The story that I will be reflecting over is "Two Ways of Seeing a River" but Mark Twain. Mark Twain is a very well known author, especially for his book
he Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is in general about a man who has worked on the river basically all his life. At first he absolutely loved the river and everything about it. In the story he even says, "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river!" (Twain) describing the beauty it truly has. His job on the boat was to be a river boat pilot. This job is very important for the running of a good system of transporting on the waters. The main character has started to realize that the job he has is very dangerous. He begins to reflect on the dangers of what he does and how much he has been putting at risk. He says in the story, "that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody's steamboat one of these nights" (Twain) Here is where he displays how he is looking out and sees this reef and reflects that that very reef could kill someone. He continued to look around and describe things in nature that could kill him or his fellow boaters. This is like Emerson because not only the impeccable use of detail but they both use nature a lot in their stories. They bring life and voice to things that can't speak for themselves, theoretically that it. The story then continues to talk about how he believe the river has lost its beauty to him. In the story he says, "No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat." (Twain) Here is where you realize that all his compassion for the river has left and he doesn't believe that it is a good place to be anymore. Mark Twain writes a lot about truth and things that are real. A literary critic said "Those novels contain the hallmarks for which Twain continues to be revered: honesty, truth, the use of the plain vernacular of the ordinary American, humor, and above all, a genius for telling a story." (Werlock) about Mark Twain. This idea of truth and honesty in his writing is like Thoreau because he wrote many things about facts and what is going on in the time. The truth of both of their writing make them good writers.
Twain, Mark. "Two Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark Twain." About.com Grammar & Composition. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.
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Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Twain, Mark." The Facts On File Companion to the American Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CANov0896&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 1, 2012).
Are you a complete moron or were you just misinformed on what Mark Twain was writing about? Twain wasn't writing a story about some man looking out for his fellow pilots. Did you even read the essay? He tells the reader how advanced our civilization has become, and that if we continue down this path we'll lose what is most important. The reason he describes certain elements of nature is to show what the typical person of that society would see. He informs the reader that although viewing nature and life by analyzing it is a good thing, but to not forget about seeing it as a whole. This essay can be directly related to the quote, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Not only that, but can also be directly related to Henry David Thoreau's, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For." For future references, you should learn how to properly read and analyze essays, and not begin reading something as if it's a short story, just because it was written by an author who is known for writing one great fictional story. Do some research, reread, and look into the authors history. Also, proofread, saying your grammar is terrible would be an understatement to say the least.
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