what is american literature essay

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When did American literature begin?

Who are some important authors of american literature, what are the periods of american literature.

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American literature

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Literature has existed in the Americas for as long as the people who lived there have been telling stories. Native American cultures have a rich history of oral literature. Mayan books from as far back as the 5th century are known, and it is believed that the Maya started writing things down centuries before that. As a specific discipline viewed through the lens of European literature, American literature began in the early 17th century with the arrival of English-speaking Europeans in what would become the United States.

Notable authors of American literature include: John Smith , who wrote some of its earliest works; Phillis Wheatley , who was the first Black woman to become a poet of note in the United States; Edgar Allan Poe , a standout of the Romantic era; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , a celebrated poet; Emily Dickinson , a woman who wrote poetry at a time when the field was largely dominated by men; Mark Twain , a master of humour and realism; Ernest Hemingway , a novelist who articulated the disillusionment of the Lost Generation ; and Toni Morrison , a writer who centred her works on the experiences of Black Americans and received a Nobel Prize in 1993.

American literature is often divided into six major periods :

• Pre-colonization
• The Colonial and Early National period (17th century to 1830)
• The Romantic period (1830 to 1870)
• Realism and Naturalism (1870 to 1910)
• The Modernist period (1910 to 1945)
• The Contemporary period (1945 to present)

American literature , the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States .

Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the history of the country that produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was merely a group of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent—colonies from which a few hardy souls tentatively ventured westward. After a successful rebellion against the motherland, America became the United States, a nation. By the end of the 19th century this nation extended southward to the Gulf of Mexico , northward to the 49th parallel, and westward to the Pacific. By the end of the 19th century, too, it had taken its place among the powers of the world—its fortunes so interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became involved in two world wars and, following these conflicts, with the problems of Europe and East Asia . Meanwhile, the rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and feeling, wrought many modifications in people’s lives. All these factors in the development of the United States molded the literature of the country.

This article traces the history of American poetry , drama , fiction , and social and literary criticism from the early 17th century through the turn of the 21st century. For a description of the oral and written literatures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, see Native American literature . Though the contributions of African Americans to American literature are discussed in this article, see African American literature for in-depth treatment. For information about literary traditions related to, and at times overlapping with, American literature in English, see English literature and Canadian literature: Canadian literature in English .

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• How to write a literary analysis essay | A step-by-step guide

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on January 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.

A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis , nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

Before beginning a literary analysis essay, it’s essential to carefully read the text and c ome up with a thesis statement to keep your essay focused. As you write, follow the standard structure of an academic essay :

• An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.
• A main body, divided into paragraphs , that builds an argument using evidence from the text.
• A conclusion that clearly states the main point that you have shown with your analysis.

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Table of contents

Step 1: reading the text and identifying literary devices, step 2: coming up with a thesis, step 3: writing a title and introduction, step 4: writing the body of the essay, step 5: writing a conclusion, other interesting articles.

The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.

Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writing itself and discuss how the text works on a deeper level. Primarily, you’re looking out for literary devices —textual elements that writers use to convey meaning and create effects. If you’re comparing and contrasting multiple texts, you can also look for connections between different texts.

To get started with your analysis, there are several key areas that you can focus on. As you analyze each aspect of the text, try to think about how they all relate to each other. You can use highlights or notes to keep track of important passages and quotes.

Language choices

Consider what style of language the author uses. Are the sentences short and simple or more complex and poetic?

What word choices stand out as interesting or unusual? Are words used figuratively to mean something other than their literal definition? Figurative language includes things like metaphor (e.g. “her eyes were oceans”) and simile (e.g. “her eyes were like oceans”).

Also keep an eye out for imagery in the text—recurring images that create a certain atmosphere or symbolize something important. Remember that language is used in literary texts to say more than it means on the surface.

Narrative voice

Ask yourself:

• Who is telling the story?
• How are they telling it?

Is it a first-person narrator (“I”) who is personally involved in the story, or a third-person narrator who tells us about the characters from a distance?

Consider the narrator’s perspective . Is the narrator omniscient (where they know everything about all the characters and events), or do they only have partial knowledge? Are they an unreliable narrator who we are not supposed to take at face value? Authors often hint that their narrator might be giving us a distorted or dishonest version of events.

The tone of the text is also worth considering. Is the story intended to be comic, tragic, or something else? Are usually serious topics treated as funny, or vice versa ? Is the story realistic or fantastical (or somewhere in between)?

Consider how the text is structured, and how the structure relates to the story being told.

• Novels are often divided into chapters and parts.
• Poems are divided into lines, stanzas, and sometime cantos.
• Plays are divided into scenes and acts.

Think about why the author chose to divide the different parts of the text in the way they did.

There are also less formal structural elements to take into account. Does the story unfold in chronological order, or does it jump back and forth in time? Does it begin in medias res —in the middle of the action? Does the plot advance towards a clearly defined climax?

With poetry, consider how the rhyme and meter shape your understanding of the text and your impression of the tone. Try reading the poem aloud to get a sense of this.

In a play, you might consider how relationships between characters are built up through different scenes, and how the setting relates to the action. Watch out for  dramatic irony , where the audience knows some detail that the characters don’t, creating a double meaning in their words, thoughts, or actions.

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Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.

If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example:

Essay question example

Is Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” a religious parable?

Your thesis statement should be an answer to this question—not a simple yes or no, but a statement of why this is or isn’t the case:

Thesis statement example

Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” is not a religious parable, but a story about bureaucratic alienation.

Sometimes you’ll be given freedom to choose your own topic; in this case, you’ll have to come up with an original thesis. Consider what stood out to you in the text; ask yourself questions about the elements that interested you, and consider how you might answer them.

Your thesis should be something arguable—that is, something that you think is true about the text, but which is not a simple matter of fact. It must be complex enough to develop through evidence and arguments across the course of your essay.

Say you’re analyzing the novel Frankenstein . You could start by asking yourself:

Your initial answer might be a surface-level description:

The character Frankenstein is portrayed negatively in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

However, this statement is too simple to be an interesting thesis. After reading the text and analyzing its narrative voice and structure, you can develop the answer into a more nuanced and arguable thesis statement:

Mary Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

Remember that you can revise your thesis statement throughout the writing process , so it doesn’t need to be perfectly formulated at this stage. The aim is to keep you focused as you analyze the text.

Finding textual evidence

To support your thesis statement, your essay will build an argument using textual evidence —specific parts of the text that demonstrate your point. This evidence is quoted and analyzed throughout your essay to explain your argument to the reader.

It can be useful to comb through the text in search of relevant quotations before you start writing. You might not end up using everything you find, and you may have to return to the text for more evidence as you write, but collecting textual evidence from the beginning will help you to structure your arguments and assess whether they’re convincing.

To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction.

Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on. It usually contains the name of the author and text(s) you’re analyzing. Keep it as concise and engaging as possible.

A common approach to the title is to use a relevant quote from the text, followed by a colon and then the rest of your title.

If you struggle to come up with a good title at first, don’t worry—this will be easier once you’ve begun writing the essay and have a better sense of your arguments.

