Literature Impact On American Literature

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

The Americans are the pilgrims from the west who have carried a great mass of sciences, arts, industry, and vigor, which began in the east. They were once scattered all over Europe but have been incorporated into one of the best systems of inhabitants in the world. The American is a new person acting upon new principles, forcing him to entertain new ideas and come up with new opinions. He was

What does it mean to be an American? This question has often been purposed throughout American Literature. This answer depends on one singular important factor, time. Timing is everything, it determines what is happening in the present, what has occurred in the past, and it gives us a glimpse of the possibilities yet to come. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop, both knew a very different America, because of this they both have a very different sense American identity and a sense of community that was present in America during those time periods. Winthrop lived in early America when the country was just starting to take shape with the first colonies being

America’s individuality is constructed with a various number of circumstances. The most important circumstance is the injustice of the people. Throughout history America has had many forms of injustice like slavery, kidnapping, public shame, rights and many more. We see some of these situations in Equiano, On Being Brought from Africa to America and The Scarlet Letter. Injustice comes in many distinct forms, in Equiano it talks about the injustice of African slaves and the way they were treated. In Of Plymouth Plantation it talks the injustice that the Pilgrims had on the Indians. And last but not least in The Scarlet Letter it talks about the injustice of women's rights and also public opinion and how is the unjust to judge a person before you get to know the situation.

In the early 1800's America began to create their own unique culture. For the longest time, America had been getting their ideas and being influenced by other countries. I believe that they wanted to create a new type of culture that was truly American. They did this by creating new art forms such as literature, music, painting, and architecture. For example, Americans began using characters and setting that fell into the "American" category. Most characters, were "portrayed as strong, brave, resourceful, and honorable" (chapter 6-3, page 323). Another thing Americans did different, is what they built things. "American architects of the early 1800s developed their own forms of building" (chapter 6-3, page 325). Based on ideas from Greece and

As the new world struggled to gain impendence from its mother country, Britain, native authors also try to develop their own style of writings. It quickly became evident that the search for a native literature became a national obsession. Then with the triumph of American independence, many at the time saw this as a divine sign that America and her people were destined for greatness. Greatness came with a strong nation and thousands of poems and stories that still shape our nation. The recent revolution greatly expressed the heart of the American people. However, it would take another fifty years of development throughout American before it produced the first great generation of American writers such as, Washington Irving, Ralph

America is a country where individuals are able to find their own niche within their community, to connect with other individuals with common beliefs, and to have an American identity without losing their own roots. One of the reasons why America is what it is today is because of how its history was started and founded. Ever since its discovery, people from different continents such as Africa, Europe, and Asia have immigrated to America for various reasons, allowing America to be ethnically diverse. Throughout the world, cultural diffusion occurs; however, in America, cultural diffusion has been part of the country’s culture since the colonial era. For example, the colonies in America did not only interact with their mother country,

What does it mean to be an American? In today's day and age, the general perception of an American is to be free, free to practice any religion, free to speak your mind, free in general. However, America has only been able to be perceived as a promised land due to the obstacles and barriers that have been challenged by early Americans. From having to accept others religious beliefs to the abolishment of slavery. A good example is J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer (1782). Letters from an American Farmer is a collection of twelve letters written from the perspective of a fictional character. These letters do a magnificent job at emphasizing on how America is similar to the environment and the people who feed

“What is American” by Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was an advertisement for America. America is explained as a beautiful and structured place that came to be after work was done to a wild woody place. The text stated “ he beholds air cities, substantial villages, extensive fields, an immense country filled with decent houses, good roads, orchards, meadows, and bridges, where an hundred years ago all was wild , woody and uncultivated!” Another point that was made that America was the land of free. He, as Hector calls America , was free of many things. One major thing he was free of was monarchy. The selling point hector used was there was no one person or power in control. Those who came to America would not

American literature 1865-1914 is an American literary time period that began in 1865 and ended in 1914. This time period was flourished by three distinct features and the first of these features is: The Aftermath of the Civil War. It is estimated that a total of 620,000 Americans were killed in the Civil War, and for what? At the time, we were an America that was divided by one huge issue that ran supreme and it was slavery and the unequal treatment of African Americans. At this time the nation needed to figure a way to unite the North who were against slavery and the South who were for slavery. As Abraham Lincoln says in our Bedford Anthology of American Literature: “No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man, we simply must begin with, and mould from, disorganized and discordant elements,” (4). He is saying that we must not start a new, but rather we need to start from what we had and mould and shape our country into one. Prior to the Civil War, America was not a whole, it was ruled by states’ rights and was divided on countless issues, and when referring to America, people said the United States are… It wasn’t until under President Lincoln, and concluding the Civil War that the United States began to be referred to as the United States is.. Honest Abe, brought our nation together as one, but the racial tension that remained was something one man can never fix. The literature around this time period was dominated by ideas and feelings circled

In the year of 1600’s, the United States of America was being colonized by European countries especially by England. However, on 4th of July 1776 America became independent after having drafted the “Declaration of Independence” initiated by Thomas Jefferson [History of the United States, Wikipedia]. The difference between these two time periods shows that Britain had colonized America for about 176 years which ultimately led to prosper European cultures. Although America became an independent nation, European culture was still playing its role. Therefore, American writers namely Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau presented an idea about American Identity.

“A Tale Intended to be After the Fact…” is how Stephan Crane introduced his harrowing story, “The Open Boat,” but this statement also shows that history influences American Literature. Throughout history, there has been a connection among literary works from different periods. The connection is that History, current events, and social events have influenced American Literature. Authors, their literary works, and the specific writing styles; are affected and influenced by the world around them. Authors have long used experiences they have lived through and/or taken out of history to help shape and express in their works. Writing styles are also affected by the current trends and opinions of the period they represent. By reading American

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an America as “a native or inhabitant of the U.S.; a U.S. citizen”. However, being an American is far more than simply living in America or attainting citizenship, it is about a person’s actions and thoughts towards their country. In the book Americanah, Ifemelu, who is originally from Lagos, Nigeria, moves to America to go to a stable college, unlike those in Nigeria, where teachers are frequently on strike. The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez describes the Martinez’s family immigration to Delaware in order to find a reputable school for their mentally disabled child, Maribel. But are the characters in these two books truly American? In modern society, the definition of ‘American’ has become blurred due to numerous immigrants and difficulty to acquire citizenship. Therefore, Americanah and The Book of Unknown Americans do not support or reject the definition of an American, they simply complicate it.

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).

The Colonial Period in American Literature Blake Quickel The Colonial Period of American Literature was vital not only to the timeline of literature in our country, but it shaped the values and tradition that we identify America with. Literature from this period gives us a look into the beginnings of our country from different views such as Poems and stories from Native culture, Puritans, and the founding fathers. These writings give us an honest view of the way of life during this time. The Puritan writings we read in this class were very interesting in how they showed the early stages of America’s religion. Although religion in our government and our country’s values has become less and less extreme over time, it is amazing knowing how much control it had over society in our country’s beginnings; and many of the morals exorcised in the Puritan culture are still values relevant to our society today. In a reading from the “Introduction: Puritan Voices” assignment (a), the writer refers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a “man’s world”, describing the limited roles of women in society and how men were portrayed in the church as superior. Puritan ministers often preached that the soul had two parts, the immortal masculine half, and the mortal feminine half. Gender inequality is an enormous part of American Literature throughout all periods, and here you can see where these values originated in our country. Puritan society exists as a valid demonstration for why the first