Mark Twain's Short Stories and Essays
| Mark Twain: Background, Criticism, and E-Texts | | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | | The Prince and the Pauper | | Roughing It |
Short Stories by Mark Twain
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Lesson plans and classroom activities related to this story.
"The Christmas Fireside (for Good Little Boys and Girls)"
Introductory material and text of the story, subtitled "The Story of the Bad Little Boy That Bore a Charmed Life." Available in PDF and Google Docs formats.
"A Dog's Tale"
Introductory material and text of the story, which opposes experimentation with live animals. Available in PDF and Google Docs formats.
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"
Text of the essay. (Satire.)
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"
Text of the essay with pictures and links to other selections by Twain. (Satire.)
"How I Edited an Agricultural Paper"
Follow the links to listen to an audio file OR to listen and read at the same time.
"How the Chimney-Sweep Got the Ear of the Emperor"
Text via Google Books.
"Hunting the Deceitful Turkey"
Introductory material and text of the story. Available in PDF and Google Docs formats.
"Jim Baker's Blue-Jay Yarn"
Introduction and text of the story.
Birds of a Feather
This lesson, which features Mark Twain's "Jim Baker's Blue-Jay Yarn," is part of an interdisciplinary unit on birds that contains math/science and language arts components. In the language arts wing, students will explore dialects and personification through this very entertaining tall tale full of the antics of talking blue-jays. Lesson includes a copy of the story. It is designed for 7th grade.
"The Invalid's Story"
Text of the story.
"The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg"
Online text of the story.
"The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" Study Guide
Broad overview of the story, including a list of characters, plot summary, themes, figures of speech, allusions, and 6 questions for discussion/writing. Includes a link to the text of the story, downloadable in multiple formats.
"On the Decay of the Art of Lying"
Follow the links to listen to an audio file OR to listen and read at the same time.
"A Presidential Candidate"
Twain decides to run for Presiden, but first, to thwart his opponents, he confesses "in advance to all the wickedness I have done."
"Queen Victoria's Jubilee"
Introductory material and text of both articles. Available in PDF and Google Docs formats. (Nonfiction/informational text.)
"Running for Governor"
Introduction and text of the story in PDF and Google docs formats.
"A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It"
Text of the story.
"The War Prayer"
Lesson plans for irony and satire, vocabulary, reading questions, more.