“Fearful symmetry” : The violence of creation in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

The introduction

The essay introduction provides a quick overview of where your argument is going. It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay’s structure.

A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement. You might refer to a commonly held idea about the text and show how your thesis will contradict it, or zoom in on a particular device you intend to focus on.

Then you can end with a brief indication of what’s coming up in the main body of the essay. This is called signposting. It will be more elaborate in longer essays, but in a short five-paragraph essay structure, it shouldn’t be more than one sentence.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

Some students prefer to write the introduction later in the process, and it’s not a bad idea. After all, you’ll have a clearer idea of the overall shape of your arguments once you’ve begun writing them!

If you do write the introduction first, you should still return to it later to make sure it lines up with what you ended up writing, and edit as necessary.

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs : the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to your thesis. Don’t try to include everything you can think of to say about the text—only analysis that drives your argument.

In longer essays, the same principle applies on a broader scale. For example, you might have two or three sections in your main body, each with multiple paragraphs. Within these sections, you still want to begin new paragraphs at logical moments—a turn in the argument or the introduction of a new idea.

Robert’s first encounter with Gil-Martin suggests something of his sinister power. Robert feels “a sort of invisible power that drew me towards him.” He identifies the moment of their meeting as “the beginning of a series of adventures which has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it” (p. 89). Gil-Martin’s “invisible power” seems to be at work even at this distance from the moment described; before continuing the story, Robert feels compelled to anticipate at length what readers will make of his narrative after his approaching death. With this interjection, Hogg emphasizes the fatal influence Gil-Martin exercises from his first appearance.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he waits.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as religious symbolism.

This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous paragraph’s conclusion.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance to your point.

It’s important to contextualize quotes and explain why you’re using them; they should be properly introduced and analyzed, not treated as self-explanatory:

It isn’t always necessary to use a quote. Quoting is useful when you’re discussing the author’s language, but sometimes you’ll have to refer to plot points or structural elements that can’t be captured in a short quote.

In these cases, it’s more appropriate to paraphrase or summarize parts of the text—that is, to describe the relevant part in your own words:

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The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader.

A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis provides on the text as a whole:

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
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By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

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What Makes a Great American Essay?

Talking to phillip lopate about thwarted expectations, emerson, and the 21st-century essay boom.

Phillip Lopate spoke to Literary Hub about the new anthology he has edited, The Glorious American Essay . He recounts his own development from an “unpatriotic” young man to someone, later in life, who would embrace such writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who personified the simultaneous darkness and optimism underlying the history of the United States. Lopate looks back to the Puritans and forward to writers like Wesley Yang and Jia Tolentino. What is the next face of the essay form?

Literary Hub: We’re at a point, politically speaking, when disagreements about the meaning of the word “American” are particularly vehement. What does the term mean to you in 2020? How has your understanding of the word evolved?

Phillip Lopate : First of all, I am fully aware that even using the word “American” to refer only to the United States is something of an insult to Latin American countries, and if I had said “North American” to signify the US, that might have offended Canadians. Still, I went ahead and put “American” in the title as a synonym for the United States, because I wanted to invoke that powerful positive myth of America as an idea, a democratic aspiration for the world, as well as an imperialist juggernaut replete with many unresolved social inequities, in negative terms.

I will admit that when I was younger, I tended to be very unpatriotic and critical of my country, although once I started to travel abroad and witness authoritarian regimes like Spain under Franco, I could never sign on to the fear that a fascist US was just around the corner.  I came to the conclusion that we have our faults, but our virtues as well.

The more I’ve become interested in American history, the more I’ve seen how today’s problems and possible solutions are nothing new, but keep returning in cycles: economic booms and recessions, anti-immigrant sentiment, regional competition, racist Jim Crow policies followed by human rights advances, vigorous federal regulations and pendulum swings away from governmental intervention.

Part of the thrill in putting together this anthology was to see it operating simultaneously on two tracks: first, it would record the development of a literary form that I loved, the essay, as it evolved over 400 years in this country. At the same time, it would be a running account of the history of the United States, in the hands of these essayists who were contending, directly or indirectly, with the pressing problems of their day. The promise of America was always being weighed against its failure to live up to that standard.

For instance, we have the educator John Dewey arguing for a more democratic schoolhouse, the founder of the settlement house movement Jane Addams analyzing the alienation of young people in big cities, the progressive writer Randolph Bourne describing his own harsh experiences as a disabled person, the feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton advocating for women’s rights, and W. E. B. Dubois and James Weldon Johnson eloquently addressing racial injustice.

Issues of identity, gender and intersectionality were explored by writers such as Richard Rodriguez, Audre Lorde, Leonard Michaels and N. Scott Momaday, sometimes with touches of irony and self-scrutiny, which have always been assets of the essay form.

LH : If a publisher had asked us to compile an anthology of 100 representative American essays, we wouldn’t know where to start. How did you? What were your criteria?

PL : I thought I knew the field fairly well to begin with, having edited the best-selling Art of the Personal Essay in 1994, taught the form for decades, served on book award juries and so on. But once I started researching and collecting material, I discovered that I had lots of gaps, partly because the mandate I had set for myself was so sweeping.

This time I would not restrict myself to personal essays but would include critical essays, impersonal essays, speeches that were in essence essays (such as George Washington’s Farewell Address or Martin Luther King, Jr’s sermon on Vietnam), letters that functioned as essays (Frederick Douglass’s Letter to His Master).

I wanted to expand the notion of what is  an essay, to include, for instance, polemics such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense , or one of the Federalist Papers; newspaper columnists (Fanny Fern, Christopher Morley); humorists (James Thurber, Finley Peter Dunne, Dorothy Parker).

But it also occurred to me that fine essayists must exist in every discipline, not only literature, which sent me on a hunt that took me to cultural criticism (Clement Greenberg, Kenneth Burke), theology (Paul Tillich), food writing (M.F. K. Fisher), geography (John Brinkerhoff Jackson), nature writing (John Muir, John Burroughs, Edward Abbey), science writing (Loren Eiseley, Lewis Thomas), philosophy (George Santayana). My one consistent criterion was that the essay be lively, engaging and intelligently written. In short, I had to like it myself.

Of course I would need to include the best-known practitioners of the American essay—Emerson, Thoreau, Mencken, Baldwin, Sontag, etc.—and was happy to do so.  As it turned out, most of the masters of American fiction and poetry also tried their hand successfully at essay-writing, which meant including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather, Flannery O’Connor, Ralph Ellison. . .

But I was also eager to uncover powerful if almost forgotten voices such as John Jay Chapman, Agnes Repplier, Randolph Bourne, Mary Austin, or buried treasures such as William Dean Howells’ memoir essay of his days working in his father’s printing shop.

Finally, I wanted to show a wide variety of formal approaches, since the essay is by its very nature and nomenclature an experiment, which brought me to Gertrude Stein and Wayne Koestenbaum. Equally important, I was aided in all these searches by colleagues and friends who kept suggesting other names. For every fertile lead, probably four resulted in dead ends.  Meanwhile, I was having a real learning adventure.

