Imitation of Author's Works

Mark Twain, also known as Samuel Clemens, had a wide range of writing styles such as his characters, settings, and his tone. In Twain’s novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn he had the characters speak almost as if they were real, with Twain going so far to mirror the local dialect of the people along the Mississippi River. Including this much level of detail gives the readers the feeling as if they themselves are actually there alongside Huck Finn, Jim, and Tom Sawyer. Clemens was also able to include a great sense of irony even going so far as to go against the racial and social normalities at the time by having the character Jim who is black be respected by Huckleberry which back in the 1800s was very commonly frowned upon. One final thing that Twain was known for in his writing was how he would describe the settings to make the audience be able to picture exactly where the drug store or courthouse was for example. All of these qualities make Clemens writing so well known and why readers still find his work enjoyable today after almost 200 years.

 

    Huckleberry Jenkins had just gotten back into the town of Whitewash, MS from a day of playing swords and daggers. Huckleberry and his friends were at the secret treehouse down by the river pretending to be pirates looking for their own treasure which consisted of a whole $5. Huck had found the treasure first, which made the other boys quite grumpy, and was now walking down mainstreet past the courthouse, the church, and the saloon to stop by the drugstore that had a pack of chewing tobacco which every teenage boy was craving for. Huck was average height for a 12 year old boy with dark blonde hair that other than Sundays was in a complete mess. His daily outfit consisted of overalls and a white shirt that his caregiver Ms. Willow Finch. As Huck was starting to get the money out the clerk said, “Aren’t you a little too young for chewin’ tobacco?” Huck replied, “Yes’um, it’s not for me but my caregiver’s slave. I even have a note to prove it.” Huckleberry pulled out the note that he forged earlier that day and gave it to the clerk. The clerk handed over the chewing tobacco which Huck eagerly grabbed. When Huck got home Ms. Finch was a waitin’ for him on the porch. In a stern voice said, “Huckleberry James Jenkins, what in the darn blazes are you doing out past supper time? Get in here, get your beating and go to bed without supper for being late five times this week.” Huck got his beating and went to bed in a very sour mood.

    The next morning Huck and his friends went down to their treehouse and Huck showed off his chewing tobacco. It was Huck's turn to hide his treasure of two pouches of tobacco. Huck had wandered off for quite a ways to an area he didn’t recognize thinking, “They’ll never find it here!” While Huck was digging he felt something hard so he started to dig around the object. Once the object was dug up he cleaned it off and realized it was an old chest. The lock on it had rusted off so Huck decided to open the chest. To his amazement he found over $100,000 worth of gold coins. Huck decided to not tell anyone about his discovery, hid the tobacco and ran back home on a back path. He then went back to the group and told them to go find the tobacco. As they were searching for the treasure Huck ran back home and hid the money under his bed pillows. Once he got back to the treehouse the other boys had been waiting for a few minutes because no one could find the treasure. Huck wanting to just get home to his newfound fortune said, “The treasure is about 2.5 miles north. There is a black flag hanging over the spot. I’m not feeling that well so I think I’m going to head home.” The other boys took off to go to the treasure while Huck ran home to count his find. When he reached the house Ms. Finch was standing at the doorway with a stern look across her face. She said, “Huck, do you have anything you would like to tell me about what’s in your room?” Huck knew that she must have found the coins and that if he lied to her he would be in big trouble, so he decided to tell the truth. Ms. Finch said, “Huckleberry I am proud of you for telling the truth, but we have to take this money down to the judge so that way he will keep it safe.” Huck agreed and Judge Hawthorne told Ms. Finch and Huck that he would set up an account for the money which is where the money still lies today for Huck’s grandchildren to look forward to inheriting.

   In the writing above I started off by introducing the main character and the town that is seated by the Mississippi River which Mark Twain had a fascination with since he worked as a steamboat captain along the Mississippi River for a few years. I made sure to describe the setting of the town’s layout just like Twain did in his novels listing what shops and buildings were down Main Street. For the topic I made sure to include elements of adventure and a discovery of big treasure which is similar to what happened in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. There is a sense of that old town feel with the houses being right off Main Street and children playing outside from morning until supper. For when the characters spoke I made sure to replicate what children would say to their elders like “yesum” and include what was very common in the day where children were to have a great sense of respect for their elders. I also included things that were common back in the 1800s like children chewing tobacco and a few things that were accepted back then but are now considered wrong or the culture has changed.