Authors, a lot of them surround us today, they are the person who enhances our imagination, or gives existence to anything that is plain and different. In American history, there were a number of poets and authors who rose to popularity. They changed people’s outlook on everything, and added a great amount of different things in American literature. Throughout this time, there were a couple of great poets and authors who helped create the local color school in American fiction. One poet who helped in this movement was Bret Harte.
Bret Harte, an American author and poet, was born on August 25, 1836 in Albany, New York. His father, Henry Harte, and mother, Elizabeth Ostrander, both worked as teachers. His full name was Francis Brett Hart,
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With no recourse, he went to San Francisco where he found a job as a typesetter. It was also here where he shared short stories and poems for the journal, the Golden Era. While working here, he started signing his works as Bret or The Bohemian. His life at this stage was somewhat a repeat of what his childhood was, living measly, since he was only receiving a small amount of income. Harte was very much against racism, and these feelings gave him reason to write poems entitled as “Plain Language from Truthful James”. Even though he considered this to be “the worst poems I ever wrote”, it got a different response from the people around the world: they loved it! The poems had a negative outcome because it started a racial turmoil in California against the Chinese. However, in time, he learned how to please the readers by giving them what they wanted to read and not what they needed to read. Before, racism was a huge issue, nobody liked other races because then do not have the same color of skin. People always wanted to have a higher authority over the others, the whites were considered the powerful authority at that time. In 1860, he started writing stories with the theme of Escape and Illusions. He was considered a very talented humorist because he can turn a completely boring thing in to something everyone would enjoy. With his talent in writing, he won national acclaim and from then on,
On July 6th, 1979, Kevin Hart, world renown comedian and actor, was born. He was born to two wonderful parents named Nancy Hart (Mother) and Henry Witherspoon (Father). He was the youngest of two boys. They were mainly raised by their mother, acting as a single parent as a result of Henry Witherspoon’s problems with a drug addiction and the law.
In the early part of the 20th century writers became more artistic. A modernist approach could be seen in many artist works. The African American writers during this era could be seen as aggressively self-conscious, divided, and vigor. Yet, many were just trying to figure out who they were as a person, and how they fit in the north. The Harlem Renaissance paved a way for these African American writers to emerge. Urban culture became visible, and many writers begin expressing themselves. Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston are two modernists who exposed the beauty of the African American Culture. Therefore, there artistic abilities and cultural experiences supported them in identifying themselves through short stories and poems.
During the 1940s there were many authors creating poems and stories to try and uplift the spirit of the black community in New York. However, Langston Hughes felt inspired to write about a fictional character, which in he attempted to represent all of the feelings of the black man without being blatant or bold: “Jesse B. Semple is certainly no romantic hero, protest victim or
Langston Hughes was one of the great writers of his time. He was named the “most renowned African American poet of the 20th century” (McLaren). Through his writing he made many contributions to following generations by writing about African American issues in creative ways including the use of blues and jazz. Langston Hughes captured the scene of Harlem life in the early 20th century significantly influencing American Literature. He once explained that his writing was an attempt to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America” (Daniel 760). To fulfill this task, he wrote 15 volumes of poetry, six novels, three books, 11 plays, and a variety of non-fiction work (Daniel 760). He also edited over 50 books in his time (McKay).
American literature has evolved greatly from the Native Americans to 1870’s. American literature has changed, it teaches us how we have become more independent ourselves. The World on a Turtle’s Back, a myth, The Scarlet Letter, a book in a puritan setting, and A Rose for Emily is a southern gothic story. American literature would not be the same today without these forms of writing. The teachings from these are passed down generation to generation.
American History, it has done so much in time that has affected how we live life today and how we interpret things. American Literature reflects that and all it has left us with. Throughout the stories and passages we’ve read this course all of them have left a impact on how and why the writers wrote about what they did. It was all because of American History which later went on and fathered American Literature. American Literature has made society how it is today and painted a vivid picture of how American’s and people live and many of these writers had that in mind when they took these notes.
