American Literature Author Bio-Worksheet: Twain

Mr. Dawursk

Samuel Taylor Clemens, 1835-_________, was an American writer, journalist and _______________, who won a worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Clemens was born on ___________________ in Florida, _____________, of a Virginian family. He was brought up in ______________, Missouri. After his father's death in 1847, he was apprenticed to a printer and wrote for his brother's newspaper. He later worked as a licensed Mississippi ____________ pilot. The Civil War put an end to the steamboat traffic and Clemens moved to Virginia City, where he edited the Territorial Enterprise. On ___________________, 'Mark Twain' was born when Clemens signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym.

In 1864, Twain left for California, and worked in San Francisco as a reporter. He visited ________________ as a correspondent for The Sacramento Union, publishing letters on his trip and giving lectures. He set out on a world tour, traveling in France and Italy. His experiences were recorded in 1869 in _________________________________, which gained him wide popularity, and poked fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.

The success as a writer gave Twain enough financial security to marry Olivia Langdon in __________. They moved next year to Hartford. Twain continued to lecture in the United States and England. Between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces, ____________________ (1881) and The Prince and the Pauper (1881). Life on the Mississippi appeared in 1883 and Huckleberry Finn in ___________.

In the 1890s Twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and in the failure of his own publishing firm. To recover from the bankruptcy, he started a world lecture tour, during which one of his daughters _________. Twain toured New Zealand, Australia, India, and South Africa. He wrote such books as The Tragedy Of Pudd'head Wilson (1884), Personal Recollections Of Joan Of Arc (1885), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and the travel book Following The Equator (1897). During his long writing career, Twain also produced a considerable number of essays.

The death of his wife and his second daughter ________________ the author's later years, which is seen in his posthumously published autobiography (1924). Twain died on ________________________.

WORKSHEET TEXT taken from: http://www.online-literature.com/twain/