Name: ______________________________________ Date ______________ Period ______
Mark Twain
Biography
Directions: Answer each question with two or three complete sentences.
1. As a young man, Twain worked as a pilot on the riverboat. How did his experience as a pilot
contribute to his writing?
2. Twain fell madly in love with Olivia Langdon, but at first her family opposed their marriage. Why did
they think that Twain was not good enough for their daughter?
3. Mark Twain made a great deal of money in his life. Yet at the age of 60 he was forced to claim
bankruptcy. How did such a wealthy man go bankrupt?
4. How did the death of Twain's daughter affect him?
5. Mark Twain created his characters from the people in his life. Write a short story using some of the
characters in your life. Your paragraph must be 6 to 8 sentences long. Your paragraph must also
have two vocabulary words from our American Literature vocabulary. The paragraph is due on
Friday. Use the back of this paper to write your paragraph.