We have produced marvelous pieces of art, dynamic architecture, discovered intelligent theories and ideas, even created significant clothing, jewelry and a multitude of other things. We possess a vast amount of talent that ranges from singers, dancers, writers, entertainers, musicians, poets, actors and actresses. One of my favorite pastimes is poetry. But in order to understand my passion for poetry we must first understand the origins of poetry, and learn about some of the notable African American poets of the past who have paved the way. There are many great African American artists that were very talented poets. Artists such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Gwendolyn Bennett are just a few African Americans who had a momentous influence on writing and poetry in our culture.
The literary rebellion, known as realism, established itself in American writing as a direct response to the age of American romanticism’s sentimental and sensationalist prose. As the dominance of New England’s literary culture waned “a host of new writers appeared, among them Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, and Mark Twain, whose background and training, unlike those of the older generation they displaced, were middle-class and journalistic rather than genteel or academic” (McMichael 6). These authors moved from tales of local color fiction to realistic and truthful depictions of the complete panorama of American experience. They wrote about uniquely American subjects in a humorous and everyday
"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is a short story by Bret Harte about a western town that has banished a
During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.
Langston Hughes is a famous poet known mostly for his contribution to the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many inspirational poems that are still read and used for educational purposes. Many of his poems were inspired by his life and his story. One of his many poems entitled “Theme for English B” talks about how his teacher instructed him to write a page about himself and it will be true. In a “Theme for English B”, Hughes uses tone, and characterization to display a relationship between race and writing.
Mrs. Shenethe Parks has served as principal of Bret Harte School for the past six years. Bret Harte is an elementary school on Chicago’s south side. It consists of approximately 50 staff and faculty members. Mrs. Parks participated in an interview where the recruiting, hiring, developing and even possible firing of staff was discussed.
Throughout American history, there is a variety of great authors who have brought the many genres of literature we have today. Many hear names like Edgar Allan Poe and automatically think of a dark short story, or two, from his collection of works. But how many authors are there which give strong visualization and experiences that not many individuals may get the chance to examine in their life? Around the early 20th century, African Americans were slowly progressing into being intergraded in society as citizens of America. As there were many complications with this adjustment, African Americans were held back from living what everyone else would call “The American Dream” through the next few decades and still fighting for it. About 1955, the Civil Rights movement began for equal rights of African American citizens to be treated equally as everyone one else. Many activists got involved with the movement to help pave the way for a brighter future. There were powerful leaders like Martin Luther King Jr; Malcom X who was more on the religious side and their voices heard through media around the nation. Then there were leaders like James Baldwin, an author and a Samaritan to African Americans.
American society is known for having the highest standard of living across the globe; this is solely due to the consumerist culture that is brought forth by capitalism. Americans in the U.S. take pride in these standards and in the freedoms that this democratic nation has established. The 20th century will always be remembered in American history as a century of radical changes on the social and political fronts of the nation. Literature, too, evolved quickly from specific, compartmentalized fields which fit into categories, to works which had no set definition—nobody knew what to do with them. These changes also took place in poetry; artistic expression began to change across the arts and so did the mediums. Poets across the nation
After studying American author, Walt Whitman, it is clear that he has had a long lasting impact on society and the lives of authors and artists who came after him. Through works like Democratic Vistas and Song of Myself, Whitman gave American society tools to promote creative expression and the essence of democracy. However, Whitman’s methods had to be adopted over time to touch/bring attention to different social issues. Two authors who were able to branch off of Whitman’s works and ideas were Isadora Duncan and James Baldwin. By analyzing these two important characters of history, we will be able explore two different social issues in two different eras and how Duncan and Baldwin refined Whitman’s approach in order to make a statement in society. It’s significant to identify the importance of these artists because this process is still relevant in today’s society, adapting from Whitman in order to get points across and make a difference.