regionalism and local color focus and motivate the ... · with his tall tale “the notorious...

Regionalism and Local Colorfrom The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain

did you know? Mark Twain . . .• used multiple pen

names, includingS. L. C., Josh, and Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.

• served briefly in the Confederate Army.

• took his name from a nautical term for water depth meaning “two fathoms deep.”

Meet the Author

Readers of all ages have followed the youthful adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer for more than 100 years. Many have also enjoyed the witty and sharp social commentary in Mark Twain’s lectures and journalism. A man who found humor in a life filled with tragedy, Mark Twain remains one of America’s greatest literary voices.

Life on the River Samuel Langhorne Clemens—as Twain was named at birth— grew up in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri. The river and the town shaped young Clemens’s early years. After his father’s death, he began working at an early age to help support his family. Work for a printer and a newspaper began a lifelong connection to journalism and led to his first published writing—a humorous sketch. Planning

to write travel sketches, Clemens signed on with a river pilot.

He spent four years on the river, where he met many different kinds of people. After the Civil War, river travel was largely replaced by railroad travel, but

Clemens remembered the river’s lessons as he took the

pen name by which his readers came to know him.

On the Move Twain kept traveling, first to the American West, where he panned for gold. He gained literary recognition with his tall tale “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” set in California. Twain also traveled the world, sharing his experiences in sketches, letters, and lectures. Travel writings such as The Innocents Abroad artfully combined wit and serious information and were vastly popular.

Twain’s Great Legacy After his 1870 marriage, Twain based his growing family in Hartford, Connecticut, where he produced his most lasting works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These books secured Twain’s place as a great American novelist.

Tragedy Haunts the Later Years Despite literary success, Twain found himself in debt from unsuccessful business ventures. Facing bankruptcy in 1893, he traveled once again, delivering humorous lectures amidst the great personal sorrow of two daughters’ deaths and his wife’s fading health. Twain’s last works reflect the sorrow and anger of this period, which lasted until his death.

Mark Twain 1835–1910

KEYWORD: HML11-658AVIDEO TRAILER

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RI 1 Cite evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RI 6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is effective. SL 1 Participate effectively in collaborative discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own. L 5a Interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in the text.

Video link at thinkcentral.com

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Focus and Motivate

Selection Resources

* Resources for Differentiation † Also in Spanish ‡ In Haitian Creole and Vietnamese

RESOURCE MANAGER UNIT 4Plan and Teach, pp. 11–18,

31–38, 47–54Summary, pp. 19–20, 39–40,

55–56 †‡*Text Analysis and Reading

Skill, pp. 21–24†*, 41–44†*, 57–60†*

Vocabulary, pp. 25–27, 61–63Grammar and Style, p. 66

DIAGNOSTIC AND SELECTION TESTSSelection Tests, pp. 177–180,

181–184, 185–188INTERACTIVE READERADAPTED INTERACTIVE READERELL ADAPTED INTERACTIVE

READER

TECHNOLOGY Teacher One Stop DVD-ROM Student One Stop DVD-ROM PowerNotes DVD-ROM Audio Anthology CD GrammarNotes DVD-ROM ExamView Test Generator on the Teacher One Stop

See resources on the Teacher One Stop DVD-ROM and on thinkcentral.com.Go to thinkcentral.com to preview the Video Trailer introducing this selection. Other features that support the selection include• PowerNotes presentation • ThinkAloud models to enhance

comprehension• WordSharp vocabulary tutorials• interactive writing and grammar

instruction

Video Trailer

RL 3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story. RL 4 Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. RL 5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. RI 1 Cite evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RI 6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is effective. W 3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue and pacing, to develop characters. SL 1 Participate effectively in collaborative discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own. L 1a Apply the understanding that usage is a matter of convention. L 1b Resolve issues of complex or contested usuage, consulting references as needed. L 2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English punctuation and spelling when writing. L 3 Apply knowledge of language to comprehend more fully when reading. L 4c Consult general and specialized reference materials to determine or clarify a word’s precise meaning. L 4d Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase. L 5a Interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in the text. L 5b Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations. L 6 Acquire and use accurately general academic words.

about the authorPoint out that Twain’s autobiography is a loose collection of character sketches, essays, diary entries, and letters.

Video link at thinkcentral.com

Essential Course of Study ecosecos

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Have you ever put on an act?Occasionally we are tempted to try to fool others into thinking we are smarter, cooler, richer, or more popular than we really are. Sometimes it’s as simple as putting on a new pair of sunglasses or pretending to know more about something than we really do. In his autobiography, Mark Twain recalls from his youth a more extreme version of this kind of deception.DISCUSS With your classmates, come up with a list of ways in which people pretend to be something they’re not. Examples can range from simple social posing to more outrageous, even criminal, forms of falsified identity. Then review these examples, considering people’s motives for such deception.

text analysis: irony and overstatementIn Mark Twain’s true-life adventure stories, Twain often used life’s absurdities to evoke emotions and influence readers. To help create meaning and generate humor, Twain used the following literary techniques: • situational irony—a contrast between what is expected and

what actually happens• dramatic irony—when readers know more about a situation

or character than the characters do• verbal irony—a contrast between what is stated and what is

meant• overstatement—an exaggeration for emphasis or for

humorous effect (also called hyperbole)Watch for examples of irony and overstatement as you read.

reading strategy: predictWhen you predict, you use text clues to make a reasonable guess about what will happen in a story. Sometimes a story will surprise you with a plot twist; sometimes your predictions will hit the mark. Either way, watching for text clues can help you find the situational irony in Twain’s story. As you read, use a chart like the one shown to record your predictions and the clues from the text that led you to make your educated guess.

Predictions Text Clues

I predict he’ll find a way to get involved.

Narrator says he can’t resist the temptation to be a subject.

vocabulary in contextMatch each vocabulary word in the first column with the word in the second column that is closest in meaning.

1. unassailable a. trust 2. multifariously b. peeved 3. minutest c. spellbound 4. implacable d. overtrusting 5. credulity e. tiniest 6. rapt f. unquestionable 7. nettled g. unyielding 8. gullible h. variously

Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook.

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TeachHave you ever put on an ACT?Introduce the activity by asking students to explore the consequences of deception. Can fooling others ever lead to a positive outcome—and if so, for whom?

vocabulary in contextDIAGNOSE WORD KNOWLEDGE Have stu-dents complete Vocabulary in Context. Check their word choices against the following: credulity (krG-dLPlG-tC) n. an inclination to

believe too readilygullible (gOlPE-bEl) adj. easily deceived or

trickedimplacable (Gm-plBkPE-bEl) adj. impossible to

satisfy

minutest (mF-nLPtGst) adj. smallest; most precise

multifariously (mOlQtE-f‚rPC-Es-lC) adv. in many and various ways

nettled (nDtPEld) adj. irritated; annoyed nettle v.rapt (rBpt) adj. deeply moved, delighted, or

absorbedunassailable (OnQE-sAPlE-bEl) adj. impossible to

dispute or disprove

Model the Skill: predictPoint out that even a story featuring situ-ational irony includes text clues that help readers make predictions. The clues some-times turn out to be false leads, tempting us to expect things that don’t occur.

