Assignment task:
"Two Ways of Seeing a River" by Mark Twain
Study Questions:
Q1. What method of organization does Twain use in this selection? What alternative methods might he have used? What would have been gained or lost?
Q2. Explain the analogy Twain uses in paragraph 3. What is his purpose in using this analogy?
Q3. Twain uses a number of similes and metaphors in this selection. Identify 3 of each, and explain what Twain is comparing in each case. What do these figures of speech add to Twain's writing?
Q4. Now that he has learned the trade of steamboating, does Twain believe that he has "gained most or lost most" (paragraph 3)? What has he gained, and what has he lost?
Q5. Twain points to a change of attitude he underwent as a result of seeing the river from a new perspective, that of a steamboat pilot. What role does knowledge play in Twain's inability to see the river as he once did?