马克吐温的生平作品以及其在美国文学史上的地位.doc

马克吐温的生平作品以及其在美国文学史上的地位 Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations. Clemens was a well known author in the United States, a popular comedian and monologist, and friend to presidents, artists, leading industrialists, and European royalty. Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been called a Great American Novel.[4] Clemens enjoyed immense public popularity and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain the father of American literature.[5] Youth Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, to Tennessee country merchant, John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 - March 24, 1847), and Jane Lampton Clemens (June 18, 1803 - October 27, 1890).[6] He was the sixth of John and Janes seven children. Only two of his siblings survived childhood, his brother Orion Clemens (July 17, 1825 - December 11, 1897 and sister Pamela (September 19, 1827 - August 31, 1904). His sister Margaret (May 31, 1830 - August 17, 1839) died when he was four years old, and his brother Benjamin (June 8, 1832 - May 12, 1842) died three years later. Another older brother, Pleasant (1828 - 1829), only lived three months before Samuel was born. In addition to his older siblings, Samuel had one younger brother, Henry Clemens (July 13, 1838 - June 21, 1858). [7] When Samuel was four, his family moved to Hannibal,[8] a port town on the Mississippi River that would serve as the inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.[9] At that time, Missouri was a slave state in the union and young Samuel became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he la