RESOURCE MANAGER—Copy MasterPredict p. 23 (for student use while reading the selection)

R E A D I N G S T R A T E G Y

Model the Skill: irony and overstatement

To begin a discussion of irony and over-statement, point out that both techniques restate facts to achieve an effect. Then have students identify these examples of overstatement and of irony as situational, dramatic, or verbal: 1. Emily opens her lunch bag, pulls out

a squashed baloney sandwich, and exclaims, “Another gourmet meal!” (verbal irony)

2. Jaime stays up until 2:00 a.m. studying for a math exam, only to fall asleep during the test. (situational irony)

3. Alex, a character in a movie, is wor-ried that his girlfriend is spending a lot of time with his best friend, but the audience knows that they are planning Alex’s surprise party. (dramatic irony)

4. After the marathon, Jorge drank enough water to float a battleship. (overstatement)

T E X T A N A L Y S I S

the autobiography of mark twain 659

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660 unit 4: regionalism and naturalism

Mark Twain

background This excerpt from Mark Twain’s autobiography focuses on a traveling show that visited Twain’s small town around 1850. These entertainment shows were popular in a time before radio, television, or computers. They featured magic acts, ventriloquists, and mesmerizers (or hypnotists). Hypnotists placed people in suggestible, trancelike states and then ordered them to perform various antics.

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An exciting event in our village was the arrival of the mesmerizer.1 I think the year was 1850. As to that I am not sure but I know the month—it was May; that detail has survived the wear of fifty years. A pair of connected little incidents of that month have served to keep the memory of it green for me all this time; incidents of no consequence and not worth embalming,2 yet my memory has preserved them carefully and flung away things of real value to give them space and make them comfortable. The truth is, a person’s memory has no more sense than his conscience and no appreciation whatever of values and proportions. However, never mind those trifling incidents; my subject is the mesmerizer now. a

He advertised his show and promised marvels. Admission as usual: 25 cents, children half price. The village had heard of mesmerism in a general way but had not encountered it yet. Not many people attended the first night but next day they had so many wonders to tell that everybody’s curiosity was fired and after

The Autobiography of Mark Twain

1. mesmerizer: hypnotist; from the name of an Austrian physician, Franz Anton Mesmer, who popularized hypnotism in the 1770s.

2. embalming: preserving.

Analyze VisualsLook at the poster on page 661, especially at the image in the top circle. What can you infer about the mesmerizer depicted?

a PREDICTBased on the clues presented in this first paragraph, what can you predict about what might happen in the story?

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Practice and ApplysummaryIn this excerpt from his autobiography, Twain tells of a mesmerizer’s visit to his hometown. Jealous of audience members who serve as the mesmerizer’s subjects, the teenaged Twain fakes being hypnotized. He soon becomes the star of the show; in fact, he is so convincing that by the time the mesmerizer leaves town, Twain is the only person who doesn’t believe in hypnotism. Years later, when he confesses the deception to his mother, she refuses to believe him. Twain concludes that a well-told lie has a long life.

for english language learnersTextual Context Point out to students that Twain frequently gives words unusual nuances in his writing. Read aloud lines 3–4, beginning with, “A pair of . . .” and ending with, “. . . not worth embalming,”. Have stu-dents look up the definitions of green and embalming. Ask volunteers to explain what is unusual about Twain’s use of these words in the passage. Possible answer: Green usually refers to the color or to new plant growth,

not to freshness. Embalming refers primarily to preserving a dead body from decay. for struggling readersIn combination with the Audio Anthology CD, use one or more Targeted Passages (pp. 662, 664, 666, and 668) to ensure that students focus on key events and concepts. Targeted passages are also good for English language learners.

read with a purposeHelp students set a purpose for reading. Tell them to note instances in which Twain uses forms of irony to make his point.

a Model the Skill: predictExplain how to predict events based on contextual clues. Have students reread lines 1–9 and identify the person who arrives in the village. Review the definition of mesmerizer. Suggest that misunderstand-ings might arise when people are hypno-tized, and have them predict what types of misunderstanding might occur between a mesmerizer and the townspeople.Possible answer: Readers can predict that the young Twain might interact with the mesmerizer who has come to his village.Extend the Discussion What clues lead you to that prediction?



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Analyze VisualsPossible answer: The viewer can infer that the mesmerizer can control the behavior of other people—and can even defy the law of gravity—simply by using his hands.

backgroundMesmerism Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) was an Austrian doctor who gave his name to what he considered a system for curing illness. Mesmer believed that every part of the universe was connected by magnetic fluid and that illness occurred when the balance of fluid in a person’s body was disturbed. According to Mesmer, magnetic passes of a doctor’s hands over the patient’s body could cure sickness by redirecting that fluid. After frenzied convul-sions or hypnotic trances, Mesmer’s patients reported themselves restored to health.Mesmer experienced considerable success when he introduced his system of “animal magnetism” to Paris in 1778. King Louis XVI was skeptical, however, and he appointed a scientific commission to investigate Mesmer’s claims. Benjamin Franklin and other commis-sion members declared Mesmer a fraud, con-cluding that his cures were simply the product of people’s imaginations.Although Mesmer’s theory of magnetism as a therapeutic technique was discredited, interest in the hypnotic trance state flourished during the 19th century. In the United States, mesmer-ism became a form of entertainment— the kind of traveling performance that young Mark Twain encounters in this account.

for advanced learners/apScience and History Ask students to analyze the illustrations on page 661. Which images appear to be scientific, and which seem to be mere showmanship? What about the concept of mesmerism may have appealed to the people of the 1800s?

This selection on thinkcentral.com includes embedded ThinkAloud models–students “thinking aloud” about the story to model the kinds of questions a good reader would ask about a selection.

Reading Support




3. fortnight: 14 days. 4. magic disk: the object used by the mesmerizer to focus a subject’s attention, helping him or her

to achieve a hypnotic state. 5. journeyman: a competent and experienced, but not brilliant, craftsman. 6. discharge . . . electricity: It was once erroneously believed that hypnosis was linked to electricity

and magnetism. 7. incumbrance: earlier spelling of encumbrance, here meaning “burden; obligation.”

that for a fortnight3 the magician had prosperous times. I was fourteen or fifteen years old, the age at which a boy is willing to endure all things, suffer all things short of death by fire, if thereby he may be conspicuous and show off before the public; and so, when I saw the “subjects” perform their foolish antics on the platform and make the people laugh and shout and admire I had a burning desire to be a subject myself. b

Every night for three nights I sat in the row of candidates on the platform and held the magic disk4 in the palm of my hand and gazed at it and tried to get sleepy, but it was a failure; I remained wide awake and had to retire defeated, like the majority. Also, I had to sit there and be gnawed with envy of Hicks, our journeyman;5 I had to sit there and see him scamper and jump when Simmons the enchanter exclaimed, “See the snake! See the snake!” and hear him say, “My, how beautiful!” in response to the suggestion that he was observing a splendid sunset; and so on—the whole insane business. I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t applaud; it filled me with bitterness to have others do it and to have people make a hero of Hicks and crowd around him when the show was over and ask him for more and more particulars of the wonders he had seen in his visions and manifest in many ways that they were proud to be acquainted with him. Hicks—the idea! I couldn’t stand it; I was getting boiled to death in my own bile.

