Teaching Mark Twain in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s

Life imitates art, but since the situation of a teacher changes with the concerns of students, the teacher must show life imitating art in different ways at different times. Unless the focus changes with shifts in the consciousness of students, the teacher will be more hindrance than help in opening students to that shock of recognition which can occur when art is seen to anticipate life. What follows is an account of some attempts to be helpful to students who have read Mark Twain with me in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s at a large urban university.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website

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