Sophomore Homework due Monday April 15

For homework due April 15:

Follow this link to read "The Story of the Bad Little Boy," a Mark Twain written parody of a nineteenth century Sunday school story.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Sunday School stories were short moral tales written for the little boys and girls who learned the difference between right and wrong at their local churches in Sunday School. 

These stories always ended with a good dose of poetic justice: the good boys and girls were rewarded; the not-so-good boys and girls were summarily punished, learned the error of their ways, and turned out to be model boys and girls themselves.

Mark Twain pokes fun at these stories in "The Story of the Bad Little Boy." His bad little boy, Jim, gets away with murder ... literally. 

Assignment

Answer these questions in your notebook:

1. Define a parody. How is "The Story of the Bad Little Boy" a parody of the stories in Sunday School books?

2. What details contribute to the humor of "The Story of the Bad Little Boy"?

3. What details contribute to the serious theme of "The Story of the Bad Little Boy" ?

4. What storytelling "tricks" does Twain use to make the story entertaining, if not humorous? In other words, how do Twain's writing methods and techniques add to the entertainment value of the story. Give examples.