LH: Do you have a personal favorite among American essayists? If so, what appeals to you the most about them?

PL : I do. It’s Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was the one who cleared the ground for US essayists, in his famous piece, “The American Scholar,” which called on us to free ourselves from slavish imitation of European models and to think for ourselves.  So much American thought grows out of Emerson, or is in contention with Emerson, even if that debt is sometimes unacknowledged or unconscious.

What I love about Emerson is his density of thought, and the surprising twists and turns that result from it. I can read an essay of his like “Experience” (the one I included in this anthology) a hundred times and never know where it’s going next.  If it was said of Emily Dickenson that her poems made you feel like the top of your head was spinning, that’s what I feel in reading Emerson. He has a playful skepticism, a knack for thinking against himself.  Each sentence starts a new rabbit of thought scampering off. He’s difficult but worth the trouble.

I once asked Susan Sontag who her favorite American essayist was, and she replied “Emerson, of course.” It’s no surprise that Nietzsche revered Emerson, as did Carlyle, and in our own time, Harold Bloom, Stanley Cavell, Richard Poirier. But here’s a confession: it took me awhile to come around to him.

I found his preacher’s manner and abstractions initially off-putting, I wasn’t sure about the character of the man who was speaking to me. Then I read his Notebooks and the mystery was cracked: suddenly I was able to follow essays such as “Circles” with pure pleasure, seeing as I could the darkness and complexity underneath the optimism.

LH: You make the interesting decision to open the anthology with an essay written in 1726, 50 years before the founding of the republic. Why?

PL : I wanted to start the anthology with the first fully-formed essayistic voices in this land, which turned out to belong to the Puritans. Regardless of the negative associations of zealous prudishness that have come to attach to the adjective “puritanical,” those American colonies founded as religious settlements were spearheaded by some remarkably learned and articulate spokespersons, whose robust prose enriched the American literary canon.

Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards were highly cultivated readers, familiar with the traditions of essay-writing, Montaigne and the English, and with the latest science, even as they inveighed against witchcraft. I will admit that it also amused me to open the book with Cotton Mather, a prescriptive, strait-is-the-gate character, and end it with Zadie Smith, who is not only bi-racial but bi-national, dividing her year between London and New York, and whose openness to self-doubt is signaled by her essay collection title, Changing My Mind .

The next group of writers I focused on were the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, and a foundational feminist, Judith Sargent Murray, who wrote the 1790 essay “On the Equality of the Sexes.” These authors, whose essays preceded, occurred during or immediately followed the founding of the republic, were in some ways the opposite of the Puritans, being for the most part Deists or secular followers of the Enlightenment.

Their attraction to reasoned argument and willingness to entertain possible objections to their points of view inspired a vigorous strand of American essay-writing. So, while we may fix the founding of the United States to a specific year, the actual culture and literature of the country book-ended that date.

LH: You end with Zadie Smith’s “Speaking in Tongues,” published in 2008. Which essay in the last 12 years would be your 101st selection?

PL : Funny you should ask. As it happens, I am currently putting the finishing touches on another anthology, this one entirely devoted to the Contemporary (i.e., 21st century) American Essay. I have been immersed in reading younger, up-and-coming writers, established mid-career writers, and some oldsters who are still going strong (Janet Malcolm, Vivian Gornick, Barry Lopez, John McPhee, for example).

It would be impossible for me to single out any one contemporary essayist, as they are all in different ways contributing to the stew, but just to name some I’ve been tracking recently: Meghan Daum, Maggie Nelson, Sloane Crosley, Eula Biss, Charles D’Ambrosio, Teju Cole, Lia Purpura, John D’Agata, Samantha Irby, Anne Carson, Alexander Chee, Aleksander Hemon, Hilton Als, Mary Cappello, Bernard Cooper, Leslie Jamison, Laura Kipnis, Rivka Galchen, Emily Fox Gordon, Darryl Pinckney, Yiyun Li, David Lazar, Lynn Freed, Ander Monson, David Shields, Rebecca Solnit, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Eileen Myles, Amy Tan, Jonathan Lethem, Chelsea Hodson, Ross Gay, Jia Tolentino, Jenny Boully, Durga Chew-Bose, Brian Blanchfield, Thomas Beller, Terry Castle, Wesley Yang, Floyd Skloot, David Sedaris. . .

Such a banquet of names speaks to the intergenerational appeal of the form. We’re going through a particularly rich time for American essays: especially compared to, 20 years ago, when editors wouldn’t even dare put the word “essays” on the cover, but kept trying to package these variegated assortments as single-theme discourses, we’ve seen many collections that have been commercially successful and attracted considerable critical attention.

It has something to do with the current moment, which has everyone more than a little confused and therefore trusting more than ever those strong individual voices that are willing to cop to their subjective fears, anxieties, doubts and ecstasies.

__________________________________

The Glorious American Essay , edited by Phillip Lopate, is available now.

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Free American Literature Essay Examples & Topics

It is tough to come up with a definition of what American literature is. It is a product of the cultural diversity of people who live and write in the United States. However, not every literary work produced in the US can be included in this list.

Of course, American literature is predominantly in English. One of the early 21st century developments is an increase in authors who write in their language. However, they still can be considered American. As a result, African American, Asian American, and other ethnic branches of literature emerged.

Assigned to write an essay about American literature? In this article, our experts tried to simplify the task for you. We’ve described the periods of the United States literary tradition so you can navigate freely. Also, check a list of topics for your American literature essay. Finally, see some examples of the works written by other students.

Literature reflects society. It magnifies all the good and bad values, mirroring the life of the country and its development. In this section, we’ve described the main periods in US history. It will help you realize what to discuss in your essay on American literature.

• The Colonial and The Early National Period (1607-1830)

The first European settlers started describing their experiences in the 1600s. The narration was practical, direct, and copied the British literary style. The earliest American literary works were mainly nonfictional. The first president of the Jamestown Colony wrote about his personal experiences and published them from 1608 till 1624. Such prominent writers as Nathaniel Ward and John Winthrop elaborated on the topic of religion. African American tradition started during that period, too. For instance, Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano created the first slave narratives.

• The Period of American Renaissance (1830-1870)

Romanticism values a person’s emotions over reason. American writers embraced this movement at the beginning of the 19th century. For example, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the vivid examples of Romantic writers. In New England, several thinkers emerged too after 1830. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote essays, while Henry Thoreau wrote a story of his life. Poets such as Herman Melville and Walt Whitman began publishing their works at that time too.

• The Realistic and Naturalist Period (1870-1914)

The Civil War fueled the realistic period in American literature. Mark Twain was one of the most notable writers of that era. In his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , he depicted the actual Americans.

Naturalism is another literary movement that was prevalent at that time. For example, Theodore Dreiser embraced it. His novel Sister Carrie is an essential American naturalist novel.

