Mark twain: father of american literature

1. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. One of the important figures in American literary history, Twain holds a unique position in American literature. He was not only a writer; he was also a famous humorist, a journalist who satirized the hypocrisy of man and society, and a novelist who used laughter to fight against the tyranny.

2. He was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, but he grew up in Hannibal on the Mississippi River, where his family had moved when he was four years old. To the Indians, the Mississippi had been the “Father of waters”. To the people of Hannibal it was a broad highway which brought in goods and visitors, and to boys it was excitement. Every boy in Hannibal dreamed of becoming a pilot on a river steamboat.

3. In 1847, the death of Sam’s father brought an end to his carefree days, he had to leave school and to go to work at the age of 12 as an apprentice to a printer. He completed his apprenticeship at the age of 15 and went to work as a printer for his brother Orion, publisher of the Hannibal Journal. But the lure of the Mississippi was too strong, and at the age of 21, Sam returned to the river to realize an old ambition to be a Mississippi riverboat pilot. Mark Twain always thought that his days on the Mississippi were the happiest in his life. While he was steaming up and down the Mississippi Sam was reading much and it led him eventually to writing.

4. In 1861, the Civil War disrupted Mississippi river traffic and ended Sam Clemens’ career as a steamboat pilot. His career as Mark Twain, the writer, was about to begin. Orion, his brother had got a new job in Nevada and had asked Sam to accompany him to his new job. Sam spent a year prospecting for gold in Nevada but he met only with failure. He started to write. Nevada’s leading newspaper printed several of his colourful and humorous sketches of gold prospectors’ life and finally offered him a job as an editor. When he became a reporter in the Far West, he chose the name Mark Twain for a pen name. It was a term from his days on the steamboat and it meant “a depth of two fathoms – clear passage”. Water two fathoms deep was safe for the riverboats.

5. He traveled much throughout the East and Midwest as a journeyman printer. In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon, the only daughter of a wealthy businessman. In a year they moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where Twain had built a big house with the money which he had earned by his literary work. It was in Hartford that Twain wrote his two masterpieces, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). These books are filled with concrete details which he had observed and remembered. All of Twain’s books are molded from the clay of his past; in most of them he is the hero.

6. Although he published his first story at seventeen and wrote professionally for over forty years, Mark Twain’s fame as an author rests mainly in his work between 1872 and 1889, the happiest and the most productive period of his life. By the turn of the 20^th century, he was one of the best-known public figures in the United States, and world-famous as well.

7. On April 21, 1910, while Halley’s Comet, which had ushered in his birth 74 years earlier, flashed across the night sky, Samuel Langhorne Clemens died. Shortly before his death, he wrote to his friend: “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.” Mark Twain left his mark upon American literature. Many countries have translated and published his books in their languages. They are well-known all over the world.

Задание 2 Заполните таблицу, распределив слова из текста на 4 группы (части речи). Переведите слова на русский язык. Употребите подчеркнутые слова в ваших собственных предложениях.

существительные	прилагательные	глаголы	наречия
	literary

Literary, humorist, printer, a novelist, famous, earn fame, figure, expect, society, pen-name, wealthy, unique, colourful, masterpiece, public, shortly, failure, well-known, eventually, editor, excitement, carefree, professionally, laughter, publisher, humorous, productive, ambition, reporter, rest, best-known, hypocrisy, world-famous, realize, satirize.

Задание 3 Найдите в тексте предложения со следующими выражениями. Составьте к ним специальные вопросы.

1/ satirized the hypocrisy 2/ disrupted the Mississippi river;

3/ became a reporter 4/ published his first novel…

5/ dreamed of becoming a pilot

Задание 4 Определите, верны (В) или неверны (Н) следующие утверждения в соответствии с текстом.

1. He was only known as a famous writer.

2. Mark Twain was born and raised in Hannibal.

3. At the age of 21 he realized his ambition and became a printer for his brother.

4. Mark Twain tried to prospect gold and was rather unsuccessful.

5. He had been working most productively since 1872 till 1889.

6. Olivia’s father, a wealthy businessman built a big house for Mark Twain.

7. Halley’s Comet was rather symbolic for Mark Twain.

Задание 5 Найдите ответы на следующие вопросы.

1. What was the real name of Mark Twain?

2. Did he write novels or detective stories?

3. Why did every boy in Hanibal dream of becoming a pilot on a river boat?

4. Did Samuel like reading when he worked on a steamboat?

5. What was the name of Samuel’s elder brother?

6. What was the name of the newspaper which gave him a job of an editor?

7. What does his pen name mean?

8. Was Mark Twain a traveler?

9. How old was Mark Twain when his first story was published?

10. What did he write in his books about?

Задание 6 Заполните пропуски в предложениях соответствующим по смыслу модальными глаголами. (must, could, have to, can, should, need to). Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. All young people … learn foreign languages nowadays because they are socially demanded.

2. If you speak and read foreign languages, you … learn the culture and history of the native speakers.

3. At the end of the 14^th century Italian booksellers … publish books even before the invention of printing.

4. This book is a very rare edition. It … to be kept carefully.

5. The scientists … not find out the exact date of birth of Ivan Fyodorov, the first Russian book printer.

6. It’s not allowed to take this book home from the library. You … to study it in the reading hall.

7. As a popular author of some best-sellers I … to deal with publishers quite often.

8. Good morning! What … I do for you?

9. The students don’t study on Sundays. So you … to go to university tomorrow. It’ll be Sunday.

10. Everybody in the world … buy a book from our bookstore online.

Задание 7 Переведите следующие предложения из прямой речи в косвенную.

1. My father said: “I have worked as an editor for 15 years.”

2. The professor warned us: “Don’t cheat at the exam. Make your own answers.”

3. The librarian asked us: “When are you going to borrow the books from the library?”

4. My father ordered: “You must come back home not later than 10 p.m.”

5. The journalist asked us: “What American writers of the 19^th century do you know?”

6. The teacher said: “Tim, your composition is the best!”

7. The teacher said: “This famous designer was born in Wales.”

8. The author asked his colleague: “When are you going to issue your new novel?”

9. L. Tolstoy said: “All families are happy in the same way.”

10. “A new exhibition has been opened in our picture gallery” – mother said.

Задание 8 Выучите 50 слов по теме “Jobs and careers”.

Задание 9 Составьте рассказ “My job” или “My career” (20-25 предложений)

Задание 10 Подберите текст для дополнительного чтения (10 тысяч знаков) и выполните соответствующие задания (см. контр. работу №1, вариант I):