American literature has changed since the industrial revolution. As a child matures into an adult, so has American literature grown to include the problems faced in reality. The word “fiction” transformed from the fairy tales of romanticism to the reality of realism in America. Authors such as: Clemens, Howells, Chopin, Eliot, Faulkner, and Anderson have all assisted the move from dreams to reality. Dramatists O’neill and Miller have written plays that have changed the way social circumstances are viewed by Americans. Americans, as portrayed by American writers, have been plagued with an inability to communicate feelings through speech, yet from the industrial revolution to post second World War, American writers have portrayed the unuttered words of feeling in novels, poems, plays, and short stories.
Communication is important to the life of human beings, yet communicating feelings in words has never been top priority in American literature. A characters thoughts and feelings rarely surface, resulting in a conflict of sorts with other characters. Communication in realistic literature displays body language in great detail, as well as characters personal thoughts and reactions to stimuli. Samuel L. Clemens, described by The Oxford Companion to American Literature as a “journalistic humorist in the frontier tradition” (Hart 162), wrote several compositions pitting romanticism against realism. In Clemens’ Huckleberry Finn, a moral dilemma between characters is not addressed in words, but in thoughts. Realistically, humans do not express speech or take action before thinking; therefore, the documentation of thought is more accurate than the blurting out of ideas. When Huck is faced with the moral...
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...ckleberry Finn. (1876) Baym, Nina, et al., eds. 28-216.
Eliot, T.S. The Wasteland. (1921) Baym, Nina, et al., eds. 1380-1392
Howells, W.D. “Editha”. (1907) Baym, Nina, et al., eds. 258-267
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. (1949) Baym, Nina, et al., eds. 1920-1985
O’neill, Eugene. The Hairy Ape. (1921) http://www.theatrehistory.com/plays/hairyape001.html.
Rideout, Walter B. “The Simplicity of Winesburg, Ohio” (1962) Rpt. in Winesburg, Ohio eds. Modlin, C.E. and White, R.L. A Norton Critical Edition NY: Norton 1996.
Trachtenberg, Alan. The Incorporation of America: Culture & Society in the Gilded Age. ed. Foner, Eric NY: Hill and Wang 1982.
Updike, John. “Twisted Apples” (1984) Rpt. in Winesburg Ohio eds. Modlin, C.E. and White, R.L. A Norton Critical Edition NY: Norton 1996.
Grant, M. (1962). Myths of the Greeks and Romans (1st ed.). Cleveland: World Pub. Co.
Whites version of the sword in the stone legend although altered through the introduction of animal, god like, and fairy tale characters still engulfs the reader into the telling’s of the Arthurian world. The Sword in the Stone is enjoyable to readers of all ages through its enchantment of the telling of a young King Arthur. White cleverly connects all the adventures of Arthur throughout his book to give a cartoon like visual that tie all the loose ends together for the reader.
Smiley, Jane. “Jane Smiley on The Once and Future King | Books | The Guardian.” Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 03 June 2006. Web. 26 Mar. 2011.
The passage (130-202) of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the appearance of a strange knight in King Arthur's court. The anonymous author of the epic describes the rider in great detail, emphasizing the importance of this character. The passage is intended to arouse readers' curiosity, and at the same time, to introduce the mighty danger that the main character, Sir Gawain, will have to face. Furthermore, the strange knight is shown to be a test or trial for King Arthur and his knights. Finally, the passage presents the actual dynamics of Arthur's court as incompatible with the poet's initial praising of nobility, justice and chivalric ideals.
Expansive growth was the moniker which expressly defined the Gilded Age. Industry in all sectors, witnessed massive growth leading to the creation of an American economy. Due to the rapidly changing nature of industrialization important men of both the public and private sectors attempted to institute their own controls over it. However this transforming landscape integrated both economic and political changes, but also cultural and social interactions. In turn, those who controlled the flow of business would also steadily impact the American social scene by extension. Alan Trachtenberg, professor of American studies at Yale and author of The Incorporation of America, argues that the system of incorporation unhinged the idea of national identity that all American’s had previously shared. As a result incorporation became the catalyst for the great debate about what it meant to actually be American, and who was capable of labeling themselves as such. Throughout his work Trachtenberg consistently tackles the ideas of cultural identity and how those ideas struggled against one another to be the supreme definition of Americanism. This work not only brings to life the issue of identity but it attempts to synthesize various scholarly works into a cohesive work on the Gilded Age and demonstrates that concepts developed during the incorporation of the time period have formed the basis for the American cultural, economic, and political superstructure. The Incorporation of America sets a high standard for itself one in which it doesn’t necessarily meet; however the work is still expansive and masterful at describing the arguments of the Gilded Age.
A story is not complete nor acceptable without a visible theme. Themes give novels an opportunity to teach the reader a moral. In T.H. White’s fantasy literature novel The Once And Future King, the reader will discover multiple morals within its four-part plot. The novel takes place in twelfth-century England where the viewer meet a young King Arthur and his life and trials living through the Middle Ages. Much of this book consists of Arthurian Legends and does a wonderful job conveying its themes. White’s TOFK teaches its audience about the concept of power, pacifism, and the reality of knowledge vs. strength. This essay will explain the morals and views within this Arthurian novel.
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Brinkley, Alan American History A Survey, Volume I: To 1877, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. pg. 101-122, 209-213.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
Eibling, Harold H., et al., eds. History of Our United States. 2nd edition. River Forest, Ill: Laidlaw Brothers, 1968.
When T. H. White decided to write The Once and Future King, he realized that his task would be an ambitious one. He faced the challenge of telling a tale which has been present for centuries, in a new way which would make it of interest to readers. His recreation of the Arthurian legend more than lives up to that challenge. The addition of new themes, anachronism, characters such as King Pellinore, and new adventures gives the novel a unique flair without straying too far from the traditional legend. The deeper interpretations of the characters and events in the story provide for a truth and authenticity not to be found in similar works, and the sense of humor gives White's novel an individual touch. T. H. White's The Once and Future King is one of the best retellings of the Arthurian legend, and his additions to the tale create an invigorating and entertaining combination, ranking it among the most popular and best read of all.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. The Reader’s Companion to American History. (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991).
...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.
Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.
The statement “philosophy of Christian education” contains much information to be unwrapped. The term philosophy literally means, in the Greek, “love of wisdom.” In this case, the study of philosophy involves a “critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge” (Philosophy). My understanding of Christian education is what I hope to unveil in this brief document. A high-quality education of children must embrace a student’s intellect, spiritual nature, social life, emotional growth, and physical health. I see evidence for this in scripture as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). The goal of education should be the training of children, in every area of their life, for adulthood. What makes my philosophy of education different from the secular world is the distinctively Christian biblical worldview. It is this biblical worldview that sets apart Christian education from the public schools in our culture because we address the spiritual dimension of children that the secular humanistic education denies.