Huck+Finn+Film+Comments

02/16/09 Make a comment about today's film. Consider the tragedies in Twain's life. You might want to comment on his type of humor. You might also want to write about his "dual" personalities: the "roughing it" Mark Twain vs. the "civilized" Sam Clemens. Or perhaps you want to talk about "Aunt Rachel" (Maryann Cord), whose story about her "d--n blubbering" and "lil' Henry" brought Twain to the remember just how important the spoken word was to him and his success.


 * 1) I thought the movie was very interesting. The part about Aunt Rachel was pretty sweet because of how much of a coincidence it must have been. I learned that Twain was a fighter and didn't give up even when some of his children died. He continued writing, doing things with his family, and being a symbol of the United States. ([|Caron])
 * 2) I thought Twain did a good bit of rebounding. Even with the deaths and hardships he was being faced with he seemed to stay, interestingly, calm. Telling his children stories off the cuff and writing a memoir of his servant's life are good examples of his calm nature. (Kyle )
 * 3) Today's movie really showed Mark Twain in a new light. He was both a hard worker and a family man. We were shown his rough, ragged steamboatman personality and the calm, gentle dad telling stories to his daughters. Twain was a lover of stories and an excellent storyteller, his best sellers were just stories he had heard and lived throughout his life. We were able to see the tragedy that surrounded Twain's life that turned him into the older more cynical man. The movie showed the real Samuel Clemmens, not the romanticized Mark Twain. (Shelby K.)
 * 4) Mark Twain had many different jobs and personalities through out his life. We see him as a loving dad to his daughters, as a writer living out in the west and as a rough and rigid steamboat man. He was a great story-teller, whether reading some of his own stories or ones written by other people. As he grew older his life spiralled downward after many tragic deaths hit his life. (Meghan!)
 * 5) Understanding the life of an author always deepens my understanding of that author's writing. Usually, life experience influences the who, what, when, where and, why's in the stories. Obviously, the Mississippi had a huge impact on Twain. Other things that struck me about him was that even though morally he wasn't the best person, he knew it and achieved greatness despite that. (Amy A.)
 * 6) I enjoyed the Mark Twain film, i liked how it portrayed him as a common man. I believe thats what made him such a great writer, he wrote using Americas common themes and interests as well as common Southern American Dialect and speech, because everyone knows you can't have a good southern book with a Yankee dialect. how ever i unfortunately found the film itself long and boring in some parts, however that was its only major pitfall (Kevin L)
 * 7) It was intersting finding out about Aunt Rachel's life. How she lost her family and had to keep living despite her heartache. I can see how her story would touch Twain since it has such a big impact. (alex j)
 * 8) It was interesting how Mark Twain finds his humor after the tragedy of his borther's death. He says humor could only be found after sorrow and that in heaven there would be no laugher because there is no saddness. Also, not everyone appriciated his low humor but it was one of the many reasons why Twain was a writer ahead of his time. (Tony)
 * 9) I thought that this film gave great insight into Mark Twain's personal life and his childhood. It also showed the huge impact of the Mississippi on Mark Twain, and the lasting effects of it on him and his writing. It was also very interesting to find out about Aunt Rachel and her life story. (((Parker)))
 * 10) The film basically reviewd the novel but in different people's opinions and it described how certain events in the novel changed American history and literature forever. The opinions of many different people and his or her various points of view really showed me how there are many ways to interpret the novel and the words used in it. (A.J.)
 * 11) The film showed me the real Mark Twain. It taught me that he got his pen name from a steamboat term Mark Twain which means safe waters or dangerous waters. The movie also taught me that that is how Mark Twain saw himself, as being safe one minute and dangerous the next. (Taylor)