous, satirical style and colloquial narration. The library holds 161 of his works, including Roughing It, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. His fiction often draws on life along the Mississippi River, depicting boyhood adventures and travel experiences in lively language, frequently using characters' voices to satirize social customs and human weaknesses. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, noted for its use of dialect and everyday speech, has had a lasting influence on the language style of later American literature. Public information is limited, so his biographical details are not elaborated here; the focus is on the subjects and writing features of his works.