On the fourth night temptation came and I was not strong enough to resist. When I had gazed at the disk a while I pretended to be sleepy and began to nod. Straightway came the professor and made passes over my head and down my body and legs and arms, finishing each pass with a snap of his fingers in the air to discharge the surplus electricity;6 then he began to “draw” me with the disk, holding it in his fingers and telling me I could not take my eyes off it, try as I might; so I rose slowly, bent and gazing, and followed that disk all over the place, just as I had seen the others do. Then I was put through the other paces. Upon suggestion I fled from snakes, passed buckets at a fire, became excited over hot steamboat-races, made love to imaginary girls and kissed them, fished from the platform and landed mud cats that outweighed me—and so on, all the customary marvels. But not in the customary way. I was cautious at first and watchful, being afraid the professor would discover that I was an impostor and drive me from the platform in disgrace; but as soon as I realized that I was not in danger, I set myself the task of terminating Hicks’s usefulness as a subject and of usurping his place.

It was a sufficiently easy task. Hicks was born honest, I without that incumbrance7—so some people said. Hicks saw what he saw and reported accordingly, I saw more than was visible and added to it such details as could help. Hicks had no imagination; I had a double supply. He was born calm, I was

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Language CoachEtymology Usurping (line 47) means “taking control by force.” Usurp comes from the Latin word usurpare, meaning “to seize for use.” Read lines 44–47. Why does Twain want to usurp Hicks’s place? Explain your answer, using the word usurp.

b OVERSTATEMENTRemember that overstatement, or hyperbole, is an exaggeration used to emphasize a point or create humor. Reread lines 14–19, looking for instances of Twain’s use of this rhetorical technique. Why do you think Twain uses overstatement here? How might his use of overstatement in a work of nonfiction affect readers?

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tiered discussion promptsDirect students to lines 20–47. Use these prompts to help students explore young Twain’s motivation and character:

Recall Why does Twain pretend to be mes-merized? Possible answer: Twain is jealous of the attention that Hicks is getting (lines 28–32) and wants to outdo him (lines 46–47). Since Twain seems resistant to mesmerism (lines 20–23), he decides to pretend.Analyze What does this passage reveal about young Twain’s character? Cite evidence. Possible answer: This passage shows that Twain cannot resist temptation. He is obser-vant, able to imitate the other subjects by watching their actions. Twain is competitive, determined to replace Hicks; and he is dishon-est, willing to deceive people to gain attention.

for struggling readers1 Targeted Passage [Lines 20–40]

This passage describes Twain’s inner conflict as he watches the mesmerizer’s show.• How does Twain participate in the magician’s

attempts to hypnotize his subjects? What is the outcome? (lines 20–23)

• How does Twain feel as he watches Hicks? (lines 27–32)

• How does Twain give in to temptation and resolve his frustration? (lines 39–40)

Comprehension Support Help students break down long, complicated sentences like the one in lines 14–19 by reducing them to one set or more of basic components: subject, verb, and object. Ask:• Who or what is the sentence (clause) about?• What action does the subject do?• Who or what receives the action of the

verb(s)?

for english language learnersLanguage CoachEtymology Answer: Twain is jealous of the attention Hicks receives during his “mesmer-ism.” Twain wants to usurp Hicks and receive the attention himself.In public life, when is the media likely to discuss something being usurped?

Targeted Passage1


b overstatementDiscuss how exaggeration can add humor. For example, mice do not roar, and cookies are not as big as the moon. Then read aloud lines 14–19. Point out the exaggeration in the phrase “suffer all things short of death by fire.” Tell students that the author uses overstatement in this phrase to emphasize his eagerness and anticipation. Possible answer: The overstatement shows how much Twain wanted the crowd’s attention. Overstatement makes the lines humorous and make readers hope he gets his chance to be mesmerized. Extend the Discussion In what ways do the media commonly use overstatement?


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born excited. No vision could start a rapture in him and he was constipated as to language, anyway; but if I saw a vision I emptied the dictionary onto it and lost the remnant of my mind into the bargain.

At the end of my first half-hour Hicks was a thing of the past, a fallen hero, a broken idol, and I knew it and was glad and said in my heart, “Success to crime!” Hicks could never have been mesmerized to the point where he could kiss an imaginary girl in public or a real one either, but I was competent. Whatever Hicks had failed in, I made it a point to succeed in, let the cost be what it might, physically or morally. He had shown several bad defects and I had made a note of them. For instance, if the magician asked, “What do you see?” and left him to invent a vision for himself, Hicks was dumb and blind, he couldn’t see a thing nor say a word, whereas the magician soon found out that when it came to seeing visions of a stunning and marketable sort I could get along better without his help than with it.

Then there was another thing: Hicks wasn’t worth a tallow dip8 on mute mental suggestion. Whenever Simmons stood behind him and gazed at the

back of his skull and tried to drive a mental suggestion into it, Hicks sat with vacant face and never suspected. If he had been noticing he could have seen by the rapt faces of the audience that something was going on behind his back that required a response. Inasmuch as I was an impostor I dreaded to have this test put upon me, for I knew the professor would be “willing” me to do something, and as

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8. wasn’t worth a tallow dip: wasn’t any good. A tallow dip was an inexpensive candle.

rapt (rBpt) adj. deeply moved, delighted, or absorbed

Language CoachMetaphors A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common. In lines 55–56, Twain directly compares Hicks to a fallen hero and a broken idol. What does Twain mean by this comparison?

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revisit the big QUESTIONHave you ever put on an ACT?Discuss Based on lines 55–65, how effective is young Twain’s deception? How can you tell? Possible answer: Twain’s deception is very effective: Within a half hour he replaces Hicks in the crowd’s affections, and Simmons himself soon realizes that Twain is a better “subject” than Hicks.About the Art Harry Kellar (1849–1922), an entertainer who combined magic tricks with elaborate presentations, was known as the “Dean of American Magicians.” His illusions, or misleading versions of reality, were accom-plished by clever mechanical arrangements. This poster shows one of his most famous illusions: the levitation of a girl who rose from a couch and then disappeared into thin air.

for english language learnersLanguage CoachMetaphors Possible Answer: Twain means that he is the crowd’s new hero and Hicks has lost, or fallen from, their attention. If a hero who has fallen out of favor is described as “a broken idol,” what type of character might the metaphor “a bad apple” describe?

for advanced learners/apResearch Hypnotism Have small groups of students find out more about these hypnotism-related topics:• the roots of hypnotism in rites practiced by

ancient Hindus and other early cultures and its use in place of surgical anesthesia

• reasons that the practice has been dismissed as a parlor trick practiced by charlatans

Have groups present their findings to the class.

