Mark Twain in His Age

FAIN: FV-50104-06

Elmira College (Elmira, NY 14901-2099)
Lawrence I. Berkove (Project Director: March 2006 to January 2009)

A four-week seminar for fifteen high school teachers on Mark Twain's novels in the context of his life and values and the literature of his time.

This proposal is for a four-week seminar on Mark Twain for 15 high school teachers of English to be held at Elmira College in the summer of 2007. Elmira College is a major center for Twain research. The seminar will meet five days a week (with two, one-day field trips). Participants will read beforehand three novels by Twain: Roughing It, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. These texts represent his early, middle, and late periods. Close readings of these novels will penetrate to the thematic levels below the plot and will set the novels in the context of Twain's life, his values, and the literature of his time. Ancillary readings of related authors will be provided in a course pack and supplementary books. Participants will achieve a greater skill in reading Twain and understanding his ideas so their teaching will be improved, their range of options in selecting Twain texts increased, and their ability in close reading enhanced.