More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of American history on American literature
The Influence of History on American Literature
History of america in american literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
J. Hector St. Hon de Crevecoeur, a French aristocrat, defines what it means to be American in his collection of essays directed to the American people. By utilizing extended metaphor, rhetorical questions, and a prideful sentiment, he successfully conveys his uplifting definition of American.
Crevecoeur expresses his view of America masterfully through extended metaphor. He equates men in Europe to “many useless plants” that were devastated by “want, hunger and war...” (18-20). By describing the life of Americans before they emigrated from Europe, Crevecoeur contrasts Europe as a separate and malignant place. Henceforth, the audience visualizes the distinct appalling conditions of their birth country. Crevecoeur continues his metaphor, he projects how Americans have “taken root and flourished” in their new nation (22). This development of the metaphor further distinguishes the
…show more content…
He begins by proposing whether someone who experiences constant suffering can call “any [other] kingdom his country[?]” (9). The audience is led to understand that they owe no allegiance to a government that gives them nothing. Therefore, readers realize that Americans have no bonds to their European birthplaces. Crevecoeur furthers his point by simplifying his question, and ponders the allegiance of a European emigrant who “had nothing[?]” (40). Consequently, the author communicates that Americans have no allegiance to European nations. Ergo, the rhetorical question implies that Americans have their allegiance to America. This method allows the reader to make the progression themselves and the idea becomes authentic and personal to the individual. Thus, the American audience aligns themselves with America by their own perceived choice. This development of national allegiance is a central idea that Crevecoeur communicates through use of rhetorical
Anticipation is prevalent throughout The Road, which is set by the narrative pace, creating a tense and suspenseful feeling and tone.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
“He say Mr. Parris must be kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris mean man and no gentle man and he bid me rise out of bed and cut your throat!” (Miller 47).
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the fight for equal and just treatment for both women and children was one of the most historically prominent movements in America. Courageous women everywhere fought, protested and petitioned with the hope that they would achieve equal rights and better treatment for all, especially children. One of these women is known as Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, Kelley made her mark on the nation when she delivered a speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association, raising awareness of the cruel truth of the severity behind child labor through the use of repetition, imagery and oxymorons.
Ever since its very creation, the United States of America has been symbolic of several ideas that were the base upon which the country was built. A period that was crucial in establishing those prominent American values was the American romantic period. American romanticism was the movement towards creating a distinct American cultural identity after a period of heavy reliance on European influence. In “Old Ironsides,” Oliver Holmes uses the Romantic characteristics of intense emotion, references to nature, and intuition over logic to portray not only the ship but also America as a proud and gallant country
I chose this word because the tone of the first chapter seems rather dark. We hear stories of the hopes with which the Puritans arrived in the new world; however, these hopes quickly turned dark because the Purtains found that the first buildings they needed to create were a prison, which alludes to the sins they committed; and a cemetery, which contradicts the new life they hoped to create for themselves.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he utilizes various literary devices to emphasize his many thematic topics. He demonstrates sin through the unholy nature of Abigail’s history with John Proctor with Abigail’s words, "I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near!" (Miller 21). He reveals the wrongness of the situation, and shows the desperation Abigail has for John to return her feelings. due to his marital status and her age through his simile describing John’s actions and reactions near Abigail as animalistic and dirty. Miller’s similes also demonstrates the idea of good vs. evil through his description of the Devil’s effect on several girls. “...
Authors use rhetorical strategies to express themes in their writing. Different rhetorical strategies help convey different themes with varying degrees of effectiveness. One way to measure the effectiveness is to rhetorical analyze two pieces of writing to each other and see which is best.
“In this great American Asylum” Crèvecoeur’s diction reflects his opinions with the first words. Using the words great and asylum to describe America revels the author’s feelings. “Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, can that man call England or any other kingdom his country?” Crevecoeur’s commiseration is displayed towards, “the poor of Europe.” Having an undertone of disgust, the reader sees wretch and can tell how Crevecoeur looks upon England, “A country that had no bread for him, who met [him] with nothing but frowns of the rich, [he] owned not a single foot of surface.” However, the main view focuses on, “the poor of England” and why America is where they ventured. Crevecoeur’s language is fascinating, “Everything is
Godfrey Hodgson believes that the ideal for the American Exceptionalism stands for its great principle (rule of law, rights protection, constitution, and sovereignty of the people) that protects it from any political crisis that hit other great countries (xvi). He goes further and suggests that ideology was involved in establishing the exceptional character of American civilization (7). However, his purpose in writing the Myth of American Exceptionalism is to dispute Perry Miller’s (1905-1963) assumption of “the uniqueness of the American experience.” Essentially, he argues that the exaggeration of the American experience and destiny is extremely dangerous, “because they are the soil in which unreal and hubristic assumptions of the American history have grown” (16). That is to say, the American experience is less exceptional than it seems. He offers two counter arguments. First, the history of the United States is connected to the history of Europe. Second, the social and political ideals, especially democracy and liberty, have come into existence after a struggle as anywhere else (Hodgson 16). For him, it is true that American history has distinct and original features; yet, it is also true that America always been greatly influenced by European
Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crevecoeur was a French born citizen who moved to New York and became a naturalized citizen of Great Britain. After living in America as a citizen for a while, Crevecoeur decided to write an essay titled “Letters from an American Farmer”. During this time, tensions in America between the colonists and loyalists were increasing, and because of this the idea of America as a sovereign nation and territory was becoming popular. Crevecoeur wrote this essay in order to discuss what it means to be an American, and why people should be honored to be called an American. Crevecoeur believes that America is a melting pot of the world, and is full of opportunities for anyone who lives there. In order to back up his claim, Crevecoeur uses rhetorical devices, especially pathos, while he does also use ethos and logos as well.
Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.
According to Crèvecoeur, the Americans were previously “wretches” who “wandered about” and “were so many useless plants.” Instead of evoking disdain towards the Americans, Crèvecoeur used these phrases with negative connotations to draw out empathy for their difficulties that occurred in Europe. This somewhat elitist tone assists him to express his favorable view of America by accentuating its invigorating effects on its citizens. America’s “new laws,” “new mode of living,” and “new social system” helped them become formally ranked as citizens and “like all other plants they have taken root and flourished.” These words and phrases, with positive connotations, exhibit Crèvecoeur’s view on America as a “regenerative”
Prevailing Purposes in “The Crucible” Playwright and essayist, Arthur Miller, in his play, “The Crucible”, utilizes pathos, symbolism, and irony to convey his purpose of how the events of the Salem Witch Trials had detrimental effects on the society and how far the elites went to protect their reputation . Miller’s reasoning is to expand Parris’ and Danforth purpose for their side of the argument during the witch trials. He adapts a contrasting tone in order to appeal to similar feelings with reasoning in his american readers.
What is an American these ideas are fully expressed from the start as Crevecoeur states, “a modern society offers itself to his contemplation, different from what had hitherto seen.” (605), thus showing that America is a new land never seen before that is worthy of contemplation and admiration. This belief shows the idea of a better place free of old European social divides and stratification and the promise of a better place. Crevecoeur further expands on this going as far as to call America an asylum, a true place of recovery and safety, for European immigrants and their descendants. These early ideas bring forth the foundation for modern beliefs of moral superiority and thus the right for the United States to encourage and push their own ideals upon others. This supremacy is explicitly expressed by the author as seen in, “we are the most perfect society now existing in the world.” (Crevecoeur 606), and displays “James” view that America is indeed better than other cultures and should be treated as such. It is important to note however that the idea of moral superiority does not only come from a utopia of ideas and freedom, but effort, hope, and the ability to push forward in the face of