| Mark Twain was the author of some of the greatest works of American English literature, |
| such as Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. |
| Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. |
| He used Mark Twain as his “pen name”. |
| Samuel Clemens was born in the American state of Missouri in 1835. |
| As a child he enjoyed many outdoor activities, such as swimming and fishing. |
| When Samuel was eleven years old, his father died, |
| and he began working to help support his family. |
| As a young man, Samuel Clemens began to write stories for newspapers. |
| However, he took a job working as a navigator on the steamboats that travelled up and down the Mississippi River. |
| Clemens greatly enjoyed this period of his life, |
| during which time he gained much knowledge about life on the river. |
| He also learned much about human behavior by observing the many people on the boats |
| and along the river. |
| It was as a result of this time that Clemens began using his pen name, Mark Twain. |
| This name is taken from a term that was used by the men who worked on the river. |
| It is used to describe water that is just deep enough to be navigated safely. |
| The earliest of Mark Twain’s really famous novels was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. |
| This novel describes a boy who engages in much mischief, but who has a kind heart. |
| The story contains several scenes that are quite funny. |
| In one of these, Tom’s working at the boring task of painting a fence. |
| He persuades several other boys to help him, |
| by pretending that painting the fence is a fun and enjoyable activity. |
| Another famous novel by Mark Twain was Life on the Mississippi. |
| This book describes many interesting characters similar to those that Twain actually observed while working on a steamboat. |
| This story gives the reader a vivid image of the people who lived and worked along the Mississippi River. |
| Probably the best novel by Mark Twain was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. |
| This novel tells the story of a boy who runs away from his violent father. |
| The boy, whose name is Huckleberry Finn, is joined in his escape by a man named Jim. |
| Jim is a slave who has decided to run away from his owners. |
| Huck and Jim travel north along the Mississippi, hoping to reach the areas where slavery is not allowed. |
| In this story, the reader can experience the moral sense of Huckleberry, |
| who must make several important decisions during the escape. |
| Mark Twain died in 1910, after writing many more novels |
| and many stories of his travels around the world. |
| Twain’s works are still widely read today. |
| His books are appreciated for their humor, |
| for their interesting descriptions of life in nineteenth century America, |
| and for showing both the good and evil that people can do. |
| Many critics consider Twain to have been the greatest American writer. |
