Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
             The piece of work I have chosen in "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", written by Mark Twain. Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Clemmons and he was born in Hannibal, Missouri. In 1847, Twain dropped out of school due to the death of his father. After dropping out of school he worked to support his family. Twain traveled down the river during this time and was given the nickname "two phantoms deep". An interesting fact about Twain is that he was born and died when Haley's comet was flying over.
             The "Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was originally named Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. The tale is just one of the many tales Twain was told when he was in the western mining camp. Throughout the tale, there is numerous symbolism in which Twain uses. Twain uses two main symbols in the story. He writes about a pup names Andrew Jackson and a Frog named Daniel Webster.
             Jim Smiley had a pup named Andrew Jackson (Twain 1190). Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States of America. In the story, the pup "would never let on but what he was satisfied" (Twain 1190). The dog was used for betting purposes. Andrew Jackson, the president, had himself been a gambler, which is rather ironic. Andrew Jackson wanted democracy of the people. In the story, Twain states that the pup would have been famous had he lived, much like Andrew Jackson would have been famous earlier had he lived longer. (Twain 1190). Twain says "he hadn't no opportunities to speak of, and it don't stand to reason that a dog could make such a fight as he could under them circumstances if he hadn't no talent" (Twain 1190). Twain is referring to Jackson's Presidency. Andrew Jackson realy didn't know what he was doing when he was the President. He caused a scandal by entering the White House o...