Two Views Of The Mississippi Sparknotes

What One Sees Is Not Always What It Seems
“Two Views of the Mississippi”, by Mark Twain is a very remarkable piece. In this short story he is reminiscing back to a time when he first sees the Mississippi River, the beauty he took in that day. Then he looks once more only to find that it is not all that enchanting. He looks back, only to find something that contradicts the beauty he is witnessing. When people look at something, they only see what they want to see, the truth is there is always a darker layer behind beauty.
There are many methods of organization in this piece but the two that stand out are descriptive and comparison and contrast. The descriptive method used in this piece is extremely visualizing. The way Twain uses such vivid detail, brings the river to life right before the audiences eyes. He describes the river as being “majestic”. He describes every last detail, everything from the colors luminescing from the sun, the broken log floating in the river, and the single leaf left on a tree blowing. He helps readers to see all the good and bad he remembers from the river, just as readers were viewing it there selves. The title of this piece itself lets readers know with two views there will be much comparison and
He gives the first look as he remembers the beauty of all he sees that day, but when he grasps reality he sees the difference of what is really to be seen. A smooth spot he notices with “graceful circles and radiating lines” are now “densely wooded. The glories and charms from the