Blog: Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, and Fanny Fern

Dear All,

Here are a few prompts to consider for this week!  300-500 words of clear analysis, please:

1.  Mark Twain's "Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut" uses humor in order to suggest, playfully, that not all forms of guilt are natural and healthy.  As we laugh at the narrator killing his pestersome conscience and going on an insane rampage, we realize that a conscience is actually good for making people behave.  Why does Mark Twain turn this message into a joke? 
2.  In "The Goophered Grapevine,"  Uncle Julius tells John and Annie a story about witchcraft, acknowledging that "white folks" might not believe in it.  Who do you think believes in it, who does not?  Think about about how belief in conjuring is part of the humor of the story.
3.  At the time that Fanny Fern wrote "A Law More Nice than Just," it was illegal for women to "dress like men" (wear pants!).  People took this law very seriously.  Why, then, does it become so funny when Fern herself pulls on a pair of pants?