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Varying Definitions of 'America' in American Literature
Denotations and connotations inherent in the word "America" in different works of American literature have a number of similarities and differences. Often, the definition of the word is not known at the beginning of a work and one of the thematic elements is the search for the true "America," whatever it may be for the author in question. Many American authors raise the question, "What is America?" and go about answering it in their own way. This is, perhaps, the only common element across the great variety of works in the collective body of American literature, that "America" means different things to different authors, and that one of the beautiful aspects of America is this diversity of views.
The earliest definitions and connotations for "America" as an idea come from, of course, the Native Americans living and creating a complex oral literature long before the word "America" came into existence. In this sense, America and the Earth are synonymous. There is not any distinction between the two, since "America" as a word does not exist, yet. The Earth, and thus America, is a living entity in its own right, and is to be revered and respected as such. This can be very clearly seen in the Navajo "Song of the Earth".
Below the East, the Earth, its face toward the East.
The top of its head is beautiful.
The soles of its feet are beautiful.
Its feet, they are beautiful.
Its legs, they are beautiful.
Here the earth is pictured as being an animal, and the repeated lines at the beginning and the end of the song,
The Earth is beautiful.
The Earth is beautiful.
The Earth is beautiful.
demonstrate the reverence fo...
... middle of paper ...
...graphical setting, but as a god or goddess figure. The divinity of America is one that is both beneficent and malignant at times, and the search for the "true America" seems to be not a search for a singular object or place, but is a search for one aspect of America while escaping from another aspect of America. America is both the provider of sustenance as well as the devourer of children, particularly its own children.
Works Cited
Thompson, Joanna L. "Kali." Kalika. Joanna L. Thompson. May 20, 2002.
< http://www.mach3ww.com/~thompsj/india/kali.htm>
Jack Kerouac's On the Road
Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees
William Carlos Williams' Paterson
Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems
Tillie Olsen's Yonnondio
Native American Songs and Poems: An Anthology edited by Brian Swann
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass
Dubbed as “The Greatest Country in the World” by god knows who, America is not as awesome and free as some may see. In doing a close reading of Heather Christle’s “Five Poems for America”, we can see how the author uses metaphors to portray a flawed American, specifically within its political system, religion, obsession with technology and basic human rights. Americans have been living with the oppression of these everyday issues, completely oblivious thus creating the America we infamously know today.
American literature reflects society by displaying the positive and negative sides to our country’s history. Throughout the year we have been shown all sides of the story, not just one side. We understand the situation more if we take into account the other stories that nobody ever hears about. American Literature deals with the topics of identity/memory, conformity and rebellion, society and struggle, and war. By taking a look at the 9/11 pictures as well as the memorial statue, The Crucible,The Harlem Renaissance, The Great Gatsby, and The Things They Carried, it is easy to see that all aspects of American Literature directly reflect society in many ways.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
Henry VIII was not raised to become king; his brother was. When Henry took the throne, he had a great education, but no clue about what to accomplish as king and how to do it. Henry was more concerned with his image – he would throw lavish parties to show his luxurious lifestyle, and made few decisions himself concerning governing, instead relying heavily on his councilor...
...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.
Henry VI was born on December 6, 1421, and became king of England on September 1, 1422. Problems began almost immediately, though these problems were not seen as such at the time. First, the power of the monarch, instead of being entrusted to one man, was given to a council of magnates. Though it is likely that Henry V included a clause in his will appointing his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, regent, nobles whose powers had been curtailed by Henry V seized the opportunity to regain their lost power. They claimed the precedent of Richard II's minority (Storey, 30) to support their actions. Though the council did rule fairly on the whole, it created a problem. Later in Henry VI's reign, factions ruled the government and the monarch suffered from a lack of cohesive central authority. Nobles who had taken power were reluctant to give it back, causing a spreading out of the king's pwer. Henry's powers as monarch were not kept whole and in trust for him (Storey, 30) so that even had he been a strong king, it would have been difficult for him to control the situations that were to occur. One immediate effect of the council system was to ke...
“American Crisis.” The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2009. Print
Stephanie Coontz’s, David Brook’s, and Margaret Atwood all discuss American cultural myths in their respective essays “The Way We Wish We Were,” “One Nation, Slightly Divisible,” and “A Letter to America.” All three authors elaborate on specific cultural myths, whether it is about an ideal family, an ideal lifestyle, or an ideal country as a whole. As a result of analyzing the three texts, it is clear that the authors critique Americas image in their own was. As well as elaborate on why the realistic view of the United States is being squelched by major cultural myths.
After a close analysis of “America” by Tony Hoagland, the poem warns and points out the problems with our consumerism. Hoagland uses metaphors and imagery to describe the actions of American, while throwing in counteracting themes. And uses thoughts and dreams to bring in metaphors that complex the poem.
story is read out of shut and says "as if that's ever going to happen"
Through his earlier years he was upsesed with conquering France. He had spent a lot of England’s money on senseless battles that achieved nothing. He invested lots of money into a navy. He also messed with everybody in Europe including Spain and he was just a man that was hated and loved at the same time. After he died in January 1547 his son Edward took over and reigned. The whole irony is out of all the years he wanted a boy to be his heir, Elizabeth ended up ruling for 43 years.
Defining the American character is quite difficult because American identity is vaguely founded on shared values and ideologies, more so than a particular creed, race, or culture. In order to describe the American character, we will consider the dominate and distinctive qualities of Americans as interpreted by J. Hector St. Jon De Crèvecoeur and Thomas Paine. First, we will examine how Crèvecoeur illustrates Americans as industrious, prideful, and political in “Letters from an American Farmer.” Then, we will analyze from Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” how he depicts the prevalent qualities of Americans to be driven by justice, liberty, emotions, and individualism. Also, because both authors consider the American character and culture different
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
He was a human that had emotions, he experienced grief with the multiple miscarriages and deaths of his sons and the betrayals of his wife’s, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Also the death of Jane Seymour, the only wife to give him a male heir, brought him into a depression. These events changed Henry’s perspective of his own self, that he was without a legal heir, his health was horrendous and he was being betrayed by those closest to him. Lipscomb describes the transformation of Henry from the popular prince to the tyrant king know today. As shown, “the last decade of his reign, Henry VIII had begun to act as a tyrant. The glittering, brilliant monarch of the accession, toppled into old age by betrayal, aggravated into irascibility and suspicion as a result of ill health and corrupted by absolute power, had become a despot”. Henry is not thought of as the good Christian, but Lipscomb writes throughout this book that Henry was very serious about his religious affiliations. Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII as, “a man of strong feeling but little emotional intelligence, willful and obstinate but also fiery and charismatic, intelligent but blinkered, attempting to rule and preserve his honor against his profound sense of duty and heavy responsibility to fulfil his divinely ordained role”. In other words he was an emotional mess that did not know what to do with his feelings, so he bottled them up and south to seek
on America as a whole, and uses the people and setting of the story as