The Mark Twain Forum is for persons having a scholarly interest in the life and writings of Mark Twain. Postings may include queries, discussion, conference announcements, calls for papers, information on new publications, or anything else that is related to Mark Twain studies. For a detailed instruction guide, send a message to LISTSERV@YORKU.CA with the single line: GET TWAIN-L WELCOME TWAIN-L was created 24 April 1992 on LISTSERV after having been run manually since early March 1992. The following persons are subscribed to the Mark Twain Forum:
This is a reminder that the first Zoom event in our upcoming series will be held this Wednesday (11/20/2024) at 4PM EST! Here is the Zoom link.<https://elmira-edu.zoom.us/j/81564358330?pwd=JHIaWTI2cHjuN6t4zwZvJnSKgaJhqO.1> You can find video presentations for group discussion at the top of the full schedule re-posted below. We'll be looking forward to seeing you there!
I teach a year-long course on Twain’s works and his life with the primary goal showing his continued relevance to my students now and throughout their lives. Almost all of the photographs we have of Mark Twain show him in formal poses facing us or in a profile. While it is a joy to share his familiar photos to many of them who have seen just the famous 1906 picture of Twain in his white suit looking at us with perhaps a wisp of a knowing smile, it is a unique and greater thrill to be able to see him
I have to agree with John that one of the joys of working with AI is that it allows viewers and readers the opportunity to visualize facial expressions and moods that we know Mark Twain displayed -- because he was human -- but were never actually captured by a camera -- another facet of himself that existed. But it is also a challenge in descriptive writing to communicate with an AI robot what you want to see and the situations and surroundings in which you want to see Mark Twain. Rasmussen has fine tuned his descriptive talents to produce some