Charles Dickens and Mark Twain

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Charles Dickens is considered to be one of the greatest English novelists of the Victorian period and how Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was an American writer, journalist and humorist. It looks at how Dickens's works are characterized by attacks on social ills, prejudice and insincerity and how Twain's stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn won a widespread audience. It attempts to show how despite the differences above, the two world authors contain many parallels and differences in their respective lives, novels, characters, and faith.

From the Paper:

"Dickens and Twain both led lives with their own trials and tribulations, yet they both turned out to be two of the greatest authors in the 19th Century. Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father, John Dickens, was a clerk in the navy pay office and often in financial troubles despite being well-paid. ("David Purdue's Charles Dickens Page). "In 1814 Dickens moved to London, and then to Chatham, where he received some education" ("The Literature Network"). Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, of a Virginian family on November 30, 1835. He was brought up in Hannibal, Missouri, a very rural Southern-type area. This is one of the greatest distinctions between the two novelists."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dahlberg, Bruce T. Twain's Attack on Religion. 2 Sep. 1962.<http://www.twainquotes.com/19620902.html>
• Hromatko, Wesley. Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. 1999.<http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/charlesdickens.html>
• Jalic LLC. The Literature Network. 2000. <http://www.online-literature.com/>
• Perdue, David A. David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page. 1997.<http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/index.html>
• Phillips, Brian and Hopson, David. SparkNotes. 28 Feb. 2005.<http://www.sparknotes.com/>

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