The Beginning of the American Literature

Required reading: W. Irving “Rip Van Winkle”, “The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow”; J.F.
Cooper “The Last of the Mohicans”

Brodey K., Malgaretti F. Focus on English and American Literature. M., Айрис-Пресс, 2003.

Highlights of American Literature. N.Y., 1992. Другое издание: Хрестоматия американской

литературы. М., 1997.

Supplementary literature: Урнов Д.В. «Книга набросков» // Судьбы книг. - разные издания
Cunliffe M. Literature of the United States up to 1900. N.Y., 1974.

1. In the northern settlements, conditions socially and intellectually were

very different from those existing in the South. The men who colonized New
England represented a unique type; their ideals, their purpose, were essentially
other than those which inspired the settlers at Jamestown and the later colonizers
of Virginia. The band of Pilgrims who landed from the Mayflower at Plymouth in
December, 1620, were not bent on mere commercial adventure, lured to the shores
of the New World by tales of its fabulous wealth. They were not in search of gold;
they were looking for a permanent home, and had brought their wives and children
with them. Their ideals were of the most serious sort; their deep religious feeling
colored all their plans and habits of life. The earliest literary efforts among the
New England colonists -- like the beginnings in Virginia -- were historical land
narrative writings, some in the form of journals, a few, more ambitious,
representing real attempts at formal history.

Next to Washington the most conspicuous and most widely useful of

Americans throughout the eighteenth century was Benjamin Franklin. He was
perhaps the most typical American of his time; certainly he was the most versatile
man of affairs and the most picturesque in personality of all, that distinguished
group who helped to guide the nation in that troubled age.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the literature presents the vivid
reflection of that momentous struggle for independence upon which the American
colonies had entered. Fiery speeches, able arguments set forth in newspapers and
in pamphlets, sharp and bitter satire served to give utterance to the thought and
passion of men's minds. One feature of this activity must be emphasized:
geographical lines were now forgotten; the literature of this period is no longer
local; essayists, versifiers, orators were inspired by a common purpose and by a
devotion to the interests of the country at large.

Speak about US literature as a mirror of the national history.

 2. W. Irving started his literary career in the 19th century. His personality
made him the center of a literary group that developed in a small town on the
Hudson River. This town was NY. The literary society of Knickerbockers was
established there. Speak about W. Irving’s life and creative work.

3. W. Irving remained in the history of American literature as the 1 st

American writer who could capture the spirit of the nation and at the same time,
he did it against the background of European culture. Speak about W. Irving’s
gallery of American national types in the short story. Use the descriptions of the
main heroes in W. Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of the Sleepy
Hollow”.

4. J.F. Cooper is one of the greatest American novelists. He grew up in

Cooperstown, NY, a frontier settlement that he later dramatized in his novels.
Cooper began writing almost by accident (on a bet with his wife). He drew on
memories of his childhood on the American frontier, writing high-spirited, often
sentimental adventure stories. Some characters in the novels are based on real
individuals. Speak about J.F. Cooper’s biography.

5. The frontier romances he wrote depict his best-known character, the

woodsman Natty Bumppo, called “Leaterstocking” by the settles, and “Deer
slayer”, “Pathfinder” and “Hawkeye” by his Indian friends. This heroic scout was
featured in 5 novels, known collectively as the Leatherstocking Series: “The
Pioneers”, “The Prairie”, “The Pathfinder”, “The Deerslayer” and “The Last of the
Mohicans”.

Written in 1826, “The Last of the Mohicans” takes place in 1757 during the
French and Indian War, when France and England battled for control of the
American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied
themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the
English, with unpredictable and often tragic results. Description of certain
incidents in the novel are based on real historical events.

Can we say that J.F. Cooper managed to show the assimilation of European
genre and hero types on the American soil? Prove your point of view using
material from “The Last of the Mohicans”. Speak about the plot of the novel, its
characters, purpose and the main ideas.