The Celebrated Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County

The Celebrated JumpingFrog of Calaveras countyMark Twain

Background Information*Published in 1865*First great success as a writer and brought him nationalattention*Original title: “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog”*This version was a further developed idea that was thenpublished as, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of the CalaverasCounty”

Summary Man from the East comes to a Western mining townNarrator speaks with Simon Wheeler-- Leonidas W. SmileyTall Tale about Jim SmileyBet on anything HorseDogFrogAfter the tall tales, narrator tries to escape thetedious tales.

The Stars of the short story Jim Smiley The Stranger Story tellerThe Narrator CheaterAntagonistSimon Wheeler Gambling manProtagonistEducated man from the EastTricked by his friendDan’l Webster Smiley’s Frog Andrew Jackson Smiley’s fighting dog“Fifteen-minute Nag” Smiley’s Mare

Setting and symbols Angel’s Mining CampIn CaliforniaMid 19th century**”I found Simon Wheeler dozingcomfortably by the barroom stove ofthe dilapidated tavern in thedecayed mining camp of Angel’s, andi noticed that he was fat and baldheaded, and had an expression ofwinning gentleness and simplicityupon his tranquil countenance.” Andrew Jackson the Dog- seventhpresidentDan’l Webster the Frog- senatorand Secretary of State

Conflicts The dog with no hinds legsThe stranger did not have a frog to bet on againstSmiley’s frogWhich frog out-jumped the other?Finding the Stranger

Main Ideas The main idea is how the frog jumpsThe celebration from Smiley after winning all of his betsHow Smiley never cheats

Theme and MEssageTheme: Cunning and Cleverness Jim Smiley is able to win because he isclever. The Narrator is conned by his friend tolisten to the talesCompetition Gambling Consistent bettingLies and Deceit Smiley’s animals look like nothingspecial, but deceives others because theyare more than the average animal Cheating strangerContrasting Regions Educated narrator from the East Uneducated characters in the mining camp Different word useage West love tales, East findpointlessMessages: Sometimes people fail becauseyou can’t always accomplishyour mission, and sometimes thehard work is rewarded.Equality for all AmericansSometimes cheating does getrewarded.

Point of view- Perspective First Person Narrator present the story of Jim Smiley told in Simon Wheeler’sdialectTwain uses to contrast between: East VS West Educated VS Uneducated Refined VS Coarse

ToneDisparaging and disbelieving--The narrator’s attitude toward the subject is disbeliefand annoyance.--Narrator is slightly mocking Simon Wheeler

Style and dictionStyle: Clever and Colloquial The narrator uses educateddiction to explain the storythat Wheeler told.Wheeler tells the tales usinghis uneducated dictionMark Twain creates fluentsentences with contrasting theEast and WestDiction:Twain uses Westerner tongue andEastern tongue to create the wordchoice for the short story.Western- “Thish-yer”, “foller”,“dangest feller”Eastern- “Garrulous”, “Barroom”,“dilapidated”

Author’s purpose and intended audiencePurpose: Twain wrote this to entertainRead out loud laughterFascinatingAudience: Tall tale fansGambling likersSomeone wanting a good laughEasterner or Westerner

Important Vocab and Quotes Feller- nonstandard spelling offellowGarrulous- excessivelytalkative, especially ontrivial mattersTedious- too long, slow, ordullFinesse- an attempt to win atrick with something that isnot a certain winGenius- exceptionallyintelligentEducation- receiving or givinginstruction and acquiringgeneral knowledge “.so from from his imaginingthat there was anythingridiculous or funny about hisstory, he regarded it as areally important matter, andadmired its two heroes as menof transcendent genius infinesse.”“Smiley was monstrous proud ofhis frog ”“I don’t see no p’ints aboutthat frog that’s any better’nany other frog.”“And then he see how it was,and he was the maddest man--heset the frog down and took outafter the feller, but he neverketched him.”

ReflectionI did enjoy this story. It was actually pretty funny andinteresting. At first, I was confused reading it, but then Istarted to analyze the story more and began to understandwhat all was happening. It also might have helped that Ilove frogs, but they were some pretty funny tall tales.

Work RepresentsRegionalism: Compares the West to the Eastthrough diction and word choiceShows contrast between personalbeliefs between the Narratorand WheelerNaturalism: Smiley uses the naturalabilities of each of theanimals and just perfects themand uses their strengthsagainst other animals.The Stranger believes allanimals to be equal; nonebetter than the other.

Similar WorksThe Fall of the Athenian EmpireGoldilocks & Three Bears Sb-ApovThe Holy BarbariansThe Little Locksmith

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras county Mark Twain . Background Information *Published in 1865 *First great success as a writer and brought him national attention *Original title: “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” .