Human Experiences In American Literature

Many people have memories from when they read their first book and how excited they were. They remember everything like the palm of their hand, although I honestly do not recall when I read my first book. I just began to read and loved it. I would read for hours and hours, my parents would take books away from me, because I would not sleep from how much I read. I have read an abundant amount of books, but my all time favorite book is, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. I relish the way Harper Lee demonstrates every character's emotions and thoughts so clearly to the reader. This book exemplifies how we should not judge anyone until we step in their shoes and walk in them. There are books that are not pleasant for

One of the biggest questions an individual faces in their lifetime is, who am I? A question like that is not easily answered. A people's values, beliefs and traits give them their identity. So what is the American Identity? The United States is a fairly newer nation and thus it has had less time to develop its own identity. But with a vast majority of its people immigrating from all over the world, it‘s been shaped by the mixing of numerous cultures. The American people have long been acquainted with a positive, gritty, ambitious pioneers man but in reality, Americans have always had a lack of respect for nature and other people. This lack of respect being more so from a lack of understanding and a laziness to understand. The lack of understanding can be summed up in the trait of Ignorance which best describes the American identity. We can see evidence for this ignorance in pieces of literature such as, Indian Wisdom, The Last American Man, and Nature, in which we can read the author's view of the American people.

Empathy is the theme which connects the reader with the characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; the experiences of the characters in this novel show us the significance of empathy as a theme. Harper Lee writes about the experiences which Scout and Jem undergo in learning to be empathetic, while Atticus and Tom Robinson are two of the key characters who, at the time of the novel already possessed the ability to be empathetic.

This year, we read four great works of literature. Each piece is so different from each other, yet all writing demonstrates that everybody is human and experiences harsh circumstances. At the point when life gets difficult, people read books to realize that they are not the only one. In each great piece of writing, we see and feel the characters' battles and feelings of anguish that makes it so relatable for the readers. The characters show the genuine unpredictability of life. In the pieces we read we see death, tragedy, and courage portrayed magnificently.

The reading for the past two weeks have been a little controversial. The reading assignments that we have been given are real life situations. The two stories that I choose to talk about include “The Atlantic Exposition Address” by Booker T. Washington, and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. One of this reading assignments is about a real life event, and the other one is a playwright about a situation that can happen in a person’s life. I choose this two reading assignments because they are very different, but at the same time we can connect to them in our personal life. I will be talking about imagery, symbol, and even a setting to create a conflict/resolution of a human

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," says the Declaration of Independence. This phrase encompasses three major values shown throughout early American literature. The strong belief in religion, freedom, and a strong will for a better life. Each piece had one or more of these themes within them.

When I think of America, I think of freedom. We live in a country where we can do what we choose. We can express our opinions and live our own lives. Individuals can form their own individual beliefs and they can do what they want and pursue what they wish. They can play basketball, go to school, get a job, have a family, buy a house, or go to church. We are free. We have opportunity to be whatever we want to make ourselves. When you ask, what is an American? I find it no different to ask, what is freedom? America and freedom are intertwined and this relationship is evident in American literature.

A concept of freedom (or liberty) has been the foundation of the United States since its founding in 1776. After all, its Declaration of Independence states that every citizen deserves the rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. However, “Liberty” doesn’t just mean a literal freedom from captivity, or the right to live independently from the rule of a monarch. The Constitution preserves multiple different types of Liberty, including the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and many more.

What does it mean to be American? Webster’s defines an American as: Of or relating to the United States of America or its people, language, or culture. My definition to be American means that you’re free. Free to say what you want. Free to choose your own religion. Free to vote for whom you want. Free to grow up and pick the occupation you desire. Free to go where you please. Free of being a slave to no one! Free to love whom you want. Most importantly, free to get a good education. Just being free period! As a child, I was taught those things to grow up and realize you’re not as free as they portray us to be.

Empathy is something everyone is capable of feeling, but not everyone chooses to take action and help.“Harvest Gypsies” by John Steinbeck, is a non-fictional story about two migrant families who lived in unstable and filthy conditions. “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, is a fictional poem regarding the relationship between two neighbors that come together every year to mend a wall that divides their properties. The reader is more likely to experience more empathy while reading “Harvest Gypsies” than while reading “Mending Wall” because, Steinbeck regards real people who suffer through hardships, Frost, on the other hand, doesn’t involve the characters undergoing any distress or misfortune, thus the reader may not fully understand what is

As a student I often find myself showing little interest in early American Literature vs modern United States. The text can be boring mostly because it is primarily authored by Anglo-Saxton Puritans. Once the text was read, it started to make more sense to me about the way of puritan life; as well as being more relevant on the views of America. The Puritan way of life was a man’s world. Women had separate roles in Puritan society; women served as secondary subjects their husbands. The roles were limited only to mothering and controlling household functions. Women were only able to read scriptures from the bible not publicly allowed to interpret them; although Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson did so anyway through their text and poems. On a good note there were two legal rights of Puritan women.

Empathy is, an awareness of feeling and emotions of other people. It is a necessary skill; the link that connects one to another. It is how humans understand what another has felt. :To Kill a Mockingbird”, a novel by Harper Lee, is a perfect example of humans and their empathetic behavior. The skill is learned by the novel’s protagonist, Jean Louis ‘Scout’ Finch. At the start of the novel Jean Louis is a six year old girl living in the southern town of Maycomb. Scout was taught about empathy by her father, Atticus. Atticus teaches Scout and her brother Jem the importance of empathy throughout the novel. Empathy, is one of the many themes without “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The skill is demonstrated

The value of controversial American literature is of great importance to society. Controversial novels helps readers see into the past and to understand it in a more suitable way. Readers see that occasionally society puts a grasp on people, but every now and then there are people who move more towards community. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we see two different protagonists attempt to help two black men. The society sees this as horrible to their people, while some people, like the protagonists, manage to escape the grasp of society and move into a community of righteousness. The novels were both banned for their foul language and tackling the issues surround black rights. The

Early American literature does a tremendous job of revealing the exact conditions and challenges that were faced by the explorers and later by the colonists of the New World. From early shipwrecks to the later years of small colonies barely surviving through dreadful winters, the literary works of the time period focus on some very recognizable themes. The theme of any given work – being simply the unifying subject or idea – is a very important element of any piece of writing. As one reviews some of this early literature, it becomes obvious that several themes appear repeatedly, and it is these subjects that were clearly very common among people from all over the New World. While a number of themes

Early American literature may be said to begin with the Colonial period. John Smith and John Winthrop are two examples of the types of writing at this period: the former kept a romantic journal of his adventures in the New World; the latter kept a journal (or history) of life in New England, where religious matters were of utmost importance. The Puritans had come seeking a life free from religious persecution (which, they ironically brought with them however, as their descendent Nathaniel Hawthorne would show in The Scarlet Letter).