Connecticut Yankee

To most readers of his works in the 21st century, Mark Twain is probably best known as a humorist. He is someone who, by the deft use of language, entertainingly offbeat characters and the more-than-occasional plot twist can keep us reading and laughing to the end. But of course he was in fact far more than simply a humorist. His work - from short stories like "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" to novels like Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - was as much social commentary and an attempt to right the wrongs of the world that he saw around him as it was any attempt to make people laugh. This paper examines the ways in which Twain used wit, repartee and an engaging cast of characters in Connecticut Yankee to make a strong statement against imperialism.

While some of Twain's work...
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