"Two Ways of Seeing a River" by Mark Twain

"Two Ways of Seeing a River" is an excerpt from the end of Chapter Nine of Mark Twain's
autobiographical work Life on the Mississippi.

Paper 1: Reading

1. Explain how the title (Two Ways of Seeing a River) summarizes the contents of the
whole text.

What the author wants to express through the title is the idea that there are two ways of
viewing life. When we are children, the whole world is perceived with different eyes. We
do not get the meaning of certain things and we do not even care about them. Life is just
fun. However, when people grow old innocence is lost. They start to understand and
appreciate certain values, such as experience and health. The perspective of life changes as
they mature.

2. Identify and explain the metaphor used in the opening sentence.

Mark Twain compares the Language to the Mississippi River.

3. Comment on the syntactic choices made in the first sentence (type of device and
effects).

The author creates suspense and draws attention. It is a climatic sentence. It has a
cumulative effect.

‘Now when I had mastered …’ + ‘…and had come to know…’ = ‘…I had made a valuable
acquisition.’

It is a complex sentence that meets the requirements of the Information Principle.

4. What does the writer refer to by means of “the ruddy flush”? Account for your answer.

The writer refers to the sunset. He describes the colours that people can see in the sky and
reflected in the river when the sun slowly goes below the horizon.

Paper 2: Multiple Choice

1. In the opening sentence of "Two Ways of Seeing a River," Twain introduces a metaphor,
comparing the Mississippi River to:

(B) a language. The author’s mother tongue.

2. In the first paragraph, Twain employs the technique of repeating key words to emphasize
a main point. What is this repeated line? (D) I had lost something. Beauty was lost.
3. The detailed description that Twain provides in paragraph one is recalled from whose
point of view?

(E) Mark Twain himself, when he was an inexperienced steamboat pilot

4. In the first paragraph, Twain describes the river as having a "ruddy flush." Define the
adjective "ruddy."

(D) reddish, rosy

5. How are Twain's comments on the "sunset scene" in the second paragraph different from
his descriptions of it in the first paragraph?

(A) The experienced pilot is now able to "read" the river rather than marvel at its beauty.

6. In the final paragraph, Twain raises questions in regard to the way that a doctor might
examine the face of a beautiful woman. This passage is an example of what technique?

(B) drawing an analogy