Question

In an essay, this author demonstrates the ridiculousness of capitalizing all nouns by translating “The Tale of the Fishwife and its Sad Fate.” An essay by this author complains of the “overwrought reverence” and “callous disrespect” of the fact that “a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has” in the title language. This author so hated a French translation (15[1])of one of his stories that he retranslated (-5[1])it and subtitled it “Clawed Back Into a Civilized Language Once More.” The advice (*) “Use the right word, not its second cousin” (-5[1])and “Eschew surplusage” appears in an essay by this writer that complains about how an (-5[1])author “scored 114 offenses…out (10[1])of a possible 115” in that author’s novel The Deerslayer. For 10 points, name this American satirist who wrote “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary (10[1])Offenses” and created Huckleberry Finn. (10[1])■END■ (10[1])

ANSWER: Mark Twain [or Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (The essay in the first two sentences is “The Awful German Language.”)
<CM, American Literature>
= Average correct buzz position

Back to tossups

Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Ben KoberlinNotre Dame APurdue A6015
Tanuj ChandekarIndianaIllinois A68-5
Michael DurrantNotre Dame BVanderbilt90-5
Yash MandaviaIllinois BPurdue B105-5
Robert CondronChicago AChicago B10910
Gavin MarkoffVanderbiltNotre Dame B13110
Michael HundingIllinois AIndiana13610
Davis JohnsonPurdue BIllinois B13710

Summary

2023 ARCADIA at UC BerkeleyPremiereY2100%100%0%67.50
2023 ARCADIA at Carleton UniversityPremiereY3100%33%67%113.33
2023 ARCADIA at Claremont CollegesPremiereY1100%100%0%62.00
2023 ARCADIA at IndianaPremiereY5100%20%60%114.60
2023 ARCADIA at RITPremiereY2100%50%50%107.50
2023 ARCADIA at WUSTLPremiereY3100%33%33%108.33