Web Bibliography of
Mark Twain
By Melissa Fleming
Mark Twain is one of most celebrated authors of all times. Seeing that I am going to be an English teacher, and I am sure at least once in my career I will be teaching a Twain book, or referencing in some way, I have come up with some of the best web sites that detail his time, life, books, and other fun sties I found. They are a mix for students, teachers of all content areas, and for the everyday person. Enjoy!
Mark Twain
& His Life
Mark Twain – A Look at the Life and Works of Samuel Clemens – This by far is the best site I found about Mark Twain. It goes into great detail with each link that you enter, gives a great biography, and shows a lot of his works. There are interactive programs that will be useful, ideal for a history or language arts class. Important links that are not usually found on Twain websites, such as daily quotes, Twain for handhelds, and thesis paper information are different and could be useful. Date visited – 9/27/03. http://www.hannibal.net/twain/
Mark Twain on PBS – PBS has put
together such a magnificent site up about Mark Twain. It is done in such an ingenious way in the
use of a scrapbook, that it would be ideal for use in a power point
presentation. Easy to navigate through
it gives you some interesting facts that I believe you could not find anywhere
else. It is like an extremely detailed
timeline of his life that is fun to read.
Graphics are wonderful. Date
visited –
Mark Twain – Highlights – Great
website for teachers. Tons of
information, including a section for teachers and gives some lesson plans,
study guide questions, and a good discussion board. Filled with yet more information that I did
not see on other web sites, including essays, criticisms, and collectables. Great links to other websites, and easy to
navigate through. Ignore the ads, and
surf away! Date visited –
Mark Twain in His
Times – An archive that was built from the Barrett Collection, this site
gives you hundreds of images, manuscripts, and articles, and is simply laid out
for easy navigation. Gives you
information about Twain on stage, and a fun memory game that your students
could play. Date visited –
Mark Twain Quotations, Newspaper Collections
& Related Sources – Name a quote, they more than likely have it on this
page! Great quotes for adding to any
Twain homework, website, or newsletter.
The special features and newspaper articles give you a look at Mark
Twain through other people eyes, and their reviews or criticisms about him, or
how we affected our literature culture.
Very simple site with a ton of information. Date visited –
http://www.twainquotes.com/
Mark Twain Literature: Classic
- Great site if you are trying to find out different things about Twain. Does take time to go through each link, but
they send you to some informative sites that give you such a different look of
Twain. You can see illustrations,
impersonators, and collectables. Great
centralized location of many likes that could get you to the information you
are looking for. Date visited –
Mark Twain in Cyberspace - This web
page is more personal than a lot that I have found, but if you were in the area
of this gentleman then it might be a fun page to explore. Explores the Mark Twain musical, his
connection with
About Mark Twain – Great
summaries of Twain’s stories on this page.
Love this site because as you are reading through if you have a question
about something that is highlighted, when you click on the name it will take
you to another page and give you an explanation of that term. Good category to publication dates if you are
trying to find out when a story was published.
Also has a wonderful timeline showing great detail. Date visited – 9/27/03. http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/
Mark Twain – Biography, Background,
and Criticism – Great collection of different Twain sites. Gives much of the same information that is
found on many other web sites, but when you get down to the book section, has
many links to different sites that only concentrate on that story, and gives
many different perspectives. I found
this much easier to navigate through than the one at about.com, even though
that one did have more information and different links. Date visited
Mark Twain –
Today in Literature – Very simple page if you would want you students to
look up something particular on Twain. I
would point them more to this site for the Life Stories section which has some
interesting articles that students could use for a research paper. Articles are insightful, and give good
detail. Date visited
http://www.todayinliterature.com/biography/mark.twain.asp
The Mark Twain
House – For a teacher that would like to show were Twain had a residence in
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/manandhishouse/phototour/
Mark Twain Books
Mark Twain – Tom Sawyer – Besides having the book
online, gives great detail of other parts that you many not pick up on. The plot overview, characters, character
analysis, and themes are so well put together, and could really aid in a
student reading it. Great for a research
paper, and would help in their reading of the story with all the extras. Date visited
Mark Twain – Huck Finn – From the same site as
above, has all the same qualities that I think make for a great site. Besides again the story and such, has study
questions, facts, quotes, and quizzes.
