Tom+Sawyer

 TOM SAWYER Here on this page of this website, you will see how Mark Twain used propaganda in one of his famous books,__Tom Sawyer__     

Here is a piece from the book: Tom said:          “ Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some."                    Jim shook his head and said:                     “Can’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an’ git dis water an’ not stop foolin’ roun’ wid anybody. She say she spec’ Mars Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an’ so she tole me go ‘long an’ ‘tend to my own business – she ‘lowed //she’d// ‘tend to de whitewashin’.”                    “Oh, never you mind what she said, Jim. That’s the way she always talks. Gimme the bucket – I won’t be gone only a a minute. //She// won’t ever know.” “Oh, I dasn’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis she’d take an’ tar de head off’n me. ‘Deed she would.” <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">“//She!// She never licks anybody – whacks ’em over the head with her thimble – and who cares for that, I’d like to know. She talks awful, but talk don’t hurt – anyways it don’t if she don’t cry. Jim, I’ll give you a marvel. I’ll give you a white alley!” <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Jim began to waver. <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> “White alley, Jim! And it’s a bully taw."        <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">“My! Dat’s a mighty gay marvel, //<span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> I // <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">tell you! But Mars Tom I’s powerful ‘fraid ole missis – ” <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">“And besides, if you will I’ll show you my sore toe.”          <span style="font-size: 50%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">          Jim was only human – this attraction was too much for him. He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound. In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye. But Tom’s energy did not last. He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work – the very thought of it burnt him like fire. He got out his worldly wealth and examined it – bits of toys, marbles, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of //work//, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom. So he returned his straitened means to his pocket, and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys. At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration. <span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 190%; font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> What Type of propaganda do you think was used in this piece of the book? A. Transfer B. Glittering Generalities C. Snob Appeal D. Fear <span style="display: block; font-size: 180%; font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> If you guessed B. Glittering Generalities, then you are correct. This answer choice is correct because he targeted children his age, specifically boys to do his work. He used this technique to make whitewashing seem like fun rather than a chore. He also got a little out of it in the mist of the bartering, too! Home