Republic of the Philippines

University of Eastern Philippines

Laoang Campus

College of Education

Bachelor of Secondary Education 3

Major (Survey of English & American Literature)

1st Semester, SY 2022 2023

Overview of the Course: Major 13 (Survey of English & American Literature) is a three-

unit course engages future English teachers in a historical survey of selected literary works

produced by understanding English and American lteratures from its beginnings to the 21st

century. This way, they will be able to demonstrate content knowledge and application of English

and American literature and use the Engish language within the context of literature and English

Janguage teaching.

Module 1. Introduction to English-American Literature

Overview:

American literature is literature predominantly written or produced in English in the United

States of America and its preceding colonies. Before the founding of the United States, the

Thirteen Colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States were heavily influenced

by British literature. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English

language literature. A small amount of literature exists in other immigrant languages. Furthermore

a rich tradition of oral storytelling exists among the Native American tribes
Learning Outcomes: At the of the lessons, the students should be able to

a. discuss the introduction of English & American Literature

b. describe the characteristics and common genres of English-American Literature in relation to

English and American geography, history, language, society, and culture; and

English and American Geography, History, Language, Society, and Culture

History of America

The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United Statess

(U.S. or USs) or America, is a country primarily Iocated in North America. It consists of 50 states,

a federal district, five major unincorporated teritories, 326 Indian reservations, and some minor

possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million square kilometers), it is the world's third- or

fourth-largest country by total area. The United States shares significant land borders with

Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, as well as limited martime borders with the

Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia. With a population of more than 331 million people, it is the third

most populous country in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most

populous city is New York City.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years

ago, and European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the

thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Disputes over taxation and political

representation with Great Britain led to the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), which

established independence. In the late 18th century, the U.S. began expanding across North

America, gradually obtaining new territories, sometimes through war, frequently displacing Native

Americans, and admitting new states; by 1848, the United States spanned the continent. Slavery
was legal in the southern United States until the second half of the 19th century when the

American Civil War led to its abolition. The Spanish-American War and World War I established

the U.S. as a world power, a status confrmed by the outcome of Word War I1.

The United States is a highly developed country, accounts for approximately a quarter of global

GDP, and is the world's largest economy by GDP at market exchange rates. By value, the United

States is the world's largest importer and the second-largest exporter of goods. Although its

population is only 4.2% of the world's total, it holds 29.4% of the total wealth in the world, the

largest share held by any country. Making up more than a third of global military spending, t is

the forem0st military power in the world; and it is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force

internationally.

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

mothertand, 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 fotunes so interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became invoved 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 feling

wrought many modifications in people's lives. All these factors in the development of the United

States molded the literature of the country.

This history of American literature begins with the arival of English-speaking Europeans

in what would become the United States. At first American literature was naturally a colonial

literature, by authors who were Englishmen and who thought and wrote as such. John Smith, a
soldier of fortune, is credited with initiating American literature. His chief books included A True

Relation of..Virginia..(1608) and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the

Summer Isles (1624). Although these volumes often glorified their author, they were avowedly

written to explain colonizing opportunities to Englishmen. In time, each colony was similarly

described: Daniel Denton's Brief Description of New York (1670), William Penn's Brief Account of

the Province of Pennsylvania (1682), and Thomas Ashe's Carolina (1682) were only a few of

many works praising America as a land of economic promise.

Such writers acknowledged British allegiance, but others stressed the differences of

opinion that spurred the colonists to leave their homeland. More important, they argued questions

of government involving the relationship between church and state. The attitude that most authors

attacked was jauntily set forth by Nathaniel Ward of Massachusetts Bay in The Simple Cobler of

Aggawam in America (1647). Ward amusingly defended the status quo and railed at colonists

who sponsored newfangled notions. A variety of counterarguments to such a conservative view were
published. John Winthrop's Journal (written 1630-49) told sympathetically of the attempt of

Massachusetts Bay Colony to form a theocracy-a state with God at its head and with its laws

based upon the Bible. Later defenders of the theocratic ideal were Increase Mather and his son

Cotton. William Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation (through 1646) showed how his pilgrim

Separatists broke completely with Anglicanism. Even more radical than Bradford was Roger

Wiliams, who, in a series of controversial pamphlets, advocated not only the separation of church

and state but also the vesting of power in the people and the tolerance of diferent religious beliefs.

