1. More Background to Help You Understand Twain’s Works
Realism and Satire
More Background to Help You Understand Twain’s Works

2. Realism Verisimilitude: the faithful representation of reality
Reaction against Romanticism and sentimentality
“…realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence” (Harmon & Holman, A Handbook to Literature)
Realism

3. Characteristics of Realist Works
Presents reality in specific detail
Uses language of people and places
Dialect: a variety of language distinguished from other forms of the same language by grammar, spelling, and vocabulary
Vernacular: plain, everyday language used by ordinary people
Character is more important than plot
Ethical dilemmas often explored
Typically focused on the middle class
Avoid the sensational or overly dramatic
Characteristics of Realist Works

4. A literary genre / technique that exposes folly, vice, and shortcomings, typically through the use of humor or irony like sarcasm
Types
Horatian and Juvenalian
Differ in the intensity of their ridicule
Juvenalian is more severe, typically denouncing human evils over folly
Not to be confused with parody—mockery by an imitation of the actual subject (Think SNL)
Satire

5. War Prayer Read and annotate the text.
What is Twain satirizing in this piece?
How is his satire still relevant today?
War Prayer

6. Your Turn Find a passage from Huck Finn that uses satire
Determine what flaw in humanity or institution Twain is criticizing
Construct a 1-page typed response making Twain’s satire relevant by connecting it to a modern example of a similar problem.
Use a source for your modern connection and cite in MLA format
Your Turn