The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
-by Mark Twain
Background knowledge
What do you know about the
author Mark Twain?
On Nov. 30, 1835, Samuel Langhorne
Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri.
Born the same day that Halley’s Comet was
visible in the night sky
4 years later his family moved to
Hannibal, Missouri.
Where is Missouri?
Where is Hannibal?
When Samuel was 12, his
father died of
pneumonia.
At 13, Samuel left school
to become a printer's
apprentice.
After two short years, he
joined his brother
Orion's newspaper as a
printer and editorial
assistant. It was here that
young Samuel found he
enjoyed writing.
Mark Twain’s boyhood home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zd1FqJN6A
http://earthcam.com/marktwain/#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0fhh2p_NUY
At 17, he left Hannibal
behind for a printer's job
in St. Louis. While in St.
Louis, Clemens became a
river pilot's apprentice.
He became a licensed
river pilot in 1858.
Clemens' pseudonym, Mark Twain, comes from his days as
a river pilot. It is a river term which means two fathoms or
12-feet when the depth of water for a boat is being sounded.
"Mark twain" means that is safe to navigate.
Because the river trade was brought
to a stand still by the Civil War in
1861, Clemens began working as a
newspaper reporter for several
newspapers all over the United
States.
In 1870, Clemens married Olivia
Langdon, and they had four children,
one of whom died in infancy and two
who died in their twenties.
Their surviving child, Clara, lived to
be 88, and had one daughter.
Clara's daughter died without having
any children, so there are no direct
descendants of Samuel Clemens
living.
Twain began to gain
fame when his story,
"The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of
Calavaras County"
appeared in the New
York Saturday Press on
November 18, 1865.
Twain's first book, The Innocents Abroad, was
published in 1869.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885.
He wrote 28 books and numerous short stories,
letters and sketches.
http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/index.html
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
When does the book take place?
1830-1840
What significant event came
after this time period? (20 years)
Civil War
The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer
What does Antebellum mean?
Ante = before
Bellum = war
Did you know?
In the years before the Civil War (1861–1865),
Missouri and other southern states allowed slavery.
Enslaved African Americans were a common sight in
Mark Twain’s boyhood home of Hannibal. However,
even though many people in Missouri were
immigrants from southern states and supporters of
slavery, many others opposed it. Missourians’ mixed
feelings about slavery prevented the state from
joining other slaveholding states in the Confederacy
and made Missouri a battleground during the Civil
War.
Language/ Dialect = Change Over Time
What is dialect?
a particular form of a language that is
peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Language
Some language in the book is not
appropriate for modern-day audiences. (It wasn’t
really appropriate then either, but it was more commonly used.) At NO time
should I hear ANYONE using this
language in or out of class.
The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
What was life like back
then?
Imagine Winston Salem
in the 1800s. Do you
think your life would be
the same?
Tom Sawyer Rules
Arrive to class with your Tom Sawyer book
EVERYDAY.
Stay up-to-date with your Tom Sawyer Portfolio.
Save all of your answers because you will use it as a
study guide at the end of the unit!
Constantly use your vocabulary preview as a guide
when reading Tom Sawyer.
Be prepared for pop quizzes on the previous night’s
reading assignment.
Tom Sawyer Rules Continued
You have NO EXCUSE if you forget your book at
school. There is a copy of the book on my website!!!
If you like to LISTEN while you READ, iTunes has a
free copy of the story that you can download.
It’s so simple!! Just go to the iTunes store and search
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and it should pop right
up!