• The American Modernist Period (1914-1939)

The modernist period was one of the most fruitful in American history. It got intensified after the advancement in science and technology. The outcomes of WWI and the Great Depression caused a lot of contradiction. Thus, it found its way into art and literature. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Wright, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and many more writers became dominant voices .

• The Contemporary Period (1939-Present)

The period has started after World War II. American literature during that time became more inclusive and had a variety of voices. Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison tell stories of race and sexuality. American contemporary novels had many forms, like postmodern and feminist ones.

You may wonder what to write in your American literature essay. The abundance of writers and literary works make it difficult to choose. That’s why we combined several ideas. We hope you’ll find them useful in identifying the topic for your work. If not, you can let our title generator create a few original ideas on the subject.

But first, check these ideas for your essay on American literature:

• Harriet Beecher’s art of persuasion as the author in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
• Naturalism and regionalism in American literary tradition.
• The influence of Phillis Wheatley on American Literature.
• What is American literature? What are its characteristics?
• The themes of early American literature.
• The importance of magical realism in American literature.
• Oral storytelling techniques in Native American literature.
• The influence of naturalism on American writers.
• Early American literature and the power of religious ideologies.
• The idea of masculinity in the colonial period in American literature.
• The black experience manifested through African American poetry.
• Historical factors that influenced the Romantic period of American literature.
• How did Gothic literature in American tradition start?
• Levels of literacy in African-American literature.
• Native American mythology in American literature.
• The issues of divorce and love in Latin American literature.
• The evolution of the role of women in American literature.
• The theme of perseverance in African American literature.
• The topic of slavery in early American literature.
• The significance of the American Renaissance for American literature.
• The role of James Fennimore Cooper in enhancing nationalism.

Thank you for your attention! American literature is indeed a vast subject. We hope that this article will help you focus on a good idea. If you are still unsure what topic to choose, check our American literature essay samples below. You can look through them faster if you use our summarizer .

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Oxford Bibliographies in American Literature is designed to provide authoritative guidance. The scholarly examination of American literature is a popular field of study both in the United States and globally. From postmodern theory to debates about the canon, from slave narratives to comic books, American literature is one of the most active fields in academia today. The field is characterized by the many cultures, religions, and ethnicities that have contributed to the larger American literary tradition over the past 500 years. The study of literature invites trans-disciplinary collaboration with fields as varied as history, cultural studies, politics, and women’s studies making it challenging for students and scholars to stay informed about related areas of study. In addition, a great deal of this work has moved online with the most recent scholarship, research, and statistics appearing in online databases. With advances in online searching and database technologies, researchers and practitioners can easily access library catalogs, bibliographic indexes, and other lists that show thousands of resources that might also be useful to them. In this situation what is most needed is expert guidance. Researchers and practitioners at all levels need tools that help them filter through the proliferation of information sources to material that is reliable and directly relevant to their inquiries.  Oxford Bibliographies  in American Literature will offer a trustworthy pathway through the thicket of information overload.

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Imprinted by Belief

An essay series on American literature and faith.

Credit... Nada Hayek

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• Share full article

By Ayana Mathis

Ayana Mathis’s most recent novel, “The Unsettled,” was published in September.

• Published Aug. 24, 2023 Updated April 11, 2024

The essays in this series hold that American literature is imprinted by belief: freighted by ideas about morality, justice and standards for living that are derived from the nation’s Christian underpinnings. Christianity’s imprint on our literature isn’t necessarily about piety or doctrine — though that is sometimes the case. It also trucks in paradox and, at its best, acts as a hedge against over-simplistic and reductive notions of society and of person. In American literature, religious ideas are often more implicit than explicit — a pool into which the work dips, often to great effect. James Baldwin’s soaring, sermonic prose; Toni Morrison’s scriptural authority; William Faulkner’s Genesis-like cosmologies of Southern identity and place: All draw heavily on a Christian-inflected aesthetic. Which is not to elevate this belief system above others in a country as multifaith as it is multicultural and multiracial. To the contrary, among the issues we will encounter in this series is Christianity’s tendency to take down its faith counterparts. Christianity can be a real bruiser. It is cherry-picked and jury-rigged, co-opted and corrupted, and yet it remains inextricable from American identity — which is precisely why it repeatedly finds its way into our fiction.

For American writers even now, Christianity continues to provide a vast web of references, imagery and metaphor. This web is ever pressing, particularly at this juncture, when so much of what passes for Christian sentiment is reductive and illegitimately recruited for political and economic motives. Such forces risk hijacking religious conversation so that we can no longer see ideals that might remind us that human beings are capacious and sacred, and that our dealings with one another ought to reflect as much. I propose these essays as a means of, to borrow the title of one of Adrienne Rich’s most famous poems, “Diving into the Wreck”; each will examine a different aspect of human experience: the prophetic; forgiveness; suffering and evil; apocalypse; and hope. As Rich writes: “I came to see the damage that was done/and the treasures that prevail.”

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The Ten Best American Essays Since 1950, According to Robert Atwan

in Books , Literature | November 15th, 2012 3 Comments

“Essays can be lots of things, maybe too many things,” writes Atwan in his fore­ward to the 2012 install­ment in the Best Amer­i­can series, “but at the core of the genre is an unmis­tak­able recep­tiv­i­ty to the ever-shift­ing process­es of our minds and moods. If there is any essen­tial char­ac­ter­is­tic we can attribute to the essay, it may be this: that the truest exam­ples of the form enact that ever-shift­ing process, and in that enact­ment we can find the basis for the essay’s qual­i­fi­ca­tion to be regard­ed seri­ous­ly as imag­i­na­tive lit­er­a­ture and the essay­ist’s claim to be tak­en seri­ous­ly as a cre­ative writer.”

In 2001 Atwan and Joyce Car­ol Oates took on the daunt­ing task of trac­ing that ever-shift­ing process through the pre­vi­ous 100 years for  The Best Amer­i­can Essays of the Cen­tu­ry . Recent­ly Atwan returned with a more focused selec­tion for  Pub­lish­ers Week­ly :  “The Top 10 Essays Since 1950.”  To pare it all down to such a small num­ber, Atwan decid­ed to reserve the “New Jour­nal­ism” cat­e­go­ry, with its many mem­o­rable works by Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Michael Herr and oth­ers, for some future list. He also made a point of select­ing the best essays , as opposed to exam­ples from the best essay­ists. “A list of the top ten essay­ists since 1950 would fea­ture some dif­fer­ent writ­ers.”

We were inter­est­ed to see that six of the ten best essays are avail­able for free read­ing online. Here is Atwan’s list, along with links to those essays that are on the Web:

• James Bald­win, “Notes of a Native Son,” 1955 (Read it here .)
• Nor­man Mail­er, “The White Negro,” 1957 (Read it here .)
• Susan Son­tag, “Notes on ‘Camp,’ ” 1964 (Read it here .)
• John McPhee, “The Search for Mar­vin Gar­dens,” 1972 (Read it here with a sub­scrip­tion.)
• Joan Did­ion, “The White Album,” 1979
• Annie Dil­lard, “Total Eclipse,” 1982
• Phillip Lopate, “Against Joie de Vivre,” 1986 (Read it here .)
• Edward Hoagland, “Heav­en and Nature,” 1988
• Jo Ann Beard, “The Fourth State of Mat­ter,” 1996 (Read it here .)
• David Fos­ter Wal­lace, “Con­sid­er the Lob­ster,” 2004 (Read it here  in a ver­sion dif­fer­ent from the one pub­lished in his 2005 book of the same name.)