V O C A B U L A R Y

own the word rapt: The Latin word for rapt means “to

seize” and is related to the word enrap-ture. Both words are descriptive of being “deeply moved or delighted; engrossed.” Ask students to describe a situation that kept their rapt attention.

Possible answer: Answers could include a theatrical performance, magic trick, ball game, a documentary, or a lecture.


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I couldn’t know what it was, I should be exposed and denounced. However, when my time came, I took my chance. I perceived by the tense and expectant faces of the people that Simmons was behind me willing me with all his might. I tried my best to imagine what he wanted but nothing suggested itself. I felt ashamed and miserable then. I believed that the hour of my disgrace was come and that in another moment I should go out of that place disgraced. I ought to be ashamed to confess it but my next thought was not how I could win the compassion of kindly hearts by going out humbly and in sorrow for my misdoings, but how I could go out most sensationally and spectacularly. c

There was a rusty and empty old revolver lying on the table among the “properties” employed in the performances. On May Day two or three weeks before there had been a celebration by the schools and I had had a quarrel with a big boy who was the school bully and I had not come out of it with credit.9 That boy was now seated in the middle of the house, halfway down the main aisle. I crept stealthily and impressively toward the table, with a dark and murderous scowl on my face, copied from a popular romance, seized the revolver suddenly, flourished it, shouted the bully’s name, jumped off the platform and made a rush for him and chased him out of the house before the paralyzed people could interfere to save him. There was a storm of applause, and the magician, addressing the house, said, most impressively—

“That you may know how really remarkable this is and how wonderfully developed a subject we have in this boy, I assure you that without a single spoken word to guide him he has carried out what I mentally commanded him to do, to the minutest detail. I could have stopped him at a moment in his vengeful career by a mere exertion of my will, therefore the poor fellow who has escaped was at no time in danger.”

So I was not in disgrace. I returned to the platform a hero and happier than I have ever been in this world since. As regards mental suggestion, my fears of it were gone. I judged that in case I failed to guess what the professor might be willing me to do, I could count on putting up something that would answer just as well. I was right, and exhibitions of unspoken suggestion became a favorite with the public. Whenever I perceived that I was being willed to do something I got up and did something—anything that occurred to me—and the magician, not being a fool, always ratified it. When people asked me, “How can you tell what he is willing you to do?” I said, “It’s just as easy,” and they always said admiringly, “Well, it beats me how you can do it.”

Hicks was weak in another detail. When the professor made passes over him and said “his whole body is without sensation now—come forward and test him, ladies and gentlemen,” the ladies and gentlemen always complied eagerly and stuck pins into Hicks, and if they went deep Hicks was sure to wince, then that poor professor would have to explain that Hicks “wasn’t sufficiently under the influence.” But I didn’t wince; I only suffered and shed tears on the inside. The miseries that a conceited boy will endure to keep up his “reputation”! And so

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9. credit: honor or distinction.

c PREDICTReread lines 66–81. How do you predict Twain will respond to the challenge of “mute mental suggestion”from Simmons?

minutest (mF-nLPtGst) adj. smallest; most precise


revisit the big QUESTION

Have you ever put on an ACT?Discuss Based on lines 74–98, how does this part of Twain’s account indicate that Twain isn’t the only character with some skill at deception? In what sense is this turn of events an example of situational irony? Possible answer: Twain is worried about being disgraced when his deception is revealed (lines 77–78), but he is not “exposed and denounced,” because Simmons himself is an impostor who is happy to take advantage of Twain’s deception (lines 93–98). Ironically, Twain is not punished for his deception, because an even greater deception is going on—the mesmerizer’s.


In this passage, Twain continues his decep-tion through an inventive response to the mesmerizer’s mental suggestion.• How does Twain make use of his experi-

ence with the school bully? (lines 86–90)• How does the audience react? (lines 90–91)• Why does the mesmerizer take credit for

Twain’s actions? How do his words keep Twain’s secret safe? (lines 93–98)

for english language learnersVocabulary: Idioms Share or elicit the mean-ings of these expressions; then help students use them in original sentences:• count on (line 102), “to be confident about”• putting up (line 102), “creating”• it beats me (line 108), “I don’t understand”• was sure to (line 112), “definitely would”• shed tears (line 114), “cried”• air it (line 134), “to speak about it in public”

Targeted Passage2

c predictPossible answer: Given the character traits that Twain has exhibited and the state-ments that he has made about himself, readers can predict that he will rise to the challenge and invent a scenario that will both fool and entertain the audience.


V O C A B U L A R Y

own the word minutest: Tell students that minutest and

minute are both adjectives that describe the “smallest; most precise” things. Have students use either word to create a sentence that shows an understanding of the word. Possible answer: Trent needed a microscope to view the minute species of plankton.


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will a conceited man; I know it in my own person and have seen it in a hundred thousand others. That professor ought to have protected me and I often hoped he would, when the tests were unusually severe, but he didn’t. It may be that he was deceived as well as the others, though I did not believe it nor think it possible. Those were dear good people but they must have carried simplicity and credulity to the limit. They would stick a pin in my arm and bear on it until they drove it a third of its length in, and then be lost in wonder that by a mere exercise of will power the professor could turn my arm to iron and make it insensible to pain. Whereas it was not insensible at all; I was suffering agonies of pain.

After that fourth night, that proud night, that triumphant night, I was the only subject. Simmons invited no more candidates to the platform. I performed

alone every night the rest of the fortnight. Up to that time a dozen wise old heads, the intellectual aristocracy of the town, had held out as implacable unbelievers. I was as hurt by this as if I were engaged in some honest occupation. There is nothing surprising about this. Human beings feel dishonor the most, sometimes, when they most deserve it. That handful of overwise old gentlemen kept on shaking their heads all the first week and saying they had seen no marvels there that could not have been produced by collusion; and they were pretty vain of their unbelief too and liked to show it and air it and be superior to the ignorant and the gullible. Particularly old Dr. Peake, who was the ringleader of the irreconcilables and very formidable; for he was an F.F.V.,10 he was learned, white-haired and venerable, nobly and richly clad in the fashions of an earlier and a courtlier day, he was large and stately, and he not only seemed wise but was what he seemed in that regard. He had great influence and his opinion upon any matter was worth much more than that of any other person in the community. When I conquered him at last, I knew I was undisputed master of the field; and now after more than fifty years I acknowledge with a few dry old tears that I rejoiced without shame. d

In 1847 we were living in a large white house on the corner of Hill and Main Streets—a house that still stands but isn’t large now although it hasn’t lost a plank; I saw it a year ago and noticed that shrinkage. My father died in it in March of the year mentioned but our family did not move out of it until some months afterward. Ours was not the only family in the house; there was another, Dr. Grant’s. One day Dr. Grant and Dr. Reyburn argued a matter on the street with sword canes and Grant was brought home multifariously punctured. Old Dr. Peake caulked the leaks and came every day for a while to look after him.