The utilitarian writings of the 17th century included biographies, treatises, accounts of

voyages, and sermons. There were few achievements in drama or fiction, since there was a

widespread prejudice against these foms. Bad but popular poetry appeared in the Bay Psalm

Book of 1640 and in Michael Wigglesworth's summary in doggerel verse of Calvinistic belief, The

Day of Doom (1662). There was some poetry, at least, of a higher order. Anne Bradstreet of

Massachusetts wrote some lyrics published in The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
(1650). which movingly conveyed her feelings concerning religion and her family. Ranked still

higher by moderm critics is a poet whose works were not discovered and published until 1939:

Edward Taylor, an English-born minister and physician who lived in Boston and Westfeld,

Massachusetts. Less touched by gloom than the typical Puritan, Taylor wrote lyrics that showed

his delight in Christian belief and experience.

carried In America in the early years of the 18th century, some writers, such as Cotton Mather,

older traditions. His huge history and biography of Puritan New England, Magnalia

Christi Americana, in 1702, and his vigorous Manuductio ad Ministerium, or introduction to the

ministry, in 1726, were defenses of ancient Purtan convictions. Jonathan Edwards, initiator of the

Great Awakening. a religious revival that stirred the eastern seacoast for many years, eloquently

defended his burming belief in Calvinistic doctrine-of the concept that man, born totaly depraved,

could attain virtue and salvation only through God's grace-in his powerful sermons and most

notably in the philosophical treatise Freedom of Will (1754). He supported his claims by relating

them to a complex metaphysical system and by reasoning brlliantly in clear and often beautiful

prose.

Poets and poetry

Poetry became a weapon during the American Revolution, with both loyalists and

Continentals urging their forces on, stating their arguments, and celebrating their heroes in verse

and songs such as "Yankee Doodle," "Nathan Hale," and "The Epilogue," mostly set to popular

British melodies and in manner resembling other British poems of the period.

The most memorable American poet of the period was Philip Freneau, whose first well-

known poems, Revolutionary War satires, served as effective propaganda; later he turned to

various aspects of the American scene. Although he wrote much in the stilted manner of the

Neoclassicists, such poems as "The Indian Burying Ground," "The Wild Honey Suckle," "To a
Caty-did," and "On a Honey Bee" were romantic lyrics of real grace and feeling that were

forerunners of a literary movement destined to be important in the 19th century.

Drama and the novel

In the years toward the close of the 18th century, both dramas and novels of some

historical importance were produced. Though theatrical groups had long been active in America,

the first American comedy presented professionally was Royall Tyler's Contrast (1787). This drama was
full of echoes of Goldsmith and Sheridan, but t contained a Yankee character (the

predecessor of many such in years to follow) who brought something native to the stage.

Wiliam Hill Brown wrote the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy (1789), which

showed authors how to overcome ancient prejudices against this form by following the

sentimental novel form invented by Samuel Richardson. A flood of sentimental novels followed to

the end of the 19th century. Hugh Henry Brackenridge succeeded Cervantes's Don Quixote and

Henry Fielding with some popular success in Modern Chivalry (1792-1815), an amusing satire

on democracy and an interesting portrayal of frontier life. Gothic thrillers were to some extent

nationalized in Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland (1798), Arthur Mervyn (1799-1800), and

Edgar Huntly (1799).

After the American Revolution, and increasingly after the War of 1812, American writers were

exhorted to produce a literature that was truly native. As if in response, four authors of very

respectable stature appeared. William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Co

American Culture, Traditions and Customs

The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western origin, but is

infiuenced by a multicultural ethos that includes African, Native American, Asian, Pacific Island,

and Latin American people and their cultures.

American culture encompasses the customs and traditions of the United States. "Culture

encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what
we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave th

loved ones, and a million other things" said Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and

Southgate College in London.

The United States is the third largest country in the world with a population of more than

325 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A child is born every 8 seconds, and a person

dies every 12 seconds.

In addition to Native Americans who were already living on the continent, the population

of the United States was buit on immigration from other countries. Despite recent moves to close

the U.S. borders to new immigrants and refugees, a new immigrant moves to the United States

every 33 seconds, according to the Census Bureau.

Because of this, the United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the

world. Nealy every region of the world has influenced American culture, most notably the

English who colonized the country beginning in the early 1600s. U.S. culture has also been

shaped by the cultures of Native Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.

