“The Celebrated JumpingFrog of Calaveras County”
By Mark Twain
Mark Twain
His real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
He was an American author and humorist.
He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and later TheAdventures of Huckleberry Finn, which later became known as“The Great American Novel.”
He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age,“and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of Americanliterature.“
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," waspublished based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in AngelsCamp California where he had spent some time as a miner.
Literary Terms to Know
Add the following terms to the list you created for the previousstory:
Idioms: A metaphor understood by one set of people todescribe an action. Example: Cheesed your grits!
Colloquial Phrases: informal speech or writing; slang (e.g.,“y’all”, “where ya at?”).
Frame Story
•“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a framestory.
•In a frame story, two plots exist. It’s a story within a story.
•Diagon Alley
Satire
•Def: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule toexpose and criticize a society’s vices (problems)
•In “Jumping Frog,” for example, Mark Twain focuses onridiculing country folk who like to event tall tales from smallevents.
Mark Twain and Dialect
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a story thatincorporates dialect into its structure.
What is dialect? Excellent question.
Answer: Dialect is a manner of speaking or an accent that is native toa certain region or even a certain town.
Can you think of places in Louisiana or even the U.S. where peoplespeak different than you? Discuss.
Regionalism: descriptions of setting, dialect, or character actions thatindicate a specific location for a story.
Example: Our story is set in California during the gold rush,specifically in a mining camp.
Realism
•Definition: the tendency to view or represent things as theyreally are
•How might this story display evidence of Realism?
•In your notes (where you can find them) jot down someevidence for Twain’s use of Realistic fiction. Remember PAGENUMBERS or paragraph numbers from your story.
•Be prepared to share!
A Bit More About Mark Twain
Video to watch before reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXivgpLSQeo
•Here’s a few videos from me to you. Enjoy.
Jumping Frog Adverts
•You are going to be creating and racing jumping frogs.
•What you need to do:
•1. Write these instructions down
•2. Make a jumping frog out of origami paper
•3. Create an advertisement for your jumping frog, using atleast three vocab words
•4. Your ad MUST have a picture of your frog on it
•5. Your ad MUST be colorful
•6. Your ad MUST try and capture your audience
•In other words: WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO COME SEEYOUR FROG RACE?