"Corn-pone Opinions" by Mark Twain

Mark Twain is the author of two literary classics known as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. His essay, “Corn-pone Opinions”, speaks about the patterns of public opinion and conformity. He writes towards everyone, including himself, because everyone is involved. It is most likely that there is not a single person in the audience who has not ‘gone with the flow’ and conformed to a trend in order to win positive public opinion at some time in their lives. Twain explains that while some think a man only conforms to a majority view rather than expressing his own, not everyone follows those same expectations. He argues that new ideas are not always buried deep within to never come into the light for consideration. Most new ideas and trends are a result of a person who refused to conform to the majority and continued through life being the way they wanted to. As a result the people would catch on and the trend would begin.

Twain simplifies and enhances his ideas with several analogies. One analogy he makes is in regards to fashion. He writes, "A new thing in costume appears--the flaring hoopskirt, for example--and the passers-by are shocked,  and th irrelevant laugh. Six months later everybody is reconciled; the fashion has established itself; it is admired, now, and no one laughs" (Twain 2). With the simplification of the concept, the reader is better able to grasp what is being proposed. Mark Twain also uses repetition in his essays which also shows the reader just how habitual the pattern is. With every analogy, Twain ends it with some variation of "we merely notice and conform" (Twain 3). I find that, with these examples and sense of repetition, Mark Twain was very successful in drawing in the audience and having them listen to what he has to say. Many readers would most likely see a validility in his ideas. His word choices and rhetorical devices efficiently prove how people are merely affected by the decisions made around them.

Bibliography

Biography.com Editors. "Mark Twain Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 27 Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.

Nobody wishes to listen to those that do not conform to the majority

source: www.twainquotes.com/Public_opinion.html