The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain

Mark Twain—Background � Read the background information on page 574. � In your notes, record one interesting/important piece of information about Mark Twain for each of the four sections of background info.

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Story Structure Frame Story: �A storyline that acts as the framework (“frame”) for a story-within-the-story to take place �It’s the overarching story that contains another (more emphasized) story �It provides the background story that gives the real, more focused-on story an excuse to be told �A narrative that contains a frame story and a storywith-a-story starts and ends with the frame story (hence “frame”—it’ goes around the outside of the whole story)

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Frame Story: I DO Example The Princess Bride ◦ Frame Story: Young boy is home in bed sick. His grandfather comes over to keep him company and decides to read him a story. ◦ Story-within-the-Story: The story the grandfather reads to the boy—the story of Princess Buttercup and her unlikely love for a peasant named Wesley

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Frame Story: WE DO Example The Notebook ◦ Frame Story: ? ◦ Story-within-the-Story: ?

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Frame Story: YOU DO Examples Titanic How I Met Your Mother Forest Gump

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Humor Techniques • Exaggeration/Embellishment • An oblivious narrator who takes a serious tone: adds humor by suggesting that the teller of the tale is unaware of the humor of the story or its ridiculousness Example: Friends—”The One with the Inappropriate Sister” • Rachel's boyfriend doesn't understand the inappropriateness of his relationship with his sister (while everyone else easily realizes that their relationship is super weird, and that adds humor to the situation) • Regional Dialect: the version of a language specific to a particular region; regional dialects reflect accents, word pronunciations, idioms, speech patterns, grammar misuses, etc. Examples: Midwestern, Southern, East-Coast, Canadian, West-Coast, etc.

“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”—Vocabulary �Vocabulary Builder Words: ◦ Garrulous (adj. )— too talkative ◦ Conjecture (v. )— to guess ◦ Monotonous (adj. )— boring because of lack of variety; one-toned ◦ Interminable (adj. )— seeming never-ending ◦ Ornery (adj. )— having a mean, cranky disposition