Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Lesson Plan

Based on what we've seen of Hank Morgan, how does Mark Twain define the "modern American Man?”

In the aftermath of the American Industrial Revolution in America, Mark Twain gives us a protagonist as mechanical and efficient as the machinery he supports so strongly. Twain describes Hank as "barren of sentiment," and implies that he knows how to make practically everything. This is evidenced by the fact that he can construct schools and factories with relative ease.

Ask students how Hank stands in contrast with the Englishmen and women he encounters in these early chapters. They embody medieval romanticism to a fault, telling stories so longwinded and repetitive that it...