“To my mind,” writes Atwan in his arti­cle, “the best essays are deeply per­son­al (that does­n’t nec­es­sar­i­ly mean auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal) and deeply engaged with issues and ideas. And the best essays show that the name of the genre is also a verb, so they demon­strate a mind in process–reflecting, try­ing-out, essay­ing.”

To read more of Atwan’s com­men­tary, see his  arti­cle in Pub­lish­ers Week­ly .

The pho­to above of Susan Son­tag was tak­en by Peter Hujar in 1966.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

30 Free Essays & Sto­ries by David Fos­ter Wal­lace on the Web

by Mike Springer | Permalink | Comments (3) |

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Check out Michael Ven­tu­ra’s HEAR THAT LONG SNAKE MOAN: The VooDoo Ori­gins of Rock n’ Roll

Wow I think there’s oth­er greater ones out there. Just need to find them.

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American Literature I: An Anthology of Texts From Early America Through the Civil War

(7 reviews)

Jenifer Kurtz, Virginia Western Community College

Copyright Year: 2020

Publisher: VIVA

Language: English

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Reviewed by Kole Matheson, Lecturer, Old Dominion University on 6/15/23

The text is relatively comprehensive in that it covers literary works from early America through the Civil War, as noted in its title. Importantly, many Native American stories and writers are included to include William Apess, Tecumseh, and a... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text is relatively comprehensive in that it covers literary works from early America through the Civil War, as noted in its title. Importantly, many Native American stories and writers are included to include William Apess, Tecumseh, and a handful of early creation stories, which were first archived by Arthur Parker in the early 20th century based on oral tradition. Furthermore, each of the six sections of the text contains at least one introduction that offers historical context for the accompanying readings. However, there is not an index or glossary included, nor are their example activities or assignments in the text. As a professor of American literature, my approach to teaching this course is theory-based in that all assigned readings are studied according to established understandings of literary criticism, such as dramatic construction, narratology, and new historicism. Such theoretical understandings and supplemental materials are absent.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The text is accurate and mostly error-free. The only glaring error in the text is that the literary work from Samson Occom, Mohegan Native American, is promised in the “Author Introduction” on page 265; however, the following page skips to Elizabeth Ashbridge. As such, this important Native author’s work is erroneously omitted. This is a deeply unfortunate omission, especially from the perspective of Indigenous Studies of American Literature. Regarding bias, the text is intentional to include other Native authors; however, the very nature of early American literature is biased against people of color, a bias that cannot be directly attributed to the text itself but rather is a symptom of bias of readers and archivists in early America.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The text is relevant with regard to perspectives on early American literature. The six sections of the text are up-to-date with the field’s perspective on the major movements of the written word in the United States. Arguably, early American literature will remain relevant, as the study of literature from this time period will endure and therefore remain current in the future, barring significant discoveries and propagation of novel texts that are more than a century old. One possible update might be to include more early Native American literature as passed down through oral tradition.

Clarity rating: 4

Relative to the content, the text is written clearly. The various introductions to literary periods are written with lucid prose. However, especially difficult for students new to early American literature, lexical and orthographic choices of early authors reflect the time period from which they come; as such, students will likely experience some difficulty with reading, for example, the section on “European Exploration Accounts,” which begins with the “Letter of Discovery” from Columbus on page 26. A glossary of terms or page-specific footnotes would be helpful to students who seek to decipher the more archaic forms of the English language published in the text.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework and is organized chronologically into six major movements of early American literature, each containing its respective introduction on historical context and an accompanying author biography.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is modular in that smaller readings can be assigned at different points within the course, as guided by the six movements in early American literature that organize the text itself. Enormous blocks of text are sometimes present with the anthologized works; however, this is to be expected in that long-form literary works are included. Despite this, students might have some difficulty with navigating a PDF that is over 1,000 pages long. Printing assigned readings would help with the overall modularity of the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

As previously mentioned, the text is organized into six sections that reflect the field’s perspective on early American literature. Accompanying each section is an introduction to the literature of the period, along with a brief biographical sketch of the early American author. This creates an accessible rhythm of information that helps with readability, (i.e. students are able to predict what information will come next, based on the text's organization pattern from one section to the next).

Interface rating: 5

The text’s interface is well formatted. Images of authors are well aligned, section headings are consistent, and the literary works themselves are spaced appropriately, line-by-line.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Section introductions and author bios are free of grammatical errors, according to the rules of Standard American English. Some early writings may not be considered grammatical by today’s standards; however, this reflects the continual evolution of what society deems grammatical.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text is culturally appropriate, provided it is read with the cultural-exclusion in mind that is a defining feature of early American literature. For example, Native Americans are oftentimes referred to in derogatory terms, as was the norm of early America. However, the author makes note of these perspectives in section introductions so as to be more inclusive and understanding of a variety of cultural perspectives that may encounter the text.

I approve of this text as a reference anthology for a course in early American literature, and plan to use it for its presentation of Native authors especially. Significant supplementation is required, however, (e.g. assignment sheets, lecture notes, theoretical interpretations).

Reviewed by Millard Southern, Professor, Kalamazoo College on 1/20/23

The book was very comprehensive in scope and content. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book was very comprehensive in scope and content.

Accuracy was spot on!!

Relevance received high marks.

Clarity rating: 5

Clarity was brief but to the point.

I liked the consistency of this book.

Modularity was impeccable.

Structure and flow was easy to follow.

Interface was the highlight of this book.

Grammar and content was strong.

Cultural relevance was ok.

Reviewed by Frances Johannsen, Professor of English, Hutchinson Community College on 11/16/21

The text offers a good variety of readings that are typical of any early American Lit. textbook. I appreciate that the editors include several early Native American creation stories. In addition to these, I would have liked to have seen some of... read more

