Name: _______________________
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
Instead of reading The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain on pages 679-685, we are
going to listen to the story teller, Joy Nack tell the story the way it is meant to be read. While you listen,
complete the following.
I. Characters to Know- Write a description for each of the following characters.
1.
Narrator (Eastern Man)-
2.
Simon Wheeler (Western Man)-
3.
Jim Smiley-
4.
Dan’l Webster-
5.
The Stranger-
II. Plot Questions- Answer the following questions in the space below.
6.
What is Jim Smiley’s weakness?
7.
How did the narrator get involved with Simon Wheeler?
8.
What details do we learn about the region of Calaveras County?
9.
What does Wheeler’s dialect tell the reader about his character?
10.
What sort of person is Jim Smiley?
11.
Does the narrator of this story have a good sense of humor? Why or why not?
12.
What are some themes of this short story?
III. Literary Concepts- Use your notes, literature book, and today’s reading to complete the chart below.
Concept
Definition
Quotation or example from the text.
13. Point of View
14.
Concept
Trickster
15.
Tall Tale
16.
17.
Local Color
Realism
(Regionalism)
Dialect
18.
Hyperbole
Definition
Quotation or example from the text.
IV. Writing about the Literature-An Epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Choose one
of Mark Twain’s famous epigrams from page 678. Copy that epigram below and respond to it in a quick write.
You may choose to write about the meaning, images, analogies, personification, similes, metaphors, or
relevance of the quotation, but be sure to keep writing the entire time. Feel free to use another sheet of paper
for your response and attach it. Then, draw a picture of your epigram in the box to go with your quick write.
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