Major Themes

February 13th, 2011 | first category | Leave a comment
This is a sample photo.

This is a sample photo.

Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles. Not because his troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to him than a man’s are to a man, but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time–just as men’s misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises. This new interest was a valued novelty in whistling, which he had just acquired from a negro, and he was suffering to practise it undisturbed. It consisted in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble, produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music–the reader probably remembers how to do it, if he has ever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it, and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soul full of gratitude. He felt much as an astronomer feels who has discovered a new planet–no doubt, as far as strong, deep, unalloyed pleasure is concerned, the advantage was with the boy, not the astronomer.

The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tomchecked his whistle. A stranger was before him–a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too–well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on–and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved–but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said:

This is a sample photo.

This is a sample photo.

The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tomchecked his whistle. A stranger was before him–a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too–well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on–and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the

The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tomchecked his whistle. A stranger was before him–a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too–well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on–and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the

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Another Sample Post

February 11th, 2011 | first category | 1 Comment

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam id lectus nibh. Pellentesque scelerisque dignissim ipsum id varius. In quis odio libero, id ullamcorper turpis. Maecenas malesuada dui quis odio ullamcorper lobortis et hendrerit ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum bibendum lectus sit amet diam luctus id ullamcorper leo rhoncus. Suspendisse potenti. Nam placerat sollicitudin dignissim. Etiam imperdiet dignissim lectus, et iaculis justo congue eu. Sed mattis porttitor arcu vel posuere. Integer molestie cursus nibh, in gravida nibh facilisis eu. Cras imperdiet, neque eu dignissim facilisis, nisi enim dictum erat, quis convallis leo nibh a leo. Mauris mattis erat eu magna rutrum commodo. Pellentesque metus elit, blandit eu auctor vel, gravida sed turpis. Phasellus vel dignissim risus. Duis tincidunt mollis dui sed ultricies. Nam viverra tortor ac ipsum imperdiet non rutrum nisl pellentesque.

Maecenas pulvinar condimentum dignissim. Nam non velit ac metus interdum tincidunt vel non magna. Praesent magna nisl, pellentesque ac congue in, aliquam ut mi. Maecenas feugiat, sapien non facilisis tincidunt, elit diam semper tellus, et cursus nunc lacus id nunc. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Proin semper pretium nulla, non facilisis leo eleifend sed. Praesent lectus sapien, dignissim et fermentum vel, gravida vitae elit. Cras sed felis a ligula varius venenatis et non eros. Ut condimentum congue semper. Integer ornare odio non lorem lobortis mattis. Nulla libero sem, luctus eu varius at, posuere vitae mi. Nullam blandit sollicitudin aliquam. Suspendisse potenti.

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A Sample Post

February 11th, 2011 | first category, second category | 1 Comment

This is a sample post.

Nullam consequat gravida mauris, id condimentum nunc pulvinar et. Aenean in nunc metus, et ullamcorper nisi. Duis enim arcu, ultricies eget consectetur sit amet, pellentesque vel mi. Pellentesque porttitor, leo eu interdum laoreet, lacus quam pretium ligula, aliquam vestibulum risus purus tempus risus. Phasellus purus velit, tincidunt vel fringilla ac, elementum sit amet metus. Nam egestas arcu sit amet est vulputate non pretium erat pellentesque. Nulla eget nisi a massa molestie varius. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Cras nec ligula semper magna tincidunt iaculis sed eu felis. Nunc et eros quis diam bibendum pretium. In eget mauris turpis. Donec eu erat libero, a mattis leo. Morbi ante erat, cursus id commodo non, blandit vitae metus. Donec sit amet velit eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin adipiscing hendrerit purus, vitae vehicula nibh rutrum et.

Nam eros nibh, ullamcorper blandit convallis nec, volutpat in dui. In blandit venenatis elit, eget ultrices elit faucibus vitae. Sed vel quam lacus. Phasellus adipiscing convallis auctor. Integer volutpat dignissim aliquet. Integer sed diam metus, vel mattis tortor. Donec pharetra iaculis ipsum, ac fringilla risus tempus ac. Duis semper, diam at blandit sollicitudin, leo odio commodo justo, et consectetur erat nisl et ligula. Maecenas consectetur turpis quis sapien dapibus placerat. Praesent accumsan adipiscing libero vitae pharetra. Vivamus sed justo sit amet diam fermentum varius eget eu est.

Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed massa mauris, suscipit ac tempor vitae, tempor ultrices lectus. Fusce eu ligula vitae enim rhoncus dictum vel vitae elit. Nulla id turpis tellus, in adipiscing erat. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Maecenas eleifend elit id mauris iaculis sollicitudin. Proin fermentum felis non orci euismod non tincidunt urna auctor. Donec eleifend mattis mauris non dapibus. Curabitur in lectus quis arcu interdum vestibulum. Ut pharetra ligula lacus, quis lobortis arcu. Nulla libero dui, mattis et dignissim eu, sodales quis ipsum. Curabitur malesuada leo in risus congue rutrum. Aliquam a iaculis nisi. Praesent in urna ante, ac elementum odio. In ut quam a ligula euismod tristique.

