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Mr. Pascal Published in Mark Twain Publication
Mr. John Pascal is a teacher of 9th, 11th Grade English Honors, and The Writings of Mark Twain Honors accepted an appointment to the Editorial Board of the Mark Twain Journal. In addition, last summer the editors of the Mark Twain Journal, the oldest American academic journal devoted to a single author asked him to write an article in his continuous Twain studies and he wrote: “Mark Twain ‘On the Move’ with his Twenty-First Century Passengers” for publication in its Spring 2024 edition. This marks his fourteenth formal publication in Mark Twain studies.
"Among my responsibilities is the advise on the direction of the journal, read and edit submitted articles for accuracy, and encourage writers who might consider sending their work to the journal," commented Mr. Pascal. "This is a unique achievement for me in Mark Twain studies and to be included with the world's top collegiate level Twain scholars is very humbling and most honorable. My name and our school's name will be on the journal's masthead for each biannual issue which is the oldest collegiate academic journal in the country dedicated to the study of one person, and I will be the only member who represents a high school.
I am extremely humbled and honored to represent Seton Hall Preparatory School as part of the Editorial Board."
In his Twain class, the students learn that in living abroad for twelve years and crossing the Atlantic twenty-five times, Twain wrote five travel books: The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), A Tramp Abroad (1880), Life on the Mississippi (1883), and Following the Equator (1897). For an awareness and appreciation of Twain’s travel works, Mr. Pascal has his students read Mark Twain on the Move: A Travel Reader edited by Drs. Alan Gribben and Jeffery Alan Melton (2009). During the year, the students prepare three reaction papers that do not simply restate where Twain was, but rather to focus on what Twain said about what he saw, discuss their reactions to Twain’s words, and more lastingly, consider the relevancies to their lives.
Taylor Mason ’24 commented “I feel that by immersing myself in the study of such an author and person as Mark Twain during my high school years, I have set into development a process of intellectual build-up similar to Twain’s that will help me live according to his near-perfect morals and impressive intelligence. To be welcomed into the community of scholars devoting their time to study and maintain the legacy of such a classic author is quite honestly a feeling that can produce confidence for me out of thin air, and carve a path to intrapersonal discovery.”
Added Willem Aiken ’22, “The Mark Twain course at SHP has provided me with the opportunity to achieve something few students my age have and that is to become a published author. I feel very proud of myself and my work, as well as the efforts of my peers, and so thankful to have Mr. Pascal as our guide, connecting us more with the world through Twain's literature. I think this accomplishment is going to stick with me because I now realize that my works can truly have an impact on the people reading them. I viewed the course not necessarily as a class to get a grade in, but as a way to understand Twain as a person through his literature and, in the process, learn a thing or two about myself. Recently, I studied abroad in Cork, Ireland and got to travel many different countries and cities, from way west in London to as far as Budapest, Hungary and as far south as Split, Croatia. When I got the email about becoming a published author, I immediately was reminded of Twain's travel journals and how incredible I thought it would be to travel the world. So in a way, I have been traveling in Twain's footsteps both in publishing and out in the world. And I could not be more happy about that.”
The other students whose comments are in the article are: Newman Corriette ’23, Sean Murphy ’23, Aidan Osowski ’23, Devin Campana ’23, Daniel Lowe ’23, Jackson Simon ’23, John DiCicco ’23, Paolo Reyes, ’23, Jack Fitzpatrick, ’22, Declan Fitzsimmons ’22, and Andrew Kaledzi ’22.
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