Mark Twain is a central figure in American literature.his finest work, is the story of a journey down the Mississippi by two memorable figures, a white boy and a black slave. Twain was born Samuel Lang-home Clemens in 1835 and was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspa­per reporter, printer, and gold prospector. Although his popu­lar image is as the author of such comic works asandTwain had a darker side that may have resulted from the bitter experiences of his life: financial failure and the deaths of his wife and daughter. His last writings are savage, satiric, and pessimistic. The following selection is taken fromone of his last work It has been under the titlebeen printed in numerous anthologies of essays.

Mark Twain Mark Twain is a central figure in American literature. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his finest work, is the story of a journey down the Mississippi by two memorable figures, a white boy and a black slave. Twain was born Samuel Lang-home Clemens in 1835 and was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspa­per reporter, printer, and gold prospector. Although his popu­lar image is as the author of such comic works as The Adven­tures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Prince and the Pauper, Twain had a darker side that may have resulted from the bitter experiences of his life: financial failure and the deaths of his wife and daughter. His last writings are savage, satiric, and pessimistic. The following selection is taken from Letters from the Earth, one of his last work It has been under the title Damned Human Race been printed in numerous anthologies of essays. Mark Twain is a central figure in American literature.his finest work, is the story of a journey down the Mississippi by two memorable figures, a white boy and a black slave. Twain was born Samuel Lang-home Clemens in 1835 and was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspa­per reporter, printer, and gold prospector. Although his popu­lar image is as the author of such comic works asandTwain had a darker side that may have resulted from the bitter experiences of his life: financial failure and the deaths of his wife and daughter. His last writings are savage, satiric, and pessimistic. The following selection is taken fromone of his last work It has been under the titlebeen printed in numerous anthologies of essays.