Introduction To American Literature

The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the

In 1940, McCullers received an enormous amount of critical praise and commercial success with her first novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. This novel is known for its best concept and theme and beauty of the story. McCullers’ musical sensibility shapes the entire structure of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The novel has the most positive and optimistic characters. In her outline for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, McCullers announces that the novel deals with the theme of man’s revolt against his own inner isolation and his urge to express himself as fully as is possible.

It is also worth to notice that John Hawthorne, one of the Salem Witch Trial Judges, was his great grandfather (Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography). Since Salem was his hometown, he developed his writing through the gospel of American Puritanism and intend to spread those principles through his literature which also gives the focus of his literature. Hawthorne’s writing style was unique and was well-regarded for several reasons. First of all, Hawthorne induces readers to use their own imagination to interpret the meaning of the tale, as it is evident in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Moreover, he likes to present multi-fold and multi-perspective of a character.

On the other hand their similarities connects them closer. It refers to the popular "literary pairs" or "fictional duos". The comic foil, the earnest aide, sidekick following the "hero" is a model of character that has been widely repeated in literature over the years. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Gatsby and Nick, and Holmes and Watson tackle all certain adventures or issues with the inseparable treasured companion. We can even find many others literary duos such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer or Dr Frankenstein and The Monster.

Modified Rhetorical Précis of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense Thomas Paine, a British-American political writer, intellectual, and strong advocate of the American Revolution, published several compelling pamphlets in the mid-late 18th century inspiring colonists to rebel against the British government. One of his most influential works, Common Sense (1776), would eventually become the most widely-read political non-fiction of its time. Samuel Adams would later declare that “without the pen of [Thomas Paine], the sword of Washington would be raised in vain.” In Common Sense, Paine powerfully argues that colonists must declare independence from Britain in order to establish a representative democracy founded upon their religious and political beliefs.

The balance between individual’s rights (more specifically freedom of religion and belief), local and national government are essential to America today. The colonies were heavily religious in the elementary stages of this country. Faith has influenced the migration to this country, the relationships between the European settlers and the Native Americans, and the establishment of America. Colonial culture laid the groundwork for America. Faith continues to be a huge part of American culture today.

He supported the free verse and skillfully practiced the techniques of collage and allusion. Pound placed a value on novelty and experimentation that helps define what we see as the avant-garde today (Lewis and Domestico). Pound had the most contentious career of any twentieth-century poet, and his overall place in American literature is more controversial than that of any other modernist. As a poet, a critic, and a promoter of other writers, Pound was crucial to the growth of modernist poetry. T. S. Eliot, in dedicating his poem

One could almost visualize a powerful, mysterious smirk appear on Mother Nature's face as she turns away. The novel The Hot Zone, is currently my favorite read. The powerful and provoking writing style of Richard Preston makes me want to dive other works by him. The fact that he can make a non fictional informative story so intriguing and addicting is a large feat.

The Toxicity of Humanity’s Advancement: An Emotional Argument Robert Crumb, one of America’s most legendary cartoonists, and Joni Mitchell, the Canadian folk-rock singer-songwriter, collaborated on “A Short History of America”. While the short was composed of already published works; the combination of Crumb’s comic, “A Short History of America” and Mitchell’s song, “Yellow Taxi Cab” bombarded the senses of viewers everywhere with literary appeals. Emotional appeals were found in abundance through the visuals and the audio, these appeals further the particular argument this dynamic duo is perpetuating about the destruction of the environment in the way of progress.

“These chapters present a story of great difficulties and great determination, demonstrating the strength of character that later generations of Americans have wished to claim as their own.” (Johnston). Johnston stated the book, Of Plymouth Plantation, explained how much hardship the colony have faced, and how they are still determined to sail and settle in America. The Puritans were determined to fight for their religious freedom. William Bradford was well-known from this book because he wrote down the history of the Puritans and many situations they been

Some colonial gentleman even changed their religious beliefs to reflect European ideas that God only played an indirect affair with humans. Educated colonists were especially interested in the new ideas that showed the Age of Enlightenment what it really was. How did the Glorious Revolution affect colonial politics? • The dethroning of King James in England and at the end of the Dominion of New England showed all of the success of the representative government over dictatorship. Colonists came to see their legislatures as colonial alternatives of parliament on its own.

He offers us the models to illustrate British colonization in North America and its impact on the formation of culture and society. He has argued that the conventional model selected by historians to describe change in all other early British colonies or more specifically “The New England Declension Model” is indecorous. Instead, societies that first settled in The Atlantic island, The West Indies, The Middle colonies, Ireland and The Lower South followed a pattern first used in the Chesapeake. This pattern has involved a process in which the new societies slowly developed into deep embellished cultural entities, each of which had its own discrete features. He also stresses that the protruding features of the emerging American culture are not found primarily in “New England Puritanism” but in “widely manifested configurations of sociocultural behavior exhibited throughout British North America, including New

1. First, we must ask ourselves what constitutes reading material as American Literature. Simply put, it is literature that assesses the copious literary history of the United States (the American experience). Therefore, the reading assignments such as Williams Bradford’s Of Plymouth’s Plantation, excerpts from the Journal of Christopher Columbus, “First Voyage”, Fourth Voyage”, and “Second Voyage”, and the “Story-Telling Stone” are perfect examples of American Literature. All of these stories depict life in America, whether written on paper, or communicated orally from generations to generations.

They focused on life on Earth, rather than bettering themselves to please a god. The current democracy that is in place in America, although it is much more similar to rationalism than puritanism, hold traits from both governments that could be seen in colonist America. The colonial time period in America was a rather long time period lasting from when the first colony was established in 1607 and ended with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And during this time period Native American culture was being tampered with, and two very different forms of government, puritanism and rationalism, were being

Raymond Carver is said to be one the most influential American writers and poets in the 20th century, especially in his works of short stories. One of his most famous pieces is “Cathedral.” This well-known short story is the final piece in Carver’s collection Cathedral published in 1983. Carver includes much symbolism through the story’s plot, structure, point of view, tone, and character build. The depictions of each character’s experiences, the irony in the story, and hearing the narrator’s point of view in “Cathedral” work in harmony to support its themes that prejudice and ignorance as well as the nature of reality are present and change throughout the course of the story, and all lead to a strong character development by the close.