American Literature 2002

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Created By: David Coleman

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Literature

Throughout the year students will cover material dealing with American authors. Each author has his/her own style of writing directly linked to the time in which s/he lived. Below are descriptions of the works to be cover in both Academic and Basic American Literature classes along with a brief biography of several of the individual authors.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Hawthorne was born into a straitlaced Puritan family in Salem, Massachusetts. For the majority of his life, he struggled at making a living from his writings. His most famous writing, The Scarlet Letter, was written in 1850, which explored the guilt and anxiety found in the soul. This guilt and anxiety was a product of sin, a belief of the natural weakness of humans among the Puritans.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Born in Concord, Massachusetts and educated in Harvard, Thoreau became a profound writer and philosopher who demonstrated liberal ideas in his works. Only two of his books, however, were published in his lifetime, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Walden. In 1846, Thoreau was sentenced to jail time for not supporting the Mexican War. During this imprisonment, he wrote his most famous essay, discussing passive resistance, entitled "Resistance to Civil Government" (a.k.a. "Civil Disobedience").

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, was orphaned, and then was taken to England for private schooling by his foster parents. After returning to the United States, Poe joined the U.S. Army Academy. Yet, only after a few months, Poe was dropped from the academy for neglect in his duties. In 1836, he married his younger cousin while he worked as an editor for newspapers in Philadelphia and New York City. Poe's lifetime abuse of drugs and alcohol contributed to his fatal illness in 1849. Many works of Poe's were published in his lifetime. "The Raven" is one of his poems which exhibited his unique style of haunting themes and meter. The Fall of the House of Usher is one of his famous short stories. (American Experience anthology). In Eng. 11 at LHS, we read Hop-Frog and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) was born in Florida, Missouri. Clemens held a number of jobs before becoming a full time writer, such as a printer, a miner, and even a steamboat pilot. In 1876, he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which described his childhood like in Missouri. Other works of Clemens include, The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and many famous short stories including The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg and The War Prayer. Twain's writings portrayed American subjects through vernacular language and sometimes scathing satire. Also, Twain included American themes, settings, and language in many of his writings, which was a marked departure from other literature of his era. Ernest Hemingway once said "American literature began with Huck Finn."

E. E. Cummings (1894-1962) Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard University. During World War I, Cummings was an ambulance driver for France, and he experienced the French prisons firsthand for three months while imprisoned on a false charge. After the war, he stayed in France and studied in Paris. Cummings had a radically different style of writing. His use of mixed lower and uppercase letters, confusing syntax, unusual punctuation, invention of words, and use of rhythms and slang were all part of his uniquely different approach to poetry. The most universal theme throughout Cumming's works is the value of love. Some of his works include "Tulips and Chimneys", "XLI Poems", and "Eimi". Complete Poems was a collection of his lifetime works and was published in 1991.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Born in Litchfield, Connecticut Stowe grew up as a strong opponent of slavery. Her works were published in an abolitionist paper known as the National Era in 1852. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novels sparked more militant antislavery actions and ideas in the North, preceding the Civil War. Uncle Tom's Cabin is her most famous novels, which has been translated into more than 20 foreign languages. Her style consist of domestic scenes, strong emotions, and overly idealized characters.

Arthur Miller (1915- ) Raised in New York City, during the Great Depression, Miller worked for his success. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Miller got recognition from the New York Drama Critics' Circle. In 1949 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Death of a Salesman. During the Red Scare of the 1950s, Miller wrote yet another unforgettable play, The Crucible, which won the 1953 Tony Award. On the surface, this play was about the witchcraft trials of the late 1600s. In truth, the play was about the Communist investigation occurring in the United States at the time. Miller was called in front of the House Committee on Un-America Activities in 1956; his conviction was later overturned.

American Literature 2002 American Literature 2002