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 Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson, just to name a few.
There was a sense of enlightenment that spread over America in the 18th century.
Many of the stories reflected the sense of freedom that came with the revolution. Consider Washington Irving, he was among the first American writers who gained an international reputation by writing short stories. Irving had a special talent for creating a magical, fairytale quality in his tales, notably, "Rip Van Winkle" and thus helped shape the folklore of early America. "Rip Van Winkle" demonstrating the struggle that man had in order to be truly free, rather nationally or individually. His elegant writing style, full of gentle humor and vivid descriptions, became the building block for other writers to come. Around the same time as Irving's "Rip Van Winkle", William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis displayed a pantheistic view of nature as imbued by God" (7th ed, p, 476). Bryant...
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... Such change is evident in Walt Whitman democratic spirit that was starting to develop. Although many years did not go by, lots changed in American history as well as American literature.
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The authors’ literary works had a way of communicating and expressing their way of life by their own writing styles. The authors I will discuss shared their experience adapting into American culture. The authors I chosen to discuss is Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Thomas Paine who are distinctly different people who share a common background, but overcome different obstacles living in America. The criteria I have to share about their life experiences is their own writings and documented information from credible resources. The analyses and interpretations in the authors writings gives us idea about who they are because of their hardships in America, a new government, and their new culture.
Edgar Allan Poe was a famous horror writer, short story author, poet and editor of newspapers during the 1800's. He is also known to be the first horror writer in the United States. He set the importance for the horror writers in the United States of America. Young Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston of two poor actors. Mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, charming and talented actress and his
While all of these short stories and poems have the same main idea of America, and the societies that make it up, the authors all put their twist and opinion in their writing. Through different methods they can all place a heavy view on America, and therefore get 3 very distinctive points of view that connect to help the reader understand these
...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.
New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file. Sova, Dawn B. "Poe, Edgar Allan.
Ingram, John Henry. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1965.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Edgar Allan Poe: a collection of stories. New York: Tom Doherty associates, LLC, 1994
Kennedy, Gerald J. A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001
Darwinism and Marxism both showed themselves and clashed with current American ideals. These things caused writers to take notice of the changing
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the horror genre in American history. His horror stories have impacted numerous authors and their stories over the years. Various people have tried to copy his way of writing style, but they have failed to achieve the success he did. Even though Poe is no longer living, his impact on American literature can still be felt today.
Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941. Internet.
There are many quotes to describe a classical American author, but Ulysses S. Grant describes one particular true American author as “. . . the simple soldier, who, all untaught of the silken phrase markers, linked words together with an art surpassing the art of schools and into them put a something which will bring American ears, as long as America shall last, the roll of his vanished drums and the thread of his marching hosts.” (American Experience, Grant’s Memoirs) Mark Twain is this simple soldier who is a true American author who expressed America with his writings. He fought for America in his writings as he did when he fought in the Civil War; the realistic literary time period. And his travels around the nation and life-changing experiences influenced him to write for the American readers to imagine what he viewed. Twain is a true American author due to his life events that influenced him to share with his beloved readers.
A. Edgar Allan Poe. The. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1970. Chivers, Thomas H., Ph.D. The Life of Poe. New York: E. P. Duton & Co., Inc., 1952.
In order to see how cultural and historical situations affect literature throughout history, it is important to get a brief history on each era discussed in this paper. The first era we will be reviewing will be writings from 1865-1914. The Civil War was just ending in 1865. America lost over a half of million Americans in the war. The nation was in a state of disorder and the south was devastated. Nevertheless, the country prospered. America became industrialized and saw innovations such as; the railroads, telegraph, telephone, and electricity. The population of the United States had also started to increase due to immigration.
The country as it was in the early part of the twentieth century was shaped toward regenerating and recovering from World War I, the Great Depression, and a lot of other socially-crippling disruptions that were forever altering the United States in a lot of different ways. Some of the changes were good, and others were not so good. The spirit of loyalty and patriotism were alive and thriving in the air and in everyone's hearts, and the literature of that time greatly reflects the influence that this surge of patriotism brought upon the American peoples.