by admin | Apr 27, 2025 | The Study
Originally posted by: Charline Jao on April 21, 2022 In “How to Tell a Story,” Mark Twain describes a distinctly American style of comedic delivery where what is said is less important than the way one says it: The humorous story is strictly a work of art—high and...
by admin | Apr 26, 2025 | 150 Years of Innocents Abroad
Originally posted by: Harold H. Hellwig on December 16, 2019 EDITOR’S NOTE: August of 2019 marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Mark Twain’s first book, The Innocents Abroad. We celebrate the occasion with a series of short essays by Twain scholars who...
by admin | Apr 26, 2025 | The Study
Originally posted by: Susan K. Harris on April 18, 2017 In his 1903 essay “Why Not Abolish It?,” Mark Twain argues that the age of consent for extramarital relations should be abolished for women. Twain’s underlying premises are that young women are not responsible...
by admin | Apr 26, 2025 | The Study
Originally posted by: Christopher Gilbert on July 5, 2021 A certain comic spirit, and perhaps more specifically a comic spirit of caricature, has long been caught up with U.S. cultural politics. From the “Join, or Die” provocation that appeared along with Benjamin...
by admin | Apr 26, 2025 | The Study
Originally posted by: Ellen Gruber Garvey on October 28, 2020 EDITOR’S NOTE: For more on the intersections of U.S. literature, politics, & 19th-century scrapbooks, please check out Prof. Garvey’s blog, Scrapbook History. As the November 3, 2020 election...