Topic > The Use of Humor in the Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County hope.” (Bolitho) In "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" the narrator introduces Simon Wheeler by asking about a man named Leonidas W. Smiley. Instead of pointing the narrator to the information he asks for, Wheeler begins with a tall tale about a man named Jim Smiley. Jim Smiley was a man who would bet on anything and eventually made a frog into a pet that he bet on until one day he realized that his luck would not be as long lasting as he thought. Twain's use of descriptive phrases when referring to Wheeler's Story and how Twain clarifies it through his use of heavy dialect and poor grammar. The complete humor of the story is layered so that not just one, but two stories are told, creating various humorous parts throughout the story. Twain illustrates the humorous personal characteristics of both characters, Simon Wheeler and Jim Smiley. The funny plot that ends with one man deceiving another. Jim Smiley had outsmarted everyone throughout history, but he wasn't as smart as he thought. In “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Mark Twain uses dialect, hyperbole, and irony as key aspects of his writing style to create a fun and intricate personal style. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County": Examples of Humor Dialect To begin with, in "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," Twain's use of dialect creates an optimistic structure between the two main characters at the beginning of the story. For example, the use of dialect in this particular sentence maintains a direct structure of what Twain's writing style is like. "I have the lurking suspicion: for me it should be useless." (Two 680). He explains what to expect as you continue reading as he continues to tell the story. Indeed, Twain's use of unexpected words also adds much to the humor of the story. For example, Simon relates, “Well, this Smiley of yours had a yellower one-eyed cow that had no tail, just a short stump like a pennant and…” (Twain 683). Such language creates funny images in the reader's mind. The use of authentic dialogue summarizes the story and helps differentiate the characters. When Twain speaks, he uses excellent grammatical English. When Simon Wheeler speaks, he uses the common Western dialect the local color and makes the characters more interesting and seem funnier. Hyperbole Initially, when describing Simon Wheeler, the narrator uses hyperbole Simon Wheeler certainly uses exaggerations in his description of his frog's talents. For example, as he says, “You never see a frog so modest and plain as he was, notwithstanding that he was so gifted.” (Twain 682). This means that all a frog needed was education, and it could do just about anything. Another example of hyperbole is, Simon Wheeler shows Jim Smiley and his gambling habit. “-if there was a dog fight, he would bet on it; if there had been a cat fight, he would have bet on it; if there had been a chicken fight he would have bet on it; Well, if there were two birds perched on a fence, he would bet which would fly first: so was he, and he was a good man. (Two 681). He's basically saying that Smiley would bet on just about anything. The exaggeration here is that Jim Smiley would find away to bet on anything. No matter how silly something was, he would find a way to turn the situation into a way to make money and satisfy his gambling craving. This is why exaggeration is used here to reveal Jim Smiley's character. That said, this exaggeration continues to support Simon Wheeler's character, as noted.Hyperbole adds humor and comedic effects to Twain's literary devices. Incidentally, Mark Twain uses personification when describing animals in the story. The frog is described as indifferent and Andrew Jackson, Jim Smiley's dog, is described as proud, grumpy and determined. The author uses the same grammatical pattern to hold long sentences together when describing his characters. Mark Twain also uses allegory to personify some of the main characters involved in the story. The narrator implies that Andrew Jackson was a proud dog. Andrew Jackson is also described as a determined and strong-willed man, like the former president of the United States. The Fifteen Minute Nag is the name given to Jim Smiley's horse, an old and rather delicate animal. This story is an example of a humorous story that addresses exaggeration. “He was the most curious man to always bet on anything that ever happened.” This quote refers to Jim Smiley's love of betting and enthusiasm for competition. This adds humor because his speech is not what you would expect from a formal piece. In the story Simon Wheeler talks about Smiley's gambling habits and says he would bet on anything: "two birds sitting on a fence, he'd bet which one would fly first." The exaggeration here is that Jim Smiley would find and do whatever it took to bet on anything. He wouldn't have cared how irrelevant something was; he would find a way to turn the situation into a way to make money and satisfy himself. The exaggeration and humor in this short story are used to reveal the character of Jim Smiley, which is a good way to bring out the traits of the characters, settings and events in the story to make it dramatic for the reader.IronyIn summary, Mark Twain's use of irony in "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", generates the overall purpose of the story being told so that the reader can maintain a humorous thought about the narrator's dialect. Mark Twain begins the story with irony "...if I asked old Wheeler about him, he'd remind him of his infamous Jim Smiley, and he'd go to work and bore me half to death with some hellish reminiscence of him until he's as boring as he should be be useless to me." (Two 680). Irony forms a calm and humorous tone of the opening sentence: there is nothing that leads us to expect to be bored to death. The important irony is that Smiley knows he has the best frog jumper in the country. “…you might blink, it would jump up and knock a fly off the counter there, and it would fall back to the floor solid again like a lump of mud..” (Twain 682). Smiley would take the frog into town where he would gamble in hopes of making a profit. Which indicates that Smiley is looking for a gullible person who will bet against him. Wheeler then specifies that Smiley's frog has a very ordinary appearance. Smiley ensures that he wins the bet he makes with the stranger, as Smiley goes out and personally catches a frog for the stranger to bet on. The irony in this is that the stranger is not as gullible a person as he seems, the stranger fills Smiley, Daniel Webster's frog, full of quail, and when the race started, Daniel Webster couldn't get up off the ground and Smiley loses the bet. Which makes this the typical story of..
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