The United States is sometimes described as a "melting pot" in which different cultures

have contributed their own distinct "lavors" to American culture. Just as cultures from around

the world have influenced American culture, today American culture influences the worid. The

term Western culture often refers broadly to the cuttures of the United States and Europe.

The way people "melt" in the United States differs. "Different groups of imn ants

integrate in different ways," De Rossi told Live Science. "For example, in the United States,

Catholic Spanish-speaking communities might keep their language and other cultural family

traditions, but are integrated in the urban community and have embraced the American way or

life in many other ways."

Geography of America

Geography of The United States USA topo en.jpg

Continent North America, Coordinates 38.000°N 97.000°W

Area Ranked 3rd/4th Total 9,826,675 km2 (3,794,100 sq mi) Land93.24% .Water

6.76%

Coastline 19,920 km (12,380 mi), Borders Canada:8,864 km (5,508 mi), Mexico

3,327 km,2,067mi), Highest point Denali 6,190.5 m (20,310 A)

Lowest point Badwater Basin,-85 m (-279 ft)

Longest river Missouri River, 3,767 km (2,341 mi), Largest lake Superior, 58,000 km2 (22,394

sq mi)

Climate Diverse: Ranges from Temperate in the North to Tropical in the far south. Nest

mostly semi-arid to desert, Mountains: alpine, Northeast: humid continental, Southeast: humid

subtropical, Coast of California: Mediterranean, Pacific Northwest: cool temperate oceanic,

Alaska: mostly subarctic, Hawai, South Florida, and the territories: tropical

Terrain Vast central plain, Interior Highlands and low mountains in Midwest, mountains

and valleys in the mid-south, coastal flatland near the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, complete with

mangrove forests and temperate, subtropical, and tropical laurel forest and jungle, canyons,

basins, plateus, and mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; intermittent hilly and

mountainous regions in Great Plains, with occasional badland topography; rugged mountains and

broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii and the territories

Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements,

uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas,

timber, arable land

Natural hazards tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity around Pacific Basin

huricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast

mud slides in Califomia, forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska.

Environmental issues severe water shortages, air pollution resulting in acid rain in both
the US and Canada

Exclusive economic zone 11,351,000 km2 (4,383,000 sq mi)

The term "United States", when used in the geographical sense, is the contiguous United

States, the state of Alaska, the island state of Hawai, the five insular teritories of Puerto Rico,

Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, and minor outlying

pOssessions[1] The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and martime

borders with Russia, Cuba, the Bahamas, and other countries, [note 2] in addition to Canada and

Mexico. The northern border of the United States with Canada is the world's longest bi-national

land border.

Language

Although the United States does not have an official language, the most commonly used

language is English (specifically, American English), which is the de facto national language, and

the only one spoken at home by approximately 78% of the US. population

There is no official language of the United States, according to the U.S. government. While

almost every language in the world is spoken in the United States, the most frequently spoken

non-English languages are Spanish, Chinese, French and German. Ninety percent of the U.S.

population speaks and understands at least some English, and most official business is

conducted in English. Some states have official or preferred languages. For example, English and

Hawaian are the official languages in Hawai.

The Census Bureau estimates that more than 300 languages are spoken in the United

States. The bureau divides those languages into four categories: Spanish; other Indo-European

languages, which includes German, Yiddish, Swedish, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, Hindi,

Punjabi, Greek and several others; Asian and Pacific Island languages, including Chinese,

Korean, Japanese, Thai, Tamil and more; and "all other languages," which is a category for
languages that didn't fit into the first three categories, such as Hungarian, Arabic, Hebrew

languages of Africa and languages of native people of North, Central and South America

Society

The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing

since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural

characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, Cuisine, and folklore. Today, the United

States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country as a result of large-scale

immigration from many different countries throughout its history.

Its chief early influences came from English and Irish settlers of colonial America. British

culture, due to colonial ties with Britain that spread the English language, legal system and other

cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important infiluences came from other parts

of Europe.

The United States has often been thought of as a melting pot, but recent developments

tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image ofa salad bowl rather than a melting pot.

Due to the extent of American culture, there are many integrated but unique social subcultures

within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have

commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic

characteristics such as religious background, occupation and ethnic group membership. The

strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most

prominently from Britain, Ireland, and Germany

American Culture

The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western origin, but is

influenced by a multicultural ethos that includes African, Native American, Asian, Pacific Island,

and Latin American people and their cultures

American culture encompasses the customs and traditions of the United States. "Culture
encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, mariage, music, what

we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave ith

loved ones, and a million other things," said Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and

Southgate College in London.

