Tow #4 - Advice to Youth, by Mark Twain

Ryan Dalsemer

9/29/13

Advice to Youth (Mark Twain)

    Advice to Youth, by Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), was written in 1882. It is an essay by Twain that simply states his advice to the youth of the 1880's. Twain appeals to all three ethos, pathos, and logos in this short essay. Firstly, he establishes ethos because he is Mark Twain, He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age,” and William Faulkner, another great American Author and Nobel Prize Laureate, called Twain "the father of American literature.” Twain also wrote two very famous books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often called “the Great American Novel.” He appeals logos because he writes things that are simply common sense. For instances Twain writes, “Go to bed early, get up early -- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another.” He does not have an arguable argument; he is just stating things that everybody should know, like being careful with firearms, and respecting elders. Twain lastly appeals to pathos because this essay is actually very funny for being written almost 130 years ago. He says humorous things like, “If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn’t mean to.” By appealing to pathos his audience, the youth, or anyone else reading it will be able to read on and enjoy his essay. Reading his satirical essay, one will not get bored and stop, and thus Twain can share his purpose of educating the simple things of life to the youth of America.