Like Ben Franklin and other visionaries, Mark Twain was a journalist before becoming famous for other ventures. Today we examine his Northern California newspaper writings of the late 1866s-early 1870s.
To get started, find exactly when and where Twain submitted his material. This site lists Twain's contributions to the Daily Alta (San Francisco) -- do not look at his writing in this format, though! After finding a subject of interest, find the Daily Alta within the California Digital Newspaper Collection.
The CDNC permits browsing by date or title; here is the page linking to the issues of the Daily Alta. Browse to the issue and article composed by Twain. Read the article, keeping in mind that newspaper writing and production was radically different then compared to now.
When reading Twain's article, use Google to provide historical circumstances. Not sure who about an individual mentioned? Google his or her name with some historical context. There may be a Wikipedia document or other page that can provide additional information.
After deciphering the article's meaning, you are required to submit a short summary (200-250 words) of the article explaining its message and content. At one point in your discussion, you are required to provide a direct quote from Twain with an accompanying footnote. For example:
Twain is complimentary toward the New York City police of the era. "They are nearly all large, fine looking men, and their blue uniforms, well studded with brass buttons, their jack boots, and their batons worn like a dagger, give them an imposing military aspect," he writes.1
Notice there is an observation statement made by me (or you), followed by a direct quote from Twain, which supports the assertion. This is fundamentally important in historical research: any observational statement needs to be supported with direct evidence.
To include a footnote using MS Word, select "Insert > Footnote" with the cursor where the superscript number will be inserted. The footnote itself should include the author, headline, publication and date:
1 Mark Twain. "My Ancient Friends, The Police," Daily Alta California, March 30, 1867.
Matthew Blake Department of Journalism CSU-Chico
mdblake@csuchico.edu (530) 898-3608