The text offers a good variety of readings that are typical of any early American Lit. textbook. I appreciate that the editors include several early Native American creation stories. In addition to these, I would have liked to have seen some of the early Native American poetry and songs as well. The editors introduce each new section with a short narrative and offer source notes at the end of each selection. Pictures and illustrations are decent quality; I was able to enlarge most of the maps (I'm using the .pdf format of the text), but the map associated with "Introduction to Literature of Colonial America" on p. 124 was blurry and not readable past about 150% enlargement. I agree with some of the other reviewers about the lack of women writers; however, this is a problem I've encountered with nearly every anthology published today. I don't expect a survey course textbook to include every piece of literature ever written, so I simply supplement these readings in my classes.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text seems to be accurate, but as I mention earlier, the instructor using this textbook will need to supplement the readings to include works by non-white male writers. Translations of some of the texts are different from those I've used in my classes, but that's a matter of personal preference. I am puzzled, however, by the change in font size in some of the writings. For example, on page 26, the "Letter of Discovery (1493)" by Christopher Columbus begins with one font size then changes to a larger one about halfway through the page. It then goes back to a smaller font size on page 29. Is there a reason for this? Things like this would have rarely caught my attention in the past. More recently, however, we have been moving toward using documents that are accessibility approved. Serif fonts, like the one used in this textbook, don't meet the accessibility requirements of our college and would have to be reformatted. Since this is an OER, it could probably be done by converting the .pdf into an editable form, but that takes a lot of time and effort. As for the introductions, the authors keep them sparse and convey only basic facts about each writer. Although they don't cover every aspect of each writer's life, they also don't confer any biases or opinions. It leaves plenty of room for students to explore the writers and come up with their own opinions about them. It's an opportunity for a teaching exercise.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The bare bones nature of the introductions means that the textbook will not become obsolete in the near future. They contain just the facts. If the textbook is ever updated, I would like to see a greater variety of writers represented. While the old standby writers should remain, other lesser-known writers could be included such Mercy Otis Warren, Susanna Rowson, Hannah Bond (Crafts), and perhaps others. I would also like to see a visual timeline that includes dates, major milestone events, and the writers associated with those dates.

My comments on clarity are less about the content and more about the aesthetics of the text. I am reading the .pdf version of the textbook, so that may have something to do with the aforementioned font changes and blurry images. An at the end of the textbook, an index of authors and works would be helpful as well as a glossary of terms.

Consistency rating: 4

The content of the textbook is consistent. The typeface is not.

The textbook is divided into periods in early American history, and each period is arranged sequentially. There are roughly the same number of readings for each period. The editors also indicate the citation for each reading so that the instructor and the students can easily refer to the original source material.

The sections and the writings within them are are arranged logically and in sequential order. Since there is no index, the students will need to rely on the Table of Contents to locate authors and readings or the ctrl+find option on their computers.

Interface rating: 4

I had issues with font changes and blurred map images in my .pdf version of the text. The Table of Contents could be formatted differently to make it more readable. The listing of all of the readings seem to run together even though the parts are labeled. Visually, the section headings don't stand out very well. As an electronic source, though, students can use the "find" option on their computer to locate specific readings or authors.

I did not see any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors are presented in the introductions using factual information about their lives and their works. I did not notice any glaring biases in any of the editors' comments in the introductions.

For an OER textbook, this American Literature 1 anthology has met my expectations. There has obviously been a tremendous amount of work that went into putting this textbook together. For all its flaws of omission, it's a textbook that's worthy of reviewing as an alternative to the outrageously expensive printed anothologies we have all had to rely on in the past. My students balk at the price of our textbooks and some have had to resort to borrowing other students' books or searching the internet for the individual writings. I don't want cost to be a barrier to their learning, and this textbook is a viable option.

Reviewed by Hannah Saltmarsh, Assistant Professor of English, Mount Mercy University on 10/26/21

The book doesn't cover key aspects of American Literature, including sufficient representation of slave narratives, black writers, and women writers. I was surprised there were more Native American writers presented than I would have expected. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 1 see less

The book doesn't cover key aspects of American Literature, including sufficient representation of slave narratives, black writers, and women writers. I was surprised there were more Native American writers presented than I would have expected.

Content Accuracy rating: 1

The text doesn't offer diverse voices and perspectives in early American Literature, thus it is biased towards white male writers seen as "traditional." For example, I noted an absence of slave narratives by Douglass or Jacobs; lack of women writers and black women writers such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman or Ida B. Wells.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 1

The text could be implemented so long as there are supplemental texts and links to represent other writers such as black writers and women writers; however, it might present to students that the anthology is the "canon" and the supplemental links are just "Add-ons" and appear to have less value.

No issues with clarity.

No issues. The editors might consider other headers and writers or periods in addition.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

There should be more discussion and a longer section for slavery, esp. given the importance and impact and traumas of American slavery on early American literature.

No issues with interface.

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

The text needs to represent diverse cultural voices and experiences, and include more background information on writers, themes, literary reception, cultural aspects; for example, there is not sufficient discussion of Native American myths in the introductory note.

Reviewed by Sean McPherson, Adjunct English Professor, Berkshire Community College on 6/30/21

This text covers all of the major literary movements that you would find in an Am Lit 1 course well. I like that this text includes Native American oral tales and literature of the European explorers in the beginning. Many anthologies skip right... read more

This text covers all of the major literary movements that you would find in an Am Lit 1 course well.

I like that this text includes Native American oral tales and literature of the European explorers in the beginning. Many anthologies skip right over these. So, it's nice to have them available.

"Day of Doom" is missing, but I'm not surprised at this. Many anthologies forget to include Wigglesworth for some reason, even though it is a significant text that should be included.

Each section begins with an introduction, which is good. Those cover the big picture elements, which frees teachers up to provide more in depth explanations.

Otherwise, the texts that are included sufficiently cover the breadth and depth of what would be covered in an Am Lit 1 course.

The text offers a wide range of standard authors to choose from as well as some tertiary authors who might be of interest. This gives teachers options, which is good. Again, though, "Day of Doom" is missing.

Also, technically, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" should be in the "Literature of the Revolutionary Period" due to when it was published, but I understand why it is not. It makes more sense for it to be at the end of the "Literature of Colonial America" section, although not entirely accurate.

The accuracy of this text is reliable.

Since this anthology deals with historical texts, obsolescence really doesn't apply here. The only thing that I could think of that might be an issue is the lack of texts from each time period from people of color. That doesn't necessarily make the text irrelevant, but not as complete as it could be. The major authors are included, so the text does it's job. I think if you are teaching with a free text, it's assumed that teachers will have to fill in some gaps if thematically appropriate for individual courses.

The historical authors' texts are what they are, so clarity is not an issue there. That leaves the introductory sections written by editors. Those introductions are written clearly, not over complicating the historical background with combined ideas and events. The language is accessible for student readers. Paragraphs are broken up to be reader friendly. Those sections even contain visuals when needed, like maps, to help students visualize necessary information.

The text is broken up into logical sections with appropriate titles. The predictable organization is expected from an anthology. Each section begins with an introduction, and then each section contains the readings. Easy peasy.

The text is divided into organized sections appropriate for the time periods. It's easy to locate texts and understand the historical continuum.

Interface may seem like a no-brainer, but I've read/used textbooks that are unnecessarily complicated to navigate. The textbook pages are not clear, and you have to scroll, scroll, scroll to find what you want. The .pdf version of this textbook is standard. The table of contents on the side bar makes it easy to find what you want quickly. I appreciate that since I've encountered texts that aren't so user friendly.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. Although, as I mentioned earlier, there is a lack of texts from people of color. This is a tough call, though, for editors since including more authors has the possibility of making the anthology too wieldy. I've seen textbooks do this successfully, so I know it can be done. It's not a small task, though, and should be done with care.

