Below is the list of research questions that were posed in class today:
* Did Twain ever give the speech a second time?
* What other accounts exist of this dinner?
* Who is Bishop? Does he even exist? What happened to him?
* What were the effects on Twain’s social life? Did he start being excluded from parties?
* Who was actually at the dinner? Longfellow?
* What poems does Twain quote? What were the original contexts of those lines? (Why did Twain choose those lines?)
* What did the newspapers really say about Twain’s speech?
* What else did Twain do during those 28 years? Did he do anything in response to this experience?
* After this speech, when was the next time he spoke in public? What were the circumstances? Was it intended to be a humorous speech? What style did he use?
* Is the letter from Laura Hudson real?
* Is Willie Winter real?
* How does this speech fit in with the rest of Twain’s work? Is it similar?
* What is the publication history of the Autobiography? Does it match up with what’s printed in NAR?
* Are the Chamberlaines real?
* Who is Howells?
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2 comments:
I found a great online resource that should help answer a lot of the research questions. It gives more context to the speech itself and provides links to several other resources relating to the speech. Should be useful.
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/onstage/whittier.html
Thanks Adam for the link. I came across it also while researching and tried to find a copy of the original printing of the Boston Daily Globe of the Boston Daily Advertiser. Unfortunately, the Berkeley microfilm libraries don't hold either newspaper publications dating back to 1877. However, they did carry publications of the Boston Evening Transcript dating back to 1877. I actually found an article about the dinner party similar to one in the Boston Daily Globe. On a side note, I HIGHLY recommend going to the library and talking to the people at the information desk. They helped me find the article and gladly introduced me to microfilms library in Berkeley. If people are interested in researching at the microfilm library, it is located in Doe library on the bottom floor. (Enter the main entrance, turn right and go down the stairs.) Good luck with the research everyone!
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