Mark Twain, the “father of literature”, addresses the idea of adjusting the socially acceptable norm in his essay Corn-pone Opinions. He writes about how other people influence our opinion of the norm. He says, “The outside influences are always pouring in upon us, and we are always obeying their orders, and accepting their verdicts,” (3). Demonstrating that it is part of human nature, Twain is able to achieve his purpose: a corn-pone opinion is about self-approval. The essay was written to help everyone understand that the opinion of a potential social norm becomes greatly altered during a ‘chain reaction’. The chain reaction of people slowly but surely following the trend making a new socially acceptable norm.
To illustrate his meaning, he uses many examples along with an anecdote to help the audience’s understanding of what a corn-pone opinion is. He begins his essay with an anecdote of a black slave he knew when he was young. Twain describes how the slave had wonderful speech and he loved to listen to him. The quote he remembers most is, “You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is,” (1). The quote not only introduces the topic but acts as a driving force for the rest of the essay. It means everyone’s opinion comes from someone or something else.
Twain also uses examples of where corn pone has already affected our lives. The idea of a piece of clothing, his example: the hoopskirt, starts out ugly but as more and more people begin to buy it, it becomes popular. The popularity enables the hatred for the skirt disintegrate. Twain describes the disintegration in his prose: “a rule of our self-approval has its source... - the approval of other people,” (2). Twain enables his audience to understand how self-approval not only relates to corn pone opinions but how it takes a part in our lives.
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