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Jim’s escape

February 6th, 2011 | first category, second category | Leave a comment

The new boy went off brushing the dust from his clothes, sobbing, snuffling, and occasionally looking back and shaking his head and threatening what he would do to Tom the “next time he caught him out.” To which Tom responded with jeers, and started off in high feather, and as soon as his back was turned the new boy snatched up a stone, threw it and hit him between the shoulders and then turned tail and ran like an antelope. Tom chased the traitor home, and thus found out where he lived. He then held a position at the gate for some time, daring the enemy to come outside, but the enemy only made faces at him through the window and declined. At last the enemy’s mother appeared, and called Tom a bad, vicious, vulgar child, and ordered him away. So he went away; but he said he “‘lowed” to “lay” for that boy.

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Superstitions and Folk Beliefs

January 30th, 2011 | first category | Leave a comment

Jim was only human–this attraction was too much for him. He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound. In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

January 23rd, 2011 | first category | Leave a comment

The raft drew beyond the middle of the river; the boys pointed her head right, and then lay on their oars.

The river was not high, so there was not more than a two or three mile current. Hardly a word was
said during the next three-quarters of an hour. Now the raft was passing before the distant town. Two or three glimmering lights showed where it lay, peacefully sleeping, beyond the vague vast sweep of star-gemmed water, unconscious of the tremendous event that was happening.

  • The Black Avenger stood still with folded arms, “looking his last” upon
  • the scene of his former joys and his later sufferings, and wishing
  • “she” could see him now, abroad on the wild sea, facing peril and death with dauntless heart, going to his doom with a grim smile on his lips. It was but a small strain on his imagination to remove Jackson’s Island
  • beyond eyeshot of the village, and so he “looked his last” with a
  • broken and satisfied heart. The other pirates were looking their last,
  • too; and they all looked so long that they came near letting the

current drift them out of the range of the island. But they discovered the danger in time, and made shift to avert it. About two o’clock in the morning the raft grounded on the bar two hundred yards above the head of the island, and they waded back and forth until they had landed their freight.

Part of the little raft’s belongings consisted of an old sail, and this they spread over a nook in the bushes for a tent to shelter their provisions; but they themselves would sleep in the open air in good weather, as became outlaws.

  1. They built a fire against the side of a great log twenty or thirty
  2. steps within the sombre depths of the forest, and then cooked some
  3. bacon in the frying-pan for supper, and used up half of the corn “pone”
  4. stock they had brought. It seemed glorious sport to be feasting in that
  5. wild, free way in the virgin forest of an unexplored and uninhabited
  6. island, far from the haunts of men, and they said they never would
  7. return to civilization. The climbing fire lit up their faces and threw
  8. its ruddy glare upon the pillared tree-trunks of their forest temple,
  9. and upon the varnished foliage and festooning vines.

When the last crisp slice of bacon was gone, and the last allowance of corn pone devoured, the boys stretched themselves out on the grass, filled with contentment. They could have found a cooler place, but they would not deny themselves such a romantic feature as the roasting camp-fire.

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Mississippi River

January 16th, 2011 | first category, second category | Leave a comment

Presently she stepped into the kitchen, and Sid, happy in his immunity, reached for the sugar-bowl–a sort of glorying over Tom which
was wellnigh unbearable. But Sid’s fingers slipped and the bowl dropped and broke. Tom was in ecstasies. In such ecstasies that he even controlled his tongue and was silent. He said to himself that he would not speak a word, even when his aunt came in, but would sit perfectly
still till she asked who did the mischief; and then he would tell, and there would be nothing so good in the world as to see that pet model “catch it.” He was so brimful of exultation that he could hardly hold himself when the old lady came back and stood above the wreck discharging lightnings of wrath from over her spectacles. He said to himself, “Now it’s coming!” And the next instant he was sprawling on the floor! The potent palm was uplifted to strike again when Tom cried out:

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

January 9th, 2011 | first category | Leave a comment

Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles. Not because his troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to him than a man’s are to a man, but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time–just as men’s misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises. This new interest was a valued novelty in whistling, which he had just acquired from a negro, and he was suffering to practise it undisturbed. It consisted in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble, produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music–the reader probably remembers how to do it, if he has ever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it, and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soul full of gratitude. He felt much as an astronomer feels who has discovered a new planet–no doubt, as far as strong, deep, unalloyed pleasure is concerned, the advantage was with the boy, not the astronomer.

The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tomchecked his whistle. A stranger was before him–a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too–well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on–and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved–but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said:

“I can lick you!”

“I’d like to see you try it.”

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The Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons

January 2nd, 2011 | first category | Leave a comment

Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it–namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger-coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work and then they would resign.

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Superstitions and Folk Beliefs

December 26th, 2010 | first category | Leave a comment

Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it–namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger-coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work and then they would resign.

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