The Grants were Virginians, like Peake, and one day when Grant was getting well enough to be on his feet and sit around in the parlor and talk, the conversation fell upon Virginia and old times. I was present but the group were probably unconscious of me, I being only a lad and a negligible quantity. Two of

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10. F.F.V.: First Family of Virginia. Dr. Peake has high social status because his ancestors were among the first settlers of Virginia.

gullible (gOlPE-bEl) adj. easily deceived or tricked

multifariously (mOlQtE-fârPC-Es-lC) adv. in many and various ways

implacable (Gm-plBkPE-bEl) adj. impossible to satisfy

credulity (krG-dLPlG-tC) n. an inclination to believe too readily

d IRONYReread lines 125–142. Identify the situational irony in Twain’s reaction to the skeptical wise old men in the crowd. What does this suggest about him?


tiered discussion promptsRefer to lines 124–142 and use these prompts to help students understand that yet another conflict lies ahead for Twain:

Summarize So far, whom has Twain con-vinced of his ability to be mesmerized? Possible answer: Twain seems to have con-vinced just about everyone in town.Evaluate Does Twain sharing his thoughts about the outcome of the story before actually telling the story ruin the outcome for readers? Why or why not? Accept all reasonable answers.

for struggling readersDraw Conclusions Call students’ attention to lines 117–119. Ask students why they think that the mesmerizer does not try to protect Twain if, as Twain suspects, he is not fooled by Twain’s performance. Possible answers: The mesmerizer remains silent because he does not care about Twain’s comfort; he is willing to let Twain suffer to gain more popularity for his show and, ultimately, more money for himself.

for advanced learners/apAnalyze Figurative Language Twain uses metaphors to enliven ordinary language, encourage interpretation, and provide maxi-mum meaning with a minimum of words. In lines 149–150, for example, he uses a plumb-ing metaphor to describe the nature of Dr. Grant’s injuries and Dr. Peake’s treatment. Challenge students to locate and explain other examples of Twain’s use of metaphor, such as in lines 53, 189–191, and 278–279.

d irony and overstatement

Possible answer: The situational irony is that Twain’s reaction to the old men’s skepticism is the opposite of what readers would expect. Twain says that he was as hurt as if he were telling the truth (line 129). This ironic reaction suggests that he is fully engaged in the role that he has created.


V O C A B U L A R Y

own the word• credulity: Credulity refers to someone’s

“inclination to believe too readily.” Have students provide synonyms. Possible answers: easy, naive

• implacable: Tell students that an idiom is a phrase that represents a concept or thought. An idiom for implacable is “stubborn as a mule.”

• gullible: Remind students that gullible means “easily deceived.” Antonyms include: cynical, suspicious. Ask students to write a sentence using gullible correctly. Possible answer: Ramon thought his sister gullible to believe in ghosts.

• multifariously: Have students create a semantic web for the word multifariously. Write the word and definition in the cen-ter circle. Draw spider legs from the center and have students use a thesaurus to find synonyms. Possible answers: diversified, miscellaneous


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the group—Dr. Peake and Mrs. Crawford, Mrs. Grant’s mother—had been of the audience when the Richmond theater burned down thirty-six years before, and they talked over the frightful details of that memorable tragedy. These were eyewitnesses, and with their eyes I saw it all with an intolerable vividness: I saw the black smoke rolling and tumbling toward the sky, I saw the flames burst through it and turn red, I heard the shrieks of the despairing, I glimpsed their faces at the windows, caught fitfully through the veiling smoke, I saw them jump to their death or to mutilation worse than death. The picture is before me yet and can never fade.

In due course they talked of the colonial mansion of the Peakes, with its stately columns and its spacious grounds, and by odds and ends I picked up a clearly defined idea of the place. I was strongly interested, for I had not before heard of such palatial things from the lips of people who had seen them with their own eyes. One detail, casually dropped, hit my imagination hard. In the wall by the great front door there was a round hole as big as a saucer—a British cannon ball had made it in the war of the Revolution. It was breathtaking; it made history real; history had never been real to me before.

Very well, three or four years later, as already mentioned, I was king bee and sole “subject” in the mesmeric show; it was the beginning of the second week; the performance was half over; just then the majestic Dr. Peake with his ruffled bosom and wrist-bands and his gold-headed cane entered, and a deferential citizen vacated his seat beside the Grants and made the great chief take it. This happened while I was trying to invent something fresh in the way of vision, in response to the professor’s remark—

“Concentrate your powers. Look—look attentively. There—don’t you see something? Concentrate—concentrate! Now then—describe it.” e

Without suspecting it, Dr. Peake, by entering the place, had reminded me of the talk of three years before. He had also furnished me capital and was become my confederate, an accomplice in my frauds. I began on a vision, a vague and dim one (that was part of the game at the beginning of a vision; it isn’t best to see it too clearly at first, it might look as if you had come loaded with it). The vision developed by degrees and gathered swing, momentum, energy. It was the Richmond fire. Dr. Peake was cold at first and his fine face had a trace of polite scorn in it; but when he began to recognize that fire, that expression changed and his eyes began to light up. As soon as I saw that, I threw the valves wide open and turned on all the steam and gave those people a supper of fire and horrors that was calculated to last them one while! They couldn’t gasp when I got through—they were petrified. Dr. Peake had risen and was standing—and breathing hard. He said, in a great voice:

“My doubts are ended. No collusion could produce that miracle. It was totally impossible for him to know those details, yet he has described them with the clarity of an eyewitness —and with what unassailable truthfulness God knowsI know!” f

I saved the colonial mansion for the last night and solidified and perpetuated

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f IRONYWhat do you know that Dr. Peake doesn’t? Explain how this dramatic irony affects your impression of the characters involved, including young Twain.

e PREDICTPredict how Twain will win over the wise old men of the town.

unassailable(OnQE-sAPlE-bEl) adj. impossible to dispute or disprove

Language CoachWord Definitions Eyewitnesses (line 158) means “people who have seen something personally and can report on it.” What had Dr. Peake and Mrs. Crawford personally seen? Answer the question using the phrases give eyewitness accounts of or eyewitnesses to.

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3 Targeted Passage [Lines 181–197]In this passage, Twain converts his most notable skeptic to belief in mesmerism.• What does Twain remember when

Dr. Peake enters? (lines 181–182)• Why does Dr. Peake’s facial expression

change as Twain describes his vision? (lines 187–188)

• Why does Twain refer to Dr. Peake as a “confederate” and an “accomplice”? (line 183)

• Why is Dr. Peake convinced that he has experienced a miracle? (lines 194–196)

for english language learnersLanguage: Punctuation and Print Cues Have students reread lines 157–162. Note that each item in the series begins with “I saw,” “I heard,” or “I glimpsed,” and the items are separated by commas. Note that Twain uses another comma within one of these items. Modern punctuation

style usually mandates semicolons to separate items in a series if any of the items includes an internal comma.

