Robert R. Sears

Content analysis of Mark Twain's novels and letters as a biographical method

Abstract Fear of the loss of love (separation anxiety) is prominent in Mark Twains novels and letters. A content analysis shows that within his novels the frequency of expression varied greatly from one time of his life to another, however, the peak periods being in the first and last decades of his marriage. During the former period, such fantasy expression is most frequent in the segments of his novels written during his wifes pregnancies, which suggests that he felt the new babies to be separation threats to his marital love relationship. The peak in the decade before his wifes death coincides with realistic losses he either anticipated or actually suffered in those years. The content analysis of a novelists literary fantasies is discussed as a useful adjunct, for biographical purposes, to the direct examination of life events.

Episodic Analysis of Novels

Abstract Episodic analysis is the separation of a novel into its component episodes —i.e., into short stories each of which has a unitary theme—in order to provide equivalent units for content analysis. Independent coders show two types of disagreement. Neither is serious for content analysis, and both may be minimized by some suggested ground rules. In a study of 13 stylistically different books, intercoder reliability ranged from 76% to 94%. Variations in accuracy were clearly related to literary style. Relevant information on the coding process and reliability, as well as data on the number and length of episodes in the 13 books, are given in tabular form. Problems connected with reliable coding are discussed and some solutions are suggested.

Mark Twain's Exhibitionism

A content analysis of Mark Twains letters and novels is used to measure the variations in strength of his exhibitionistic motivation over a 33 year period. Within a theoretical framework, biographical events are matched with these changes to show how they served to arouse or inhibit his attention-seeking behavior in social interaction and fantasy.