Mark Twain Mark Twain is believed to be the father of all American literature. Twain was known for writing about issues of his time such as slavery, due to his style of honesty and truth he was known as one of the very first modernist writers. Mark Twain had many inspirations that motivated him to write his novels. Inspirations ranged from events he witnessed and experienced, people he met in his life, other stories he read or heard about, and his environment. The writer known as Mark Twain, was actually born with the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, to John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens on November 30, 1835. While Samuel Clemens was very young, the Clemens family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, source of inspiration for most of Samuel Clemens' novels. John Marshall Clemens worked as a lawyer, but was very successful, so he also did some work as a land speculator. The Clemens family was never very rich but belonged to the middle class. John Marshall Clemens was a competitor and his wife, Jane Lampton Clemens, was a strong Presbyterian. This influenced much of Samuel Clemen's religious beliefs and also his satirical attitude in his novels. Samuel Clemens had a relatively normal childhood until the age of twelve when his father died. The same year his father died, Clemens finished formal schooling and became an apprentice to his brother Orion, who was a printer. He was a printer's apprentice until his eighteenth birthday. Then he learned to become a river pilot for the price of $500. Even though Clemens had become a riverboat pilot, he still wrote, but under pseudonyms such as Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, W. Epaminandos Adrastus Blab, Sergeant Fathom, and Josh. Clemens worked as a river pilot... middle of paper... Kiskis, Micheal. "Mark Twain." Companion to the American short story. 2000. Bloom_Online Literary Reference. Facts about File.Lutz, Norma. "Mark Twain." It blooms. Blooms, 2007. Bloom_Online literary reference. Facts about File.Paddock, Lisa. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism. New York, 2002. Bloom_Online literary reference. Facts about File.Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court. 1889.Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1884.Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 1876.Twain, Mark. The prince and the pauper. 1882.Werlock, Abby. "Mark Twain." Companion to an American Novel. 2006. Bloom_Online literary reference. Facts about File.Williams, Tenley. "Mark Twain." Bloom\_BioCritiques (2003). Bloom_Online literary reference. Facts on file.