The United States is the third largest country in the world with a population of more than

325 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A child is born every 8 seconds, and a person

dies every 12 seconds.

In addition to Native Americans who were already living on the continent, the population

of the United States was built on immigration from other countries. Despite recent moves to close

the U.S. borders to new immigrants and refugees, a new immigrant moves to the United States

every 33 seconds, according to the Census Bureau.

Because of this, the United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the

Worid. Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, most notably the

English who colonized the country beginning in the early 1600s. U.S. culture has also been

shaped by the cultures of Native Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.

The United States is sometimes described as a "melting pot" in which different cultures

have contributed their own distinct "avors" to American culture. Just as cultures from around

the world have influenced American culture, today American culture influences the world. The

term Western culture often refers broadly to the cultures of the United States and Europe.

The way people "melt" in the United States differs. "Different groups of immigrants

integrate in different ways," De Rossi told Live Science. "For example, in the United States,

Catholic Spanish-speaking communities might keep their language and other cultural family

traditions, but are integrated in the urban community and have embraced the American way of

life in many other ways."

The Northeast, South, Midwest, Southeast and Western regions of the United States all

have distinct traditions and customs. Here is a brief overview of the cuture of the Unted States.

American style. Clothing styles vary by social status, region, occupation and climate.

Jeans, sneakers, basebal caps, cowboy hats and boots are some items of clothing that are

closely associated with Americans. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Victoria Secret

are some well-known American brands

American fashion is widely influenced by celebrities and the media., and fashion sales

equal around $200 billion per year, according to a paper published by Harvard University in 2007.

More and more Americans are buying fashion, electronics and more online. According to the

Census Bureau, U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the first quarter of 2017 totaled around $98.1

billion.

American food. American cuisine was influenced by Europeans and Native Americans in

its early history. Today, there are a number of foods that are commonly identified as American,

such as hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, macaroni and cheese, and meat loaf. "As American

as apple pie" has come to mean something that is authentically American.

There are also styles of cooking and types of foods that are specific to a region. Southem-

style cooking is often called "American comfort food" and includes dishes such as fried chicken,

collard greens, black-eyed peas and corn bread. Tex-Mex, popular in Texas and the Southwest,

is a blend of Spanish and Mexican cooking styles and includes items such as chili and buritos

and relies heavily on shredded cheese and beans. Jerky, dried meats that are served as snacks,

is also a food that was created in the United States, according to NPR

The Arts. The United States is widely known around the world as a leader in mass media

production, including television and movies. Accordling to the U.S. Department of Commerc, the

United States comprises one-third of the worldwide media and entertainment industy
Advertisement. The United States' arts culture extends beyond movies and television

shows, though. New York is home to Broadway, and Americans have a rich theatrical history.

American folk art is an artistic style and is identified with quilts and other hand-crafted items.

American music is very diverse with many, many styles, including rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel,

country and western, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and hip hop

Sports. The United States is a sports-minded country, with milions of fans who follow

football, baseball, basketball and hockey, among other sports. Baseball, which was developedin

colonial America and became an organized sport in the mid-1800s, is known as America's favorite

pastime, although its popularity has been eclipsed by football for the past three decades,

according to the Haris Poll.

Activity 1. Write TRUE if the statement is false and, FALSE If the statement is true. 2 (points

each)

1. In the United Siates, Catholic Spanish-speaking communities might keep their language

and other cultural family traditions, but are not integrated in the urban community and have

embraced the American way of life in many other ways."

2. The United States is the third largest country in the world with a population of more than

325 million, according to the PSA.

3. A child is born every 8 seconds, and a person dies every 2 seconds.

4 English is an official language of the United States

5. America's favorite pastime is softball

6. There are environmental issues like water shortages, air pollution resulting in acid rain in

Saudi Arabia, US, and Canada.

Apple pie" has come to mean something that is authentically American.

