The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana
Activities week 2-3
Presentado por:
Issa Zuniga
Alejandro Martinez
Cristhian Rodriguez
Elizabeth Elvir
Ilich Wah Lung
Presentado a:
Lic. Libia Peña
Clase:
World Literature
Fecha:
Tegucigalpa M.D.C, january 2022
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
1. This paragraph opens the “frame” to this story. What tone or attitude does the
speaker display? What words/phrases best display that tone?
The tone in which the speaker is describing the scene is very formal, with sophisticated words
that explain how irritated he is with his friend.
Some words that display the factual/straightforward tone:
 In compliance with the request of a friend of mine.
 A lurking suspicion that Leonidas S Smiley is a myth.
2. In paragraphs 2 and 3 we meet Simon Wheeler. What does the description of his
appearance suggest about him?
Fat and bald-headed, unemployed and not eager to be employed, never changes tone or
demeanor in the story and does not find anything ridiculous in the story he tells. This could mean
that Simon is someone that has seen a lot of stuff in his life.
3. What does the description of Simon Wheeler’s actions suggest about him?
It suggests that Simon Wheeler is someone who has seen a great deal of the world and is
prepared for pretty much everything. He also seems like someone who doesn’t have any feelings
and tries to be intimidating.
4. The narrator says that Simon Wheeler thought his story was “a really important
matter.” What words/phrases/sentences hint that the narrator thinks the opposite?
The sentence “he never smiled, he never frowned, he never changed his voice from the gentle-
flowing key to which he tuned his initial sentence, he never betrayed the slightest suspicion of
enthusiasm”.
5. From the description, it is clear that Jim Smiley is addicted to gambling. Twain uses
exaggeration to make Smiley’s gambling humorous. Give two examples.
 “If he even see a straddle-bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would
take him to get to--to wherever he was going to, and if you took him up, he would foller
that straddle-bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how
long he was on the road.”
 When he bet that Parson Walker’s wife wouldn’t make it.
6. Explain the irony of Smiley’s bet on Parson Walker’s wife.
When Smiley’s frog loses to the stranger’s frog that Smiley himself picked for him.
7. Give two more examples of exaggeration as a comic device in paragraphs 5 and 6.
 The bull pup and how its face changes when someone mentions money.
 The dog that didn’t have hind legs and Smiley still bet on him even though he wasn’t
physically able to win.
8. Explain the irony of teaching a frog to jump and catch flies.

Frogs don’t need to jump to catch a fly due to the fact that they have a tongue long enough to
catch the fly even if it is far away. Therefore, teaching a frog how to jump and catch flies is
something the frog already knows how to do by itself and doesn’t need any teaching.
9. Explain the irony of the stranger’s parting words.
The stranger repeated the same words he told Smiley when he claimed the frog he had with him
was different than every other frog and could jump higher than it is physically possible. This is
because after he was proven right when the frog didn’t jump, by repeating the same sentence
everything started with, he told Smiley the frog really isn’t special and he was right all along.
10. Review your answer to question #1. Now that you have read the entire story, do you
still sense the same tone or attitude? If the tone seems different now, explain your
thinking.
After reading the story I can sense the same tone and attitude from before.
11. What was important to Jim Smiley? To Simon Wheeler (review paragraph 3)? To
the narrator (review paragraph 1)? What does the story suggest about priorities in
our own lives?
Jim only cares about money and how to win bets, as he trains animals such as the frog to help
him win every single bet he comes up with. Simon wheeler cared most about just hearing Jim
out, he wasn’t interested in anything Jim was proposing and the only thing he cared about was
the myth Smiley was talking about. The narrator cares about the myth that says that Leonidas
Smiley never existed, and cares about only finding the truth and the similarities with Jim.
12. Write a paragraph analyzing how Twain used situational irony to add humor to this
story. Mention the title and author in the first line and include specific details in your
discussion.
In The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain, there is an ongoing topic
where the story is full of situational irony. Starting by the most obvious one, the jumping frog,
Jim insists that his frog is the best out there and can jump higher than any other frog in the
county. No one believes him, and even after he sought out a frog himself, he kept insisting and
flexing about his incredible frog. The irony comes when, to no surprise, the frog did not jump
and consequently ended up losing the bet. This adds humor because of how ironic it is that
someone who was so sure and always won the bets he made people get on could lose to a frog he
chose out of a random pond so his opponent could have an animal to enter the bet. And ending
with the puppy that had no qualifications to enter a bet, but Jim was so sure of the puppy with no
hind legs that he ended up losing money, making it ironic due to the fact that he was so sure he
had the win.

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What does the description of Simon Wheeler suggest about his character?

What are some examples of situational irony used in the story?

Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana

Activities week 2-3

Ilich Wah Lung

8. Explain the irony of teaching a frog to jump and catch flies.

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