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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.
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Nathaniel
Hawthorne
(1801 - 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. |
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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"). |
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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. |
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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." |
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E.
E. Cummings
(1849 - 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. |
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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. |
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Arthur
Miller
(1915 - 2005)
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. |
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