http://www.thoughtaudio.com/titlelist/TA0051-JumpingFrog/index.html
• “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County” was Twain’s first
successful short story, published in a
magazine the Saturday Press in
1865.
• Established Twain as a new leading
American humorist.
Tall Tale
• A humorous story that includes actions by
a character that are impossible (or at least
not realistic).
– In American literature, tall tales were generally
a part of the frontier literature genre: Paul
Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Davy Crockett, John
Henry were tall tales.
– Uses HYPERBOLE (exaggeration).
Story-within-a-story
• a narrative (storytelling) structure
wherein one story contains the telling
of another story
• also known as (a.k.a.) a “frame” or
“envelope” narrative
Story-within-a-story
• “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County” is a storywithin-a-story.
• GROUP TASK:
–Explain the outside frame/envelope
story.
–Explain the inside story-within-astory
Story-within-a-story
• “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a
story-within-a-story.
– STARTS WITH OUTSIDE FRAME/ENVELOPE STORY: The
narrator tells a story about the time he was sent by a friend of his
to meet a man named Simon Wheeler in order to find out about a
man named Rev. Leonidis Smiley. The narrator finds Wheeler in
a bar in the mining town Angel’s Camp. Wheeler does not know
a Reverend Leonidis Smiley, but he does know a Jim Smiley.
– SWITCHES TO INSIDE STORY-WITHIN-A-STORY: During this
meeting, Wheeler tells the narrator (Twain) a long story about
Jim Smiley, which includes the story of the jumping frog.
– RETURNS TO OUTSIDE FRAME/ENVELOPE STORY: Wheeler
is called away and the narrator manages to escape more stories
from Wheeler.
Follow up questions (group discussion):
1.
2.
3.
4.
Realism is known for representing everyday life. Using
the Realism handout, describe how the basic tenets of
realism are reflected in “Jumping Frog.”
Drawing from the documentary about Mark Twain (use
your film notes), how is “Jumping Frog” related to his
own life and experiences?
How does Twain’s use of dialect contribute to the
story?
What devices does Twain use in “Jumping Frog” to
convey humor? Cite two comic passages in the story
and explain how and why they are humorous.
Follow up assignment (homework):
•
Draw a diagram or other visual representation of
this story that shows the relationship between the
outside (frame/envelope) story and the storywithin-a-story.
•
•
•
Use words and images.
Include the characters and what they do.
Include representations of the important elements of the
story.
Grading (20 points):
•
1-18 points for effective and accurate representation of
the story-within-a-story and characters.
•
2 point for creativity and effort.
• The following are examples of diagrams done by
students in previous years’ classes that are good
models for this assignment.
• Do not copy these concepts (come up with one
of your own), but notice how they represent the
outside and inside stories (“envelope narrative”
and “frame narrative”) in different ways. They
also include quite a bit of detail and show good
effort.