Abstract: Mark Twain, a mastermind of humor and realism, writer and journalist. He is not only the nation’s celebrity, but also celebrated as the most influential figures in the late-19th century, who is regarded as the most outstanding critical realism literature remarkable representative . In Green Hills of Africa, Ernest Hemingway wrote: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn…”(Hemingway, 1935:22) William Faulkner called him “the father of American literature”. In Twain’s language, it is full of humor and satire, and this special humorous irony is always able to bring laughter to his audience and readers. In the stories, he uses various comic skill, satire, irony, wild exaggeration, mocking maxims and funny quips to create vivid characters. And by using those academic skill, Mark Twain can express his dissatisfaction to the existing society and his blame for the racial discrimination, it also reveals the fact that most of the American people had been blindly worshiping the Holy land without any knowledge of it. According to his funny and humor words, he is remembered by the readers, and the use of humor and satire also helps him get the fame in literature.
The paper attempts to explore the Mark Twain myth by focusing on his techniques of rhetoric, mainly about how he uses these rhetorical techniques to reflect his special humorous irony, and what can we learn from him.
Key words: Mark Twain; short stories; humor; satire; rhetoric