Language CoachWord Definitions Possible answer: Dr. Peake and Mrs. Crawford gave eyewitness accounts of a fire they had seen in a Rich-mond theater. Point out that eyewitnesses is a compound word. Ask students how the separate words “eye” and “witnesses” help them figure out the word’s definition.

Targeted Passage3


E predictPossible answer: Twain probably will succeed by thinking up some imaginative trick to convince the wise old men. He may describe a vision based on one or both of the accounts that he heard these men tell a few years earlier: the Richmond theater fire (lines 154–162) and the Peakes’ colonial mansion (lines 164–171).


f Model the Skill: irony and overstatement

Remind students that in lines 151–163, Twain had been present when Dr. Peake and Mrs. Crawford vividly described the Richmond fire.Possible answer: Readers know that Twain is retelling an overheard eyewitness ac-count of the Richmond fire. The effect of this irony—the fact that Dr. Peake is taken in by Twain’s deception—is to reinforce Twain’s cunning (for Twain remembers the details that he heard) and to suggest that the wise old men of the town may not be as wise as they seem.

V O C A B U L A R Y

own the word unassailable: Explain that unassailable

is an adjective made from the verb assail which means “to attack or trouble; to ridicule or disprove.”


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Dr. Peake’s conversion with the cannon-ball hole. He explained to the house that I could never have heard of that small detail, which differentiated this mansion from all other Virginian mansions and perfectly identified it, therefore the fact stood proven that I had seen it in my vision. Lawks!11

It is curious. When the magician’s engagement closed there was but one person in the village who did not believe in mesmerism and I was the one. All the others were converted but I was to remain an implacable and unpersuadable disbeliever in mesmerism and hypnotism for close upon fifty years. This was because I never would examine them, in after life. I couldn’t. The subject revolted me. Perhaps it brought back to me a passage in my life which for pride’s sake I wished to forget;

11. Lawks!: an expression of wonder or amusement, shortened from “Lord, have mercy!”

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tiered discussion promptsIn lines 203–210, use these prompts to help students explore Twain’s reflection upon his experiences with the mesmerizer:

Restate How does Twain feel about his experience with the mesmerizer? Possible answer: Twain is torn between feeling triumph for his achievement and regret for his deception.Analyze Why is it ironic that Twain became the “one person in the village who did not believe in mesmerism”? Possible answer: It is ironic that Twain is the only doubter be-cause it is his performance as a subject that has persuaded everyone else to believe in mesmerism.Evaluate Is Twain’s cynical response to his experience believable? Defend your opin-ion. Most students will find Twain’s response believable, citing examples of cheaters who assume that the rest of the world is dishonest.

for advanced learners/apAnalyze Tone Have students write an essay contrasting Twain’s tone in lines 203–208 with the tone used earlier, such as in lines 99–100 and 172–173. Ask students to address these questions:• How does the tone change during the

excerpt? What might cause the change?• How does the tone influence your under-

standing of Twain’s account?

for struggling readersDevelop Reading Fluency Use the anecdote in the targeted passage on page 666 to give students practice in pacing. Point out how Dr. Peake’s response changes as Twain’s “vision” unfolds. Then have students practice reading aloud in small groups to illustrate Dr. Peake’s gradual recognition of Twain’s story. Remind students that they can use volume, speed, and emphasis to highlight Dr. Peake’s response.




though I thought, or persuaded myself I thought, I should never come across a “proof” which wasn’t thin and cheap and probably had a fraud like me behind it.

The truth is I did not have to wait long to get tired of my triumphs. Not thirty days, I think. The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. No doubt for a while I enjoyed having my exploits told and retold and told again in my presence and wondered over and exclaimed about, but I quite distinctly remember that there presently came a time when the subject was wearisome and odious to me and I could not endure the disgusting discomfort of it. I am well aware that the world-glorified doer of a deed of great and real splendor has just my experience; I know that he deliciously enjoys hearing about it for three or four weeks and that pretty soon after that he begins to dread the mention of it and by and by wishes he had been with the damned before he ever thought of doing that deed. I remember how General Sherman12 used to rage and swear over “While we were marching through Georgia,” which was played at him and sung at him everywhere he went; still, I think I suffered a shade more than the legitimate hero does, he being privileged to soften his misery with the reflection that his glory was at any rate golden and reproachless in its origin, whereas I had no such privilege, there being no possible way to make mine respectable.

How easy it is to make people believe a lie and how hard it is to undo that work again! Thirty-five years after those evil exploits of mine I visited my

old mother, whom I had not seen for ten years; and being moved by what seemed to me a rather noble and perhaps heroic impulse, I thought I would humble myself and confess my ancient fault. It cost me a great effort to make up my mind; I dreaded the sorrow that would rise in her face and the shame that would look out of her eyes; but after long and troubled reflection, the sacrifice seemed due and right and I gathered my resolution together and made the confession. g

To my astonishment there were no sentimentalities, no dramatics, no George Washington effects; she was not moved in the least degree; she simply did not believe me and said so! I was not merely disappointed, I was nettled to have my costly truthfulness flung out of the market in this placid and confident way when I was expecting to get a profit out of it. I asserted and reasserted, with rising heat, my statement that every single thing I had done on those long-vanished nights was a lie and a swindle; and when she shook her head tranquilly and said she knew better, I put up my hand and swore to it—adding a triumphant, “Now what do you say?”

It did not affect her at all; it did not budge her the fraction of an inch from her position. If this was hard for me to endure, it did not begin with the blister she put upon the raw13 when she began to put my sworn oath out of court with arguments to prove that I was under a delusion and did not know what I was talking about. Arguments! Arguments to show that a person on a man’s outside can know better what is on his inside than he does himself. I had cherished some

12. General Sherman: William Tecumseh Sherman, Union commander who led a destructive march in 1864 from Atlanta, Georgia, to the Atlantic, cutting the Confederacy in two.

13. the blister . . . raw: a bad thing made even worse.

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g PREDICTReread lines 227–234. How do you think Twain’s mother will respond to his confession? Explain why you think this.

nettled (nDtPEld) adj. irritated; annoyed nettle v.


revisit the big QUESTIONHave you ever put on an ACT?Discuss In lines 211–226, what is Twain saying in this passage about the consequences of decep-tion, at least for him? Possible answer: Twain is saying that he was unable to enjoy the conse-quences of his deception because he became quite uncomfortable over repeated compliments about his fraudulent triumphs. Is his experience typical, or do most liars and cheaters manage to enjoy the fruits of their deception—and even the glory of undeserved praise? Explain. Accept all thoughtful responses.