Cuture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it. our language,

marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet
visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things,

9. There are many integrated but unique social subcultures within the United States.

10. Other important influences came from other parts of America.

Characteristics and Common Genres of English-American Literature

1. Colonial American Literature (17th century to 1830)

Early American Literature writing that emerged from the original U.S colonies during the

period from 1607 to the late 1700. It was largely influenced by British writers and was created to

inform people about colonial life, religious disputes and settlement issues. Many of characteristics

of early American literature can be found in the poems, journals, letters, narratives, histories and

teaching material written by settlers, religious figures and historical icons of the period. American

Literature includes the writings of Mary Rowlandson, William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet and John

Winthrop.

American Literature had been affected from many ways; each way makes a different in

America's literature. The three characteristics of American Literature include - plot of decline,

indifferent of nature, 3rd person omniscient reaction to romanticism and surrealism.

Firstly, American Literature reflects beliefs and traditions that come from the nation's

frontier days. The pioneer ideals of self-reliance and independence appear again and again in

American writings. American authors have great respect for the value and importance of the

individual. They tend to reject authority and to emphasize democracy and the equality of people.

They often celebrate nature and a sense of boundless space.

Second, American writers have always had a strong tendency to break with literary

tracition and to strike out their own directions. Writers of other countries seem to absorb their

national literary traditions. But many American authors have rejected the old in order to create

something new.

Thirdlly, a lively streak of humor runs thorough American literature from earliest times to
present. In many cases a dash of salty humor saves serious theme from becoming too

sentimental. American humor tends to be exaggerated rather than subtle. It reflects the people's

ability to laugh at themselves even during the most cificult times.

2. The Romantic Period (1830 to 1870)

Romanticism is a way of thinking that values the individual over the group, the subjective over

the objective, and a person's emotional experience over reason. It also values the wildness of

nature over human-made order.

The Romantic period lasted from 1830 to 1870. During this period romanticism emerged,

which is a literary and artistic movement of the 19th century that served as a critique of the

Enlightenment, and placed a premium on imagination, emotion, nature, and individuality.

While Romanticism was occurring, there was a need for cultural identity. The desire for

cultural identity within the United States resulted in emerging authors. These emerging authors

allowed for the nation to grow and expand. It also allowed democratic involvement. The U.S.

improved in developments, such as transportation and technology during the romantic time

period. Although there were attempts to improve the country, there was also political unrest.

Women's rights were a topical issue, but the main unrest at hand was states' rights. This unrest

eventually led to Civil War.

Romanticism consisted of three different branches. All of these branches are based on

emotions, good or bad. Also these three branches may differ in some way, but all of them have

the reoccuring theme of a quest of the individual to discover themselves. All aspects of

romanticism involve an awe of nature, along with imagination.

Transcendentalism, which was one branch of romanticism, was a shift from Lockean

thinking to Kantian. It was also a shift from tabula rosa to intuition. Transcendentalist also believe

in the idea ofthe oversoul. We see through Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings of "Nature" and "Self-

Reliance" this idea of the oversoul. The Oversoul was the divine spirit or mind that was present in
every man and in all nature. It was an all-pervading, omniscient, supreme mind. Each part of

nature or of humanity was a reflection of the divine mind. This implies that we, as humans, are

equal with God, which makes us perfect.

Another branch of Romanticism is dark romanticism. The most known dark romanist is

Edgar Allen Poe. In "The Fall of the House of Usher Poe reveals dark romanticism through the

use of single effect and gothic style. Both these elements play a large role in dark romanticism.

Single effect is writing constructed to achievea particular effect, and gothic style is literary tradition

that came to be from the gothic architecture of the middle ages, Such as stained glass windows

and high towers. These aspects of writing achieve dark romanticism.

Different historical happenings contributed to the Romantic period. Also different branches

emerged out of Romanticism, but no matter what branch or time period was occurring the

literature of this time period created emotions rather it was negative or positive.

3. Realism and Naturalism (1870 to 1910)

Between 1870 and 1910, there were two main movements that took place in American

literature: realism and naturalism. Realism was a literary movement that focused on ordinary

characters ordinary, everyday life situations. .. Naturalism often included themes of survival,

determinism, and violence.

