Humor in Mark Twain¿s ‘The Awful German Language‘

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2, Martin Luther University (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Proseminar: Germany and the Germans in American Short Fiction, language: English, abstract: In the following paper I am going to analyze Twain¿s incomparable and particular usage of humor in his essay The Awful German Language. Therein, Twain uses humor as an instrument to criticize the German language. Without its witty and diversified character the essay would be a provocative and mean accusation. I will support my thesis with the help of additional information about the author¿s biography and his first experiences with the German language. To explain my thesis and to understand the author¿s concerns it is important to draw these connections. Moreover, I will go into detail about the essay structure to illustrate its critical character and effect. The large amount of stylistic devices that make the essay particularly impressive and remarkable will be parsed and discussed in addition. Eventually, I will comment on the essay¿s impact on success and distinction. In doing so, the sustainability of this piece will be explained.