American Literature- Reflections American literature is one of the prominent areas of social sciences that was developed by American writers throughout several centuries. This is not a very ancient literature style but despite that fact it is still very interesting for the reader to read especially if to draw the connection between the pieces of literature and time period when it was written. This is because each time period of the American history had many great people in it and also many outstanding events going on in it and as a result of that the pieces of literature have close connection to the historical periods and reflects peoples thinking and understanding of the time periods. In this report we are going to analyze some prominent pieces of American literature and try to see the reflections that correspond to the time period when these pieces were written. The selection is as follows: The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Law of Life by Jack London, Free by Theodore Dreiser, and The open boat by Stephen Crane. These all are very prominent pieces of American literature and they all may be well integrated with the events going on in the American history during the times when the pieces were written. Among the literary works recovered a generation ago, in the widespread cultural feminist movement that fostered the reemergence of womens voices in society, Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wall-Paper is undoubtedly prominent.
The Essay on Earliest American Literature was English and Literary
Earliest American writers were Englishmen who came to Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the permanent settlements of the English in America. These writers included John Smith, the author of A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Hapned in Virginia Since the First Planting of that Colony, which is now resident in the South part thereof, till the last returne from thence; ...
In republishing the story, the agents of the Feminist Press, most notably the late Elaine R. Hedges in her famous afterword, foregrounded the aspect that concerned them most: its sexual politics. Gilmans story quickly evolved from a relatively obscure and subversive magazine piece of the late nineteenth century to a formative feminist classic, as college anthologies further disseminated both the text and the definitive interpretation attached to the work by the Feminist Press. In this way, a particular Yellow Wall-Paper has for some thirty years been on public display. Yet even as The Yellow Wall-Paper has been reproduced over and over, the text itself has not always been the same. It is thus worth asking just what texts- what linguistic artifacts- constitute the frame on which the work known as The Yellow Wall-Paper has been hanging for nearly three decades.
Now that new works by women routinely enter the literary canon (although much work remains to be done), feminists may wish to ensure that the genius, the individuality, the voices of women writers are represented and heard with integrity. Stephen Cranes The Open Boat, is thought to be one of the finest stories ever written by an American. Crane uses a theme of cosmic irony. Cosmic irony is the belief that the universe is so large and man is so small that the universe is indifferent to the plight of man. In The Open Boat, Cranes theme, cosmic irony, is illustrated through the use of symbols for isolation, insignificance, and indifference. Three specific examples of cosmic irony symbolism used by Crane are, the power of the ocean against the insignificance of the boat, the sea against the universe, and the little boat in a vast sea from the people on the shore.
The indifference aspect of cosmic irony is where things serve no purpose, and there is truly no care for anyone or anything. In The Open Boat, the power of the ocean against the insignificance of the boat, is a prime example of indifference used by Crane. The universe is represented by the power of the ocean, and the small boat in this ocean is symbolic of man in this giant universe. The immaculate power of the ocean is very indifferent to the small boat, just as our great universe could not care less for man. Crane traveled to Greece, Cuba, Texas and Mexico, reporting mostly on war events. His short story, The Open Boat, is based on a true experience, when his ship sank on the journey to Cuba in 1896. With a small party of other passengers, Crane spent several days drifting in an open boat before being rescued. This experience impaired his health permanently.
The Term Paper on “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane 2
In “The Open Boat” Stephen Crane uses the sea and four men adrift in a dinghy as a framework for communicating his ideas about life. The story, in my opinion, is a metaphor for life. The four men are helpless against the indifferent, yet overwhelming forces of nature. In “The Open Boat,” Stephen Crane not only comments on the role of nature and God in the life of man, but ...
Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), best known for his novels Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925), was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. His parents were German immigrants whose marriage resulted in thirteen children. Because his father was often ill and unemployed, the family struggled against poverty throughout Dreisers childhood. In rebellion against his fathers obsessive religiosity, Dreiser left home at fifteen for Chicago. There, after three years of menial jobs, he found work as a newspaper reporter. While Dreiser churned out hackwork for various periodicals, he was reading the deterministic philosophy of Herbert Spencer and the novels of Honore de Balzac, who believed in the evolutionary doctrine that life is a struggle in which instinctive human desires are often in conflict with conventional morality.
In 1918 Dreiser published his book with stories. One of the stories was the story called Free. Dreisers compassion toward his desperate fictional characters was less important to the early readers of his novel than the alleged immorality of his book. The Law of Life by Jack London is also considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American literature although this was actually a pretty hard story to read. This story tells people many significant things such as how the nature is actually moving towards the years. It does not really matter what kind of person meaning his social status, the color of his skin or any other factors, is being considered, all people are pretty equal in the love of nature.
The Term Paper on Christianity and Slavery In Early American Literature
In the 18th -19th centuries religion had a great influence on culture and literature. The American society created a unique culture influenced by its norms and traditions, historical and political development, Christianity and slavery. Dogmas and norms of the society were embodied in the religious tradition and transferred into literature. Religion and slavery did not independently becoming an ...
Similarly all people will have the same ending of their lives which is death. Here we see that nature dont really care about any particular individual, but rather she cares for the well being of the whole tribe of humans meaning the whole human race. That was the time of the great famine and many people were dying, especially the younger ones because they were not so strong. In this representation we can see some reflections of the natural laws. Here the author represents the process of the natural selection, where only the strong survive, and that was one of such periods of American history when people were tested. It is difficult to say of whether or not it was fair.
The nature actually decides how it will act, but people themselves have a great deal of influence upon it and therefore they could have avoided such famine. Nowadays we still have many terrible famines around some places in the world, and the socio-economical improvement leads actually towards the minimizing such occurrences. Although natural resources are being abused now and the trends are towards the situation being even worth but that is completely different topic. Having considered the research of the pieces of the American literature we may conclude that all of them have reflections of the time period that they were written during. I would consider all of these pieces to be pretty successful representation of the American literature although some people may have different opinion. For example Theodore Dreisers Free was not so popular among masses but still it has some points concerning the relationships between people and nature within certain timeframes. All of the pieces were very interesting and reflective and I would definitely recommend it for reading for those interested in American literature of 18th-19th century.
Bibliography:
Neal Pollak, The Anthology of American Literature, McSweeneys Books, September 1, 2000..
