Mark Twain The Great American Humorist Ellen Kuznicki English 5 – 20th Century American Literature Set 8

Table of Contents Mark Twain’s Scrapbook Mark Twain’s Home “The Notorious Frog of Calaveras County” Annotated Bibliography

Mark Twain’s Scrapbook

Mark Twain’s Home

Calaveras County is a Frame Tale. The Notorious Frog of Calaveras County is a Frame Tale. The story is set within a story.The stories about Jim Smiley’s animals are Tall Tales. (Skiba 411) c

Story map of the final frog tale PROBLEM: A stranger bets against Smiley’s frog BUT he doesn’t have a frog. GOAL: Smiley wants his frog Daniel to win like he always does. SETTING: An old saloon

Main Characters Narrator (I or Mark Twain) narrator of the frame tale. Simon Wheeler: narrator of the tall tale. One dimensional. Smiley: Protagonist, stereotypical “hick.” Three-dimensional character. Stranger: Antagonist, stereotypically can’t be trusted. One dimensional.

Story map continued PLOT: Smiley leaves Dan’l alone with the stranger whilst he ventures into the nearby swamp fer a healthy frog. The stranger spies a box of quailshot on the counter and fills pore ol’ Dan’l full. Smiley returns; the frogs are aligned, and Smiley yells,”Flies, Dan’l, flies.”

The end of the story map The stranger’s frog jumps but Dan’l just heaves his shoulders and don’t seem to budge none. The stranger wins the bet and leaves. Smiley checks out pore ol’ Dan’l and discovers he hefts a few pounds. He tips the frog over and out pours the quailshot.

Theme to learn: You can’t trust everybody, especially a complete stranger.

Annotated Bibliography