I like this textbook because it does what it is supposed to do: clearly organize the literary time periods and include introductions to those periods and introduce the authors within them, cover the major authors you would find in an Am Lit 1 course, and make it easy to navigate. Teachers will have to enhance the readings with more in depth explanations, but that is expected. I recommend this textbook because it is comprehensive, clearly organized, and reliable.

Reviewed by Anne Greenhoe, Adjunct Instructor, Portland Community College on 6/13/21

The anthology provides a sample of genres and voices over the periods that formed and established a new country. The six chapters focus on thoughts that were influential at the time rather than on the players. Some voices that are surveyed in high... read more

The anthology provides a sample of genres and voices over the periods that formed and established a new country. The six chapters focus on thoughts that were influential at the time rather than on the players. Some voices that are surveyed in high school and read widely in college courses (namely Frederick Douglass) from different political and social movements that were parallel to the surveyed literature are not included here. This is an introduction to Early American Literature. It it not an all-inclusive anthology. There is a sampling of voices from different cultural backgrounds and viewpoints.

There are different viewpoints from the eras represented. The creation story, How the World Was Made (Cherokee) can be easily compared to the onslaught of European colonists that came in the 1500-1600s, and their justification for immigrating.

John Winthrop, in his essay A Modell of Christian Charitie (1630), was written on the ship from England to colonial America, justifying why it’s right, good, and God’s will for him and other religious peoples to immigrate to the colony. In a letter, echoing Frederick Douglass’s dissent and disbelief, Phillis Wheatly’s Letter to Rev. Samson Occom (1774) is framed in ridicule as she acknowledges the hypocrisy of the American term “freedom.” Her viewpoint does not capture the rage of Douglass, but it is no less important in recognizing and voicing the chasm between Winthrop’s “brotherly love” and the ongoing existence of slavery.

There is accuracy here for an introductory survey course in Early American literature. The book represents different viewpoints that students can access in a first year college course, though readers will find voices missing.

Because the text is entirely filled with primary sources, the content is relevant. I would use this book as a representation of thought in a period of time in American history. There are voices missing, but as with all textbooks, supplementing gives direction and depth to a course.

The author’s prose is accessible and easily understood for a first year literature course student.

Consistency rating: 2

The framework was confusing to me. The titles of the six sections reflect periods in history, but internally, most of the organization is by authors’ births. The subheadings for social periods within the history could be highlighted in some way, i.e., indented or additional subheadings. For example, in Chapter 1: Literature of Exploration and Discovery, the first section is Native American Accounts and the second section is European Exploration Accounts. It’s easy to understand that these are comparing and contrasting viewpoints.

In Chapter 5: Literature of the Romantic Era, there is the introduction of the period, then the introductions of different authors follow. But then, there is an introduction to Women and the Cult of Domesticity, but without the introduction to the single author, Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Edgar Alan Poe has eight short stories included but no reference as to why he is important to American literature, while in his introduction, John Winthrop’s move to American is important because his colony became “New England’s chief colony.”

The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.

The bulk of the text are primary documents, so the modality is sectioned into the original print format: large chunks of text and archaic sentence styles. I want this when reading a primary document.

My adult basic ed students and first year writing students would find the organization of the book confusing at first sight, but this would be due to the Table of Contents. On the title page, the Table of Contents has clear organization, but when Contents is open while document is open, too, there is no delineation between headings. All listings look the same with no visual difference. I had to use the numbers on the Table of Contents to move back and forth between texts.

The titles of the six sections which are arranged in chronological order, are presented in logical, clear fashion.

There are no interface issues. The pictures of authors are the only images.

I didn't see gammatical erros. The primary texts have archaic language, but this is necessary for purpose of the book.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The texts included in the anthology of dominant beliefs and genres of the periods represented. Essays anchored in religious beliefs are found in the birth of a nation as religious sects immigrated to find religious freedom, while poetry and short stories appear more frequently as the country becomes richer and more free time is had for leisure and for defining who we are as a nation, separate from other countries, through literature. The text represents the dominant culture in the U.S. during the times included. More diverse and underrepresented voices, cultures, and beliefs could be added to represent the times we live in today as we search for a common history. Again, if I was using this text, supplements would need to be used to give depth and meaning in today’s classroom.

I teach adult basic education, developmental education, intensive ESL, and first year writing courses. I would use the book for examples of primary resources to analyze for social studies and augment a review of the Charter Documents. I could also use this for more advanced classes as a compare and contrast base for argumentative essays, but I would not as a whole book for the type of classes I teach.

Reviewed by Jane Rosecrans, Professor of English, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College on 3/29/21

A number of important works are missing from this anthology. There is very little coverage of slavery or the abolition movement, the primary social reform of the 19th century. There are no black writers cover in the section "Literature of 19th... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

A number of important works are missing from this anthology. There is very little coverage of slavery or the abolition movement, the primary social reform of the 19th century. There are no black writers cover in the section "Literature of 19th Century Reform"; only white writers are represented. None of the major African-American writers are included -- Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, William Wells Brown, Harriet Wilson. There is no discussion of the fugitive slave narrative or of the abolition movement. Uncle Tom's Cab in is omitted. There is no discussion of the women's movement of the 19th century and no novels by women from the 1850s. The only Black writers I see here are Equiano, Sojourner Truth, and Wheatley.

In addition, sections on Wheatley, Paine, and Jefferson are problematic. The introductions are often simple biography and do not include some of the issues and controversies surrounding each writer. This is especially true of Phillis Wheatley and Thomas Jefferson. In order to better understand the religious evolution of American, "A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom" or his letter to Danbury should have been included and the introduction to Jefferson should have included the controversy surrounding Jefferson and race. "Laws" from NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA should have been included here because it offers Jefferson's views on race. Also regarding religion, an excerpt from Paine's AGE OF REASON should have been included.

This anthology does a better job with American Indian writers from the first unit to Schoolcraft and Apess later.

Finally, Whitman and Dickinson are included in the last section on social reform. They should have been included in a new section on romantic poetry.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The content provided is accurate but there are problems with omission. The introductions provide basic biographical material. For example, the introduction to Thomas Jefferson includes none of the controversies involving Jefferson and race/slavery.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

This anthology omits many important African-American writers. It includes many women writers and American Indian writers. The updates that will be necessary are substantial, not only in terms of writers and works included (see above), but also in terms of introductory information. There need to be introductions on American Indian myths, slavery, the abolition movement, the women's movement and romantic poetry. Then introduction to the romantic movement needs substantial revision as it is very brief.

Clarity rating: 3

The anthology is clear and includes some notes. The notes are uneven, however. For example, there are notes for Emerson's "Self-Reliance" but not for the Iroquois "Creation Story," which includes an introduction but does not include any information about creation stories or Indian myths.

The text is consistent in terms of terminology but it needed more terminology and concepts explained.

