How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
It was a graveyard of the old-fashioned Western kind. It was on a hill, about a mile and a half from the village. It had a crazy board fence around it, which leaned inward in places, and outward the rest of the time, but stood upright nowhere. (9.2)
Here, Twain emphasizes the typicality of St. Petersburg. It may not be "Anytown, USA," but it is meant to recall Twain's hometown and those of many other readers.
Quote #5
Close upon the hour of noon the whole village was suddenly electrified with the ghastly news. No need of the as yet undreamed-of telegraph; the tale flew from man to man, from group to group, from house to house, with little less than telegraphic speed. (11.1)
Twain lets us know that gossip spreads like wildfire in the small town and reminds us that Tom Sawyer's story is set firmly in the past.
Quote #6
Even the Glorious Fourth was in some sense a failure, for it rained hard, there was no procession in consequence, and the greatest man in the world (as Tom supposed), Mr. Benton, an actual United States Senator, proved an overwhelming disappointment -- for he was not twenty-five feet high, nor even anywhere in the neighborhood of it. (22.5)
Tom, young and, clearly, not worldly, seems to have really bought into the myth surrounding great American politicians.