Journal entry# 8 Mark Twain

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
January 17, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

“It never make no difference to him--- he’d bet on anything--- the dangdest feeler”.

Summary:

This quote is found in “The Notorious Jumping frog of Calaveras Country”. It explains that Smiley loved to bet very much.

Response:

This quote simply tells me that this crazy guy loved to gamble a lot. He was so crazy actually. In the story, he could even bet on Parson Walker’s wife that she would feel sick again. I think that the author was quite smart in writing this story. Since he was writing about a man and a frog, he used a lot of words to explain how crazy he loved to bet. He could bet on cats, dogs, or chickens. If he simply told me that Smiley loved to bet a lot, I might have a milder feeling about his craziness. However, now I have a much clearer idea that he was extremely crazy about gambling. Moreover, I think that the author was so successful in making things humorous. I believe that most of the readers probably think that his writing is so humorous though he actually used a lot of simple words to describe a man with a frog. I think that this kind of writing can leave a deeper memory in the reader’s mind. Also, readers may tend to believe what they are told.

Lastly, this story makes me think about the society. Smiley thought that he was really able to win every time because of his luck and talent. Many people were the same. They did not want to believe that there was actually somebody better than they were. So, they kept challenging others before understanding their actual ability. Similar to Smiley, this kind of people might encounter failure one day. One last thing, after reading the book, I think we should not gamble since we don’t know when “the stranger” will appear in our lives and put bullets in our frog's stomach.