The human cost of the Civil War in the United States was immense: more than 2.3 million

soldiers fought in the war, and perhaps as many as 851,000 people died in 1861-65. Walt

Whitman claimed that "a great literature will...arise out of the era of those four years," and what

emerged in the following decades was a literature that presented a detailed and unembellished

vision of the world as it truly was. This was the essence of realism. Naturalism was an intensified

form of realism. After the grim realities of a devastating war, they became writers' primary mode

of expression.
Samuel Clemens was a typesetter, a journalist, a riverboat captain, and an itinerant

laborer before he became, in 1863 at age 27, Mark Twain. He first used that name while reporting

on politics in the Nevada Territory. It then appeared on the short story "The Celebrated Jumping

Frog of Calaveras County," published in 1865, which catapulted him to national fame. Twain's

story was a humorous tall tale, but its characters were realistic depictions of actual Americans.

Twain deployed this combination of humor and realism throughout his writing. Some of his notable

works include

Major novels: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)

Travel narratives: The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), Life on the Mississippi (1883)

Short stories: "Jim Baker's Blue-Jay Yarn (1880), "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg" (1899)

Naturalism, like realism, was a literary movement that drew inspiration from French

authors of the 19th century who sought to document, through fiction, the reality that they saw

around them, particularly among the middle and working classes living in cities.

Theodore Dreiser was foremost among American writers who embraced naturalism. His Sister

Carrie (1900) is the most important American naturalist novel.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) and The Red Badge of Courage (1895), by Stephen Crane,

and McTeague (1899), The Octopus (1901), and The Pit (1903), by Frank Norris, are novels that

vividly depict the reality of urban life, war, and capitalism.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African American writer who wrote poetry in black dialect

"Possum," "When de Co'n Pone's Hot-that were popular with his white audience and gave them

what they believed was reality for black Americans. Dunbar also wrote poems not in dialect "we

Wear the Mask," "Sympathythat exposed the reality of racism in America durning

Reconstruction and afterward.

Henry James shared the view of the realists and naturalists that literature ought to present realiny,
but his writing style and use of literary form sought to also create an aesthetic experience, no

simply document truth. He was preoccupied with the clash in values between the United states

and Europe. His wrting shows features of both 19th-century realism and naturalism and 20th

century modernism. Some of his notable novels are

The American (1877), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), What Maisie Knew (1897), The Wings of the

Dove (1902), The Golden Bowl (1904)

4. The Modernist Period (1910 to 1945)

Advances in science and technology in Western countries rapidly intensified at the start

of the 20th century and brought about a sense of unprecedented progress. The devastation of

World Warl and the Great Depression also caused widespread suffering in Europe and the United

States. These contradictory impulses can be found swirling within modernism, a movement in the

arts definedfirst and foremost as a radical break from the past. But this break was often an act of

destruction, and it caused a loss of faith in traditional structures and beliefs. Despite, or perhaps

because of, these contradictory impulses, the modernist period proved to be one of the richest

and most productive in American literature.

A sense of disillusionment and loss pervades much American modernist fiction. That

sense may be centered on specific individuals, or it may be directed toward American society or

toward civilization generally. It may generate a nihilistic, destructive impulse, or it may express

hope at the prospect of change. F. Scot Fitzgerald skewered the American Dream in The Great

Gatsby (1925). Richard Wright exposeda attacked American racism in Native Son (1940). Zora

Neale Hurston told the story of a black woman's three marriages in Their Eyes Were Watching

God (1937). Ernest Hemingway's early novels The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Ams

(1929) articulated the disillusionment of the Lost Generation. Willa Cather told hopeful stories of

the American frontier, set mostly on the Great Plains, in O Pioneers! (1913) and My Antonia

(1918). iliam Faulkner used stream-of-consciousness monologues and other formal techniques
to break from past literary practice in The Sound and the Fury (1929). John Steinbeck depicted

the difficult lives of migrant workers in Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939).

T.S. Eliot was an American by birth and, as of 1927, a British subject by choice. His fragmentary,

multivoiced The Waste Land (1922) is the quintessential modernist poem, but his was not the

dominant voice among American modernist poets. Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg evocatively

described the regions-New England and the Midwest, respectively-in which they lived. The

Harlem Renaissance produced a rich coterie of poets, among them Countee Cullen, Langston

Hughes, Claude McKay, and Alice Dunbar Nelson. Harriet Monroe founded Poetry magazine in

Chicago in 1912 and made it the most important organ for poetry not just in the United States but

for the English-speaking world.

During the 1920s Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, and E.E. Cummings

expressed a spirit of revolution and experimentation in their poetry. Drama came to prominence

for the first time in the United States in the early 20th century. Playwrights drew inspiration from

Furopean theater but created plays that were uniquely and enduringly American. Eugene O'Neