The Sandwich Islands and My Debut as a Literary Person

The Sandwich Islands

I really enjoyed the picture Twain painted when he was describing the Sandwich Islands. I've been to Hawaii before and while I was reading I felt like I was back there.

But then there is a dramatic switch from a description of a paradise to the proposed annexation of the island so the United States could benefit from their exports. Twain continues to joke about what America does is better than what everyone else does and if it isn't American culture than it is wrong and should be changed to be just like America as soon as possible.

Overall, I thought it was a very interesting piece and I can see how it would be a popular article when it was published in 1873.

My Debut as a Literary Person

I have mixed reviews about this piece. First, I find it entertaining that Twain believes in order to be a literary person one must be published in a magazine, not just a newspaper. As a news/editorial journalism major it is a big deal to get published in a newspaper or magazine, but it doesn't matter which one it is. This idea that the magazine is more prestigious than the newspaper is interesting to me as a journalist. Secondly, I like how Twain framed the text by retelling the original story he had published, but I felt it was distracting when he added his own thoughts throughout. It made it harder to read and follow what was going on.

It is interesting that he wrote this because the original story was so successful and he was in debt at this time. "My Debut as a Literary Person" was written 32 years after the original and Twain sold it to Harper's again to make more money.

I would have enjoyed reading the original before reading "My Debut as a Literary Person." I believe I would have understood what was going on and enjoyed the story more.

The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg

After reading "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg" and discussing it in class I can now answer the question, is the stranger an agent of moral destruction or rejuvenation?

I believe the stranger's goal was to be an agent of moral destruction, but the way Hadleyburg turns out in the end is more of a rejuvenated town than one that has been destroyed. The townspeople taught children from a young age to do what was right and never lie. They were never tempted to sway from these morals that were instilled early on; however, after the strangers trick the town welcomes people to try to sway their righteous ways and tempt them to do evil, because they now have the strength to resist it.

Although the stranger had a desire to gain revenge on the hypocritical town, he ended up bringing the town closer together and strengthened it during the only trial of morals the town had been through. I do believe that this story, like the "Eden myth", is a "fortunate fall" that ends up bettering the town because the stranger wanted to destroy them.

I thought the story was a little long winded and some of the details I would have liked to know while reading were left out, such as what made the stranger so upset when he traveled through Hadleyburg.