"But I don't like mackerel."
"Oh—then help yourself to the mustard." 20
—Roughing It.
1. How much of this selection is given over to a description of actual travel inside a stagecoach? To what is the remainder devoted?
2. Re-read only the description of the night's traveling and decide which parts of it are most humorous. Why are they funny?
3. Describe the driver. Make a sketch of him.
4. How much of the central paragraph, page 257, is serious description? What parts of it are humorous? Test your answer by reading the paragraph with the humor omitted.
5. Much of Twain's humor depends on an occasional single sentence or a startling word. Prove or disprove this statement.
6. Report fully on Samuel L. Clemens's life. If possible, read his Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.