"Corn-pone Opinions" by Mark Twain

Public Opinion with the Win

Matt Wuerker depicts exactly what Twain got across in his essay; 

people conform to society's opinion rather than doing the research themselves.

       Not only is Mark Twain a famous historical figure, he can also use his essay, "Corn-pone Opinions", to teach valuable life lessons, even after more than one-hundred years of writing it.  When Twain originally wrote this piece, he was writing to all those in that time period who were being affected by, or affecting the unfair treatment of African-Americans.  A line that stood out was in the beginning anecdote, when Twain is listening to the preaching of a slave.  Twain writes that he had heard the slave say, "You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I'll tell you what his 'pinions is" (Twain 1).  Corn pone is a type of southern corn bread, that every house hold would typically have in that time period.  Where a man gets his corn pone shows where he shops or where he is in society, therefore, showing that the slave meant opinions are based solely on where you are on the societal ladder.  Twain develops his argument by expanding on this idea, "...man's self-approval in the large concerns of life has its source in the approval of the people about him, and not in a searching personal examination of the matter" (Twain 4).  Twain is saying that man's self-approval controls his opinions, because he lets people around him judge and form his opinions for him.  His use of didactic phrases help his opinion on the matter stand out.  Twain ends his essay using multiple hypophoras, making his audience leave the essay with deep, final thoughts.  He writes, "Do you believe that a tenth part of the people, on either side, has any rational excuse for having an opinion about the matter at all? I studied that mighty question to the bottom-- came out empty" (Twain 5).  This question was regarding those supporting and those not supporting slavery.  Twain effectively achieves his purpose of getting people to think outside of society's general opinion, and form opinions of their own by asking questions that can relate to their own lives.

Cartoon source: http://www.politico.com/wuerker/2014/10/political-cartoons-october-2014/002055-029231.html