Modularity rating: 2

I had real problems with the modules. I would have revised and added new modules. The consecutive numbering of chapters was also problematic. There are six units but no subheadings and because of the issues with organization (see below), the writers and literary texts cannot be easily reorganized or realigned using a different criteria for modules such as a thematic set of modules.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 1

I found the organization of this anthology very difficult to follow. 1. Each unit (there are six) needed to include sub-sections as well as writers and readings under each sub-section. Each writer needed to then have her/his own subsection including the introduction and the readings. This makes it so much easier to read. So for example, Literature of Exploration and Discovery Native American Literature Introduction Creation Stories Iroquois Introduction "Creation Story" 2. I also found the way in which units were created to be problematic. For example, Whitman and Dickinson are included on the last unit on reform; neither writer was actively involved in reform. They should have appeared in a different unit on romantic poetry. This unit also includes a poem by Longfellow that has to do with his youth rather than with reform, so it is also misplaced. All of the poets should appear in a separate unit that should discuss poetry differently and which would also distinguish poetry from the first half of the 1i9th century from Whitman, who revolutionized American poetry. Some of these differences are discussed in the introduction to Whitman, but there needs to be a unit that focuses on poetry as a whole, especially given that students have more difficulty with poetry than with most other genres. This was clearly the most problematic unit. It included non-reform literature with reform literature, but it was not comprehensive and did not mention slavery, abolition, and women's rights as movements explicitly; rather this information was buried in introductory notes to individual writers.

Interface rating: 2

There are interface issues on every page. "Powered by Pressbooks" appears in the middle of each text and "share this book" and OER license information also appears in the middle of some texts. Some texts also suffer from interface issues under the "Source" section.

I did not see any writing, spelling, sentence structure or other grammatical issues in this anthology. I thought the writing was clear and direct.

As I have explained in several sections of this review, there is a lack of coverage of African-American writers and texts and a lack of coverage of social movements and literary movements that were important to women and Black writers of the 19th century. There is no attention paid to how marginal groups including American Indians, women, and African-Americans were perceived. There is no discussion of racism or sexism, which are important to understanding the many of these texts by both white writers and people of color as well as men and women. There is no discussion of how early explorers viewed the indigenous population they encountered; this material would provide a cultural context for readings and would thus help both faculty and students better understand the literature. Likewise, there is no discussion of slavery or racism for both white and black writers, which, again, is crucial to understanding these texts. For example, Thomas Jefferson mentions Phillis Wheatley by name in NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA. That chapter should have been included but information about race should also have been included in their respective introductions. Another example regards the women's movement and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Declaration of Sentiments." She mentions the Seneca Falls convention in the introduction to Stanton but includes no section on the rise of women writers (or domestic fiction) in the 19th century, the sexist perceptions of women that were prevalent at the time, or the lack of women's rights. There is no discussion of the rise of African-American novel. All of these materials are to be expected in a 21st century American literature anthology.

I would not use this anthology in my ENG 241 course. It is simply too limited and omits too many writers and literary works.

Table of Contents

• I. Literature of Exploration and Discovery
• II. Literature of Colonial America
• III. Literature of the Revolutionary Period
• IV. Literature of the New Nation
• V. Literature of the Romantic Era
• VI. Literature of Nineteenth Century Reform

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This book offers an anthology of texts that includes letters, journals, poetry, newspaper articles, pamphlets, sermons, narratives, and short fiction written in and about America beginning with collected oral stories from Native American tribes and ending with the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Many major and minor authors are included, providing a sampling of the different styles, topics, cultures, and concerns present during the formation and development of America through the mid-nineteenth century.

About the Contributors

Jenifer Kurtz , Virginia Western Community College

Contribute to this Page

• Library of Congress
• Research Guides
• American Folklife Center

Folklife and Creative Writing: Resources in the American Folklife Center

Introduction.

• Cowboy poetry
• Veterans poetry
• Living Nations, Living Words
• Brazilian Chapbooks
• Veteran Memoirs
• Plays and Novels
• Non-Fiction
• Library Blog Posts and Podcasts
• Additional Resources
• Searching the Collection
• Maggie Jones,  Folklife Intern, American Folklife Center
• Melanie Kimball,  Folklife Intern, American Folklife Center
• Meg Nicholas, Folklife Specialist, American Folklife Center

Created:  June 13, 2024

Last Updated:  August 6, 2024

Ask a Librarian: American Folklife Center

American folklife center : ask a librarian.

Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.

This guide provides an introduction to doing research on the topic of creative writing using American Folklife Center collections, and serves as a companion piece to an existing guide on Narrative and Verbal Arts in AFC collections. While the American Folklife Center archive contains primarily unpublished materials, in some cases a collection may include a manuscript or drafts of poems, essays or memoirs that were later published.

The Center's Collection Policy Statement lists nine areas of distinction for its collections, including "Narrative and Verbal Arts." The policy statement has this to say about this area of distinction:

Narrative and Verbal Arts encompass a wide range of genres including stories, myths, legends, jokes, fan literature, memes, proverbs, folk poetry, and cowboy poetry, as well as premier collections of American English regional dialects, plus collections of Gullah (Sea Islands Creole), Caribbean, and French-based Creole dialects.

For the purposes of this guide, "creative writing" encompasses examples of the written word found in AFC archival collections. This may refer to collections of materials written about AFC archival collections, or it may refer to a manuscript item that forms part of a donated collection. The items featured here often cross genres, including poetry, memoirs, and manuscripts for novels, essays and other non-fiction writing. To aid in navigation, collections have been grouped according to the following genres:

• Autobiography and Memoir
• Non-Fiction and Essays

Some collections may feature one creative writing style, while still others contain examples of multiple genres. In the latter case, the collection has been grouped according to the genre which best describes its contents.

In addition to these genre collections, the AFC archive also has items which pertain to the act of writing itself. These include interviews with notable authors which include descriptions of their writing process, as well as an exploration of writing for archival cataloguing.

Some of the collections and resources featured in this guide are available online. Others, including many non-digitized collections of note, require a visit to the American Folklife Center reading room. This guide is not intended to serve as a comprehensive record of all AFC archival collections relevant to this subject.

Writers Found in AFC Collections

• Maya Angelou
• Allen Ginsberg
• Stetson Kennedy
• Arthur Miller
• Toni Morrison
• Zora Neale Hurston

There is a digital presentation of this collection.

Creative Writing in the American Folklife Center

Richard Joseph Heh, author. "My Last Mission" poem written by Richard Joseph Heh. Richard Joseph Heh Collection (AFC 2001/001/87986), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Lyntha Scott Eiler, photographer. John Russell, of Montcoal, reading a poem entitled "Keeper of the Forest" at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. March 15, 1996. Coal River Folklife Collection (AFC 1999/008), American Folk

Alan Lomax, writer. Draft of unpublished scene from a play about the embodied characters Mind and Matter. Alan Lomax Collection (AFC 2004/004), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Unrealeased outtake footage of an interview with poet Allen Ginsberg . Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian Collection (AFC 2011/009), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Bess Lomax Hawes, writer. Bess's early writing, from 1930. Bess Lomax Hawes Collection (AFC 2014/008), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

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• Last Updated: Aug 23, 2024 3:22 PM
• URL: https://guides.loc.gov/folklife-creative-writing