This would do more than just tell the story, but prepare them for what
the teacher might have in store. Date
visited
Mark Twain – Roughing It – Gives some great
background information. The section of
his letter shows some of the frustrations he had while writing the book. Gives you maps, illustrations, and how the
book was publicized and marketed, which was neat. Going to each link gave you even more links to
follow, and made for a very informative website that students could get a ton
of information about this book from. Date visited
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/roughingit/rihp.html
Mark Twain – Prince and the Pauper – Very simple
site that gives the book online. I like
web sites that give more information than just the book. This site has a preface, conclusion, and
notes that will help benefit students. Date
visited
http://www.americanliterature.com/PP/PPINDX.HTML
Mark Twain Works On-Line –
Simple site that gives most of Twain’s work online. Nice they are all on one page instead of
looking up each one individually.
Looking up all those stories on-by-one would be tedious. Date visited –
Mark
Twain – Books On-line – Amazing the collection that this web site has. Each website I have found, each has some
works where others don’t, but this one does not disappoint. Again nice to have all on one page, instead
of looking up one at a time. Gives you
the open of how you want to download the story, which gives people
options. Date Visited
The
Complete Works of Mark Twain – More for the short stories and essays. Gives again a lot of the same works that
other sites give, but for those hard to find stories I found them here on this
page. Nice layout with everything on
page, so it is easy to navigate. Date
visited
Mark Twain Lesson Plans
Mark Twain
& the American West – This is a lesson explaining how Samuel Clemens
became to be known as Mark Twain, and how his adventures in the west helped
shape the public’s perception of the west.
Student’s will be reading Roughing It and watching a PBS special of
Twain to better understand the assignment.
Great lesson that integrates reading with history of the West. Lesson is quite detailed, easy to follow. and
would be a great learning experience.
Date visited – 9/27/03. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/lesson_plans/lesson02.htm
Mark Twain – Huck Finn in Context – While reading
Huck Finn, teachers will be able to
introduce this PBS special that examines the way that Huck Finn has said to be a racist, and how this American classic
had been banned by many. Deals with
sensitive issues, and show them how theme, setting, and character development
all shape the way on how people read the book.
Gives you many options of final projects you can do according to how you
steer the assignment. Date visited –
9/27/03. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/
Mark Twain & American
Humor – Great lesson that shows how Twain introduced humor into his
stories, at a time where he wanted to considered a “serious” story teller. Spans many content areas with this lesson,
including English, history, and art & culture. Able to take a look at Twain’s famous short
story Jumping Frog, and compare it
other humorists of this tie, and compare and contrast. At the end of the page is a place where if
you would like to continue the lesson they give you more ideas. Date visited –
Mark
Twain’s Hannibal – Looks at how
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/99/twain/intro.html
Mark Twain Miscellaneous
Mark Twain as Life Saw Him – Life celebrated Twain
in many ways, and he was sited in their magazine quite a few times. The illustrations are very creative, and each
give a little exert of why he was in that issue, and the date. Gives some brief background information about
Life, but what I love most about this site was the illustrations, they are so
detailed. Date visited
Mark
Twain’s Hometown Hannibal – Twain’s hometown website. Gives a very detailed description, and of
course mentions Twain, and his influence on the town. Would be good to show students so they could
see where Twain grew up, and how they still celebrate his life. Under the visitors guide category it gave
some cute links to different spots that were used in Twain’s books, and other
personal information. Date visited
Mark Twain’s Cave – Great for a field
trip to the cave. The photos are excellent,
good background information, and would be ideal for a teacher trying to plan a
trip there. Simple to navigate, and kids
would like the bats…have to please them!
Date visited
Mark Twain National
Forest – Based out of Ozarks, Mark Twain even has a forest named after
him. For teachers that might want to
take a nature walk, this will be ideal for them for information. Nothing really to do with Mark Twain, but I
thought it would be a fun site to see just how influential Twain was on our
society. Gives a history, recreation
information, and detailed maps for hikers.
Date visited
Mark Twain Movie Data Base - Though
this would be a fun site if you would like to see just which stories have been
made into pop culture. From classic
movies, so what you see on T.V., gives a very detailed listing of what is out
there. Good for the student that may
want to watch a movie and compare notes, or is writing a paper. Date visited –
Calaveras
County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee – This is a fun web site that shows
just how this festival is now celebrated every year due to Mr. Twain’s short
story. Has a link to the story, and
gives details of the celebration and the frog jumping contest. A fun site for younger students if you read
this story to them. Date visited
–