His father died when he was 12, and he quit school and worked as a printer under the guide of his brother to help support his family in Hannibal, Missouri. At the age of 21, he studied to become a riverboat pilot, and shortly thereafter an accident that ended up taking the life of a brother occurred, and Clemens gave up the river life and headed west. The early life of Samuel Clemens was not what most would call easy, and definitely not humorous. The struggles and tragedies that shaped Clemens' early life would also serve as fuel for his future writings in which his satirical, religious, and political humor would blossom.
             In the early 1860's, Samuel Clemens started writing short humorous stories that he submitted to newspapers. Samuel Clemens began to use the pen name "Mark Twain", a river term meaning "safe water", as the signature on his comical submissions. One of Twain's earliest works, "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (also known as "The Notorious Jumping frog of Calaveras County") was a great success and established Twain's mark as a comedic writer. The story uses the folklore method of storytelling, and Twain applies outlandish exaggeration and regional dialect to invoke a humorous perspective. "Jumping Frog" also uses satire by of poking fun at the social and cultural differences in the east and west regions of the United States.
             "Jumping Frog" starts off with a man, the narrator, being sent in search of Reverend Leonidas Smiley at the request of a friend from the east. What the narrator finds, however, is that in inquiring about the Reverend Smiley, he is introduced to a long-winded tale-teller by the name of Simon Wheeler. Wheeler seems to overlook the narrator's quest for Reverend Smiley, and starts telling tale after tale of a betting man by the name of Jim Smiley, who "was the curiousest man about always betting on anything that turned up you ever see, if he coul...