“The Celebrated Jumping Frog 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 The Adventures 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 American literature.“  "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was published based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp 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 previous story:  Idioms: A metaphor understood by one set of people to describe 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 frame story. 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 to expose and criticize a society’s vices (problems) In “Jumping Frog,” for example, Mark Twain focuses on ridiculing country folk who like to event tall tales from small events.

Mark Twain and Dialect  “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a story that incorporates dialect into its structure. What is dialect? Excellent question. Answer: Dialect is a manner of speaking or an accent that is native to a certain region or even a certain town. Can you think of places in Louisiana or even the U.S. where people speak different than you? Discuss. Regionalism: descriptions of setting, dialect, or character actions that indicate 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 they really are How might this story display evidence of Realism? In your notes (where you can find them) jot down some evidence for Twain’s use of Realistic fiction. Remember PAGE NUMBERS or paragraph numbers from your story. Be prepared to share!

A Bit More About Mark Twain Video to watch before reading:   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 at least 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 SEE YOUR FROG RACE?