This passage explains what happens 35 years later, when Twain confesses the truth about his deception to his mother.• How does Twain expect his mother to react

to his confession? How does she actually react? (lines 232–237)

• How does Twain try to change his mother’s mind, and what is her response? (lines 239–243)

• Why is he so bothered by her arguments? (lines 237–239)

for english language learnersCulture: Clarify Tell the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Emphasize that Washington was praised for his honesty rather than reprimanded for his action. Then ask students to explain what Twain meant by his reference to “George Washington effects” (lines 235–236). Possible answer: Twain was expecting praise for his honesty in confessing his deception, even 35 years after the event.

Targeted Passage4


g predictPossible answer: Twain’s mother may not believe him at first; he begins the para-graph by saying that it is hard to undo a lie (lines 227–228).

V O C A B U L A R Y

own the word nettled: Tell students that a nettle is a

prickly plant. When used as a verb, nettled refers to being “irritated or annoyed.” Have students list things that nettle them. Possible answers: nagging, boorish behav-ior; not being taken seriously; pesky siblings


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contempt for arguments before, I have not enlarged my respect for them since. She refused to believe that I had invented my visions myself; she said it was folly: that I was only a child at the time and could not have done it. She cited the Richmond fire and the colonial mansion and said they were quite beyond my capacities. Then I saw my chance! I said she was right—I didn’t invent those, I got them from Dr. Peake. Even this great shot did not damage. She said Dr. Peake’s evidence was better than mine, and he had said in plain words that it was impossible for me to have heard about those things. Dear, dear, what a grotesque and unthinkable situation: a confessed swindler convicted of honesty and condemned to acquittal by circumstantial evidence furnished by the swindled! h

I realized with shame and with impotent vexation that I was defeated all along the line. I had but one card left but it was a formidable one. I played it and stood from under. It seemed ignoble to demolish her fortress after she had defended it so valiantly but the defeated know not mercy. I played that master card. It was the pin-sticking. I said solemnly—

“I give you my honor, a pin was never stuck into me without causing mecruel pain.”

She only said—“It is thirty-five years. I believe you do think that now but I was there and

I know better. You never winced.”She was so calm! and I was so far from it, so nearly frantic.“Oh, my goodness!” I said, “let me show you that I am speaking the truth. Here

is my arm; drive a pin into it—drive it to the head—I shall not wince.”She only shook her gray head and said with simplicity and conviction—“You are a man now and could dissemble the hurt; but you were only a child

then and could not have done it.”

And so the lie which I played upon her in my youth remained with her asan unchallengeable truth to the day of her death. Carlyle14 said “a lie cannot

live.” It shows that he did not know how to tell them. If I had taken out a life policy on this one the premiums would have bankrupted me ages ago. !

14. Carlyle: Thomas Carlyle, a British historian and essayist.

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h IRONYReread lines 244–259. Identify the situational irony that underlies Twain’s confession to his mother. What statement is Twain making about honesty and deception?


selection wrap–upREAD WITH A PURPOSE Now that students have read the selection, ask them to describe incidents in which Twain’s humor made his story more memorable or striking. Possible answer: Twain’s description of his mother’s disbelief of his confession is ironic and clever. Its humor highlights an important truth about unreliable memories and the endurance of lies.

CRITIQUE• Ask students how true to life they find

Twain’s autobiographical account.• After completing the After Reading ques-

tions on page 671, have students revisit their responses and tell whether they have changed their opinions.

INDEPENDENT READING Students may also enjoy American Satire:

An Anthology of Writings from Colonial Times to the Present by Nicholas Bakalar and Stephen Kock.

for advanced learners/apAnalyze Point of View Ask students to ana-lyze how Twain’s first-person point of view contributes to the excerpt’s dramatic and situational irony. Elicit that the first-person point of view creates dramatic irony because readers know the truth about Twain’s actions but other characters do not. The first-person point of view also allows readers to ap-preciate the excerpt’s situational irony (and humor) by highlighting the contrast between

what Twain expects to happen and what really does happen. To test this analysis, have students rewrite a brief section of the excerpt from the point of view of a minor character—for example, Hicks or Dr. Peake. Then ask students to con-sider this question: Is there a narrator whose first-person point of view might create a completely different type of dramatic irony? If so, what would this narrator and dramatic irony be like?

h irony and overstatement

Possible answer: The situational irony is that when Twain finally tells his mother the truth about his deception, she thinks that he is lying (or, at least, failing to remember the truth). Moreover, she offers as proof of his past honesty the very proof that he used to carry out his deception. Twain is making the point that honesty and deception can be hard to prove and that a lie can be difficult to undo.



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Connect: EpigramsA popular writer and a sought-after public speaker, Mark Twain was full of witty remarks. What do these epigrams—short, clever, and sometimes paradoxical statements—reveal about Twain’s view of human nature?

Don’t, like the cat, try to get more out of an experience than there is in it. The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again. Nor upon a cold stove lid.

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.

Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Put all your eggs in one basket, and—watch the basket.

There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

To promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.

One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.

Each person is born to one possession which outvalues all the others—his last breath.

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.

EpigramsMark Twain


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tiered discussion promptsUse these prompts to help students appreciate Twain’s wit and wisdom:

Restate Express one of Twain’s epigrams in your own words. What twist does Twain add to an otherwise straightforward observa-tion or piece of advice? Possible answer: Restatements will vary. In general, Twain adds a skepticism to his observations and advice about life, especially when it comes to personal virtue and human interactions. Analyze Which epigram best fits the theme or message of the excerpt from Twain’s Autobiography? Explain the connection. Accept all well-reasoned responses; for example, students may choose the epigram about a lie’s having more lives than a cat, because young Twain’s experience with the mesmerizer was built on a lie.Evaluate Which epigram do you find the most relevant to your life or the lives of people you know? Explain why you con-sider this epigram particularly insightful or personally meaningful. Accept all thoughtful responses.



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After Reading

Comprehension 1. Recall What position or role does young Twain want to have? Why? 2. Summarize What weaknesses made Hicks a bad subject? 3. Clarify What does Twain do to get the mesmerizer to choose him?

Text Analysis 4. Examine Predictions Review your list of predictions and clues. Were you able

to correctly predict everything that happened? Or were you surprised by how some aspects of the story developed? Cite details from the story in your answer.

5. Contrast Characters To become the mesmerizer’s subject, Twain must displace Hicks. Twain presents himself as very different from Hicks. Based on this contrast, what does Twain seem to value and admire in a person? Use a chart like the one shown to collect evidence.

6. Analyze Irony By its very nature, irony presents a degree of tension wherever it appears—the tension between expectations and reality. In many cases, it also adds humor. Review Twain’s use of irony in the following passages. What’s funny about them? • “Hicks was born honest, I without that incumbrance [burden]—so some

people said.” (lines 48–49) • Young Twain is genuinely hurt by those who do not believe his

performances. (lines 127–129)• Twain identifies with great heroes who tire of hearing their praises sung.

(lines 213–223) 7. Draw Conclusions About Changing Perspective In writing this piece, the

adult Twain had a different view of himself, his boyhood deception, and the people of his hometown than he had as a young boy. What does this dual perspective show you about his growth from boyhood to adulthood?

Text Criticism 8. Author’s Perspective Reread Twain’s epigrams on page 670. What view of

human nature do they reflect? Explain how this view is played out in the Autobiography, giving evidence from both texts to support your answer.

Have you ever put on an act?Mark Twain indicates in his autobiography that as a young person, he was not very honest. Based on Twain’s views later in life and those expressed in his epigrams, what effect do you think deception had on Twain?

Hicks Twain


RI 1 Cite evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RI 6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is effective.

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Practice and ApplyFor preliminary support of post-reading questions, use these copy masters:

RESOURCE MANAGER—Copy MastersReading Check p. 28Irony p. 21Question Support p. 29Additional selection questions are provided for teachers on page 15.

answers 1. Twain wants to be the star subject in the

mesmerizer’s show because he wants to be the center of attention.

2. According to Twain, Hicks is a bad subject because he has no imagination, is too calm, can’t use inventive language, and can describe only what he sees.

3. Twain gets the mesmerizer to choose him by pretending to be hypnotized.

Possible answers: 4. common core focus Predict Stu-

dents should cite specific events from the excerpt and explain why they were or were not able to predict these events based on text clues.

5. Young Twain values imagination, enthusi-asm, verbal dexterity, craftiness, self-control, and the abilities to read people and think on one’s feet. Hicks: Honest (line 48), unimaginative (lines 51 and 61–63); calm (line 51); describing only what he sees (lines 49–50); not good with words (lines 52–53); unable to take “mental suggestions” (lines 66–67); unable to ignore pain (lines 109–114). Twain: Dishonest (lines 48–49); embellishes everything (lines 50–51); imaginative (line 51); able to use language well (lines 53–54); able to figure out what is expected and fake it (lines 63–65 and 82–91); able to ignore pain(line 114).

6. common core focus Analyze Irony Lines 48–49: Honesty usually is regarded as a positive trait, but Twain regards it as a burden that he has been spared. Lines 127–129: Instead of being satisfied by the number of people whom he has deceived, Twain is hurt that “a dozen wise old heads” have not fallen for his tricks. Lines 213–223: Twain is far from being a great hero.

7. As a boy, Twain is impressed with his ability to fool people. He thinks that the people of his hometown are gullible and foolish, and he feels superior to them. As an adult, he is ashamed of his deception and his need for attention and glory; he also realizes that a lie has a long life, even if the liar wants to confess the truth. His dual perspective suggests that people are gullible and perhaps foolish—but that he is able to recognize his own foolishness, as well.

8. Students should point to the cynical, critical view of human nature that Twain expresses in his epigrams; then they should cite specific text details to show how this cynicism appears throughout the excerpt from the Autobiography.

Have you ever put on an ACT? Possible answer: The deception made Twain question people’s motives and the “truth” of any situation.


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Vocabulary in Context vocabulary practice

Decide whether these statements about the vocabulary words are true or false. 1. Someone with many career changes can be said to have worked

multifariously. 2. Believing everything a fortuneteller tells you is an example of credulity. 3. A person who pays rapt attention to a performance is probably bored with it. 4. You might feel nettled if it rains on your picnic. 5. If you are gullible, you have an enormous appetite for sweet foods. 6. A defendant with an unassailable alibi should feel confident testifying in court. 7. If you record the minutest facts about an event, you are noting only how

long it took. 8. A person with implacable demands is not likely to be easily satisfied.

academic vocabulary in speaking

Mark Twain used his autobiography to expose some of the humorous and interesting things that happened in his life. In a small group, discuss some of the pros and cons of using an autobiographical format to tell a story. Use at least two of the Academic Vocabulary words in your discussion.

vocabulary strategy: differences in word meaningsHomographs are words that are spelled the same but differ in meaning, derivation, or pronunciation. Sometimes these words have totally different meanings, and sometimes the shifts in meaning are more nuanced, or subtle. An example of a word with totally different meanings is minute (m-ï-noot'), meaning “small,” and minute (m̆ïn' ï̆t), meaning “60 seconds.” An example of a word with a slight, or subtle, shift in meaning is relative, which may mean “kinship or relationship by blood” or may mean “relevant or pertinent.” To determine the meaning of such a word, analyze the context of the sentence or paragraph and check the meanings in a dictionary.

PRACTICE Write the definition of each boldfaced word in the sentence below. After each definition, write a new sentence using a different meaning of the word. If the pronunciation is different, write P. a. Take the household refuse to the dump. b. The band has a new upright bass player. c. They found the tusk of a mammoth in our state. d. The wind from the storm began to buffet the boat. e. The scientist proposed a theoretical construct.

• apparent • confine • expose • focus • perceive

word listcredulitygullibleimplacableminutestmultifariouslynettledraptunassailable

Go to thinkcentral.com.KEYWORD: HML11-672

InteractiveVocabulary


L 4d Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase. L 6 Acquire and use accurately general academic words.

NA_L11PE-u04s11-arTwa.indd 672 1/8/11 9:18:58 AMdifferentiated instruction

Assess and ReteachAssessDIAGNOSTIC AND SELECTION TESTS

Selection Tests A, B/C pp. 177–180Interactive Selection Test on thinkcentral.comReteachLevel Up Online Tutorials on thinkcentral.com

answersVocabulary in Context

vocabulary practice 1. true 5. false 2. true 6. true 3. false 7. false 4. true 8. true

RESOURCE MANAGER—COPY MASTERVocabulary Practice p. 26

academic vocabulary in speakingStudent’s should give examples of how Twain exposes people’s ridiculous behaviors and lies. vocabulary strategy: differences in word meaningsPoint out that students will not know how to pronounce a homograph until they see it in the context of a sentence.Possible answers:a. garbage; We refuse to settle for less. Pb. musical instrument with low tones; I caught

a five-pound bass. Pc. extinct elephant; He made a mammoth

birthday cake.d. strike against forcefully; We filled our plates

at the buffet. Pe. a model or idea; The children will construct

a sand castle. P

RESOURCE MANAGER—Copy MasterVocabulary Strategy p. 27

Keywords direct students to a WordSharp tutorial on thinkcentral.com or to other types of vocabulary practice and review.

Interactive Vocabulary

for english language learners Task Support: Academic Vocabulary in Speaking Suggest that students use a Main Idea and Details organizer as they discuss the pros and cons of the autobiographical format. For each pro and con, have them choose a vocabulary word that makes sense.

BEST PRACTICES TOOLKIT—TransparencyMain Idea and Details p. B6

for advanced learners/apWrite with Homographs Challenge pairs of students to compose and share sentences that use the feature’s homograph pairs correctly. Example: As partygoers lined up at the buffet, heavy winds began to buffet the tables. To extend the activity, have partners brainstorm a list of additional homographs and then create and share similar sentences using them.


L 4d, L 6


regionalism and local color focus and motivate the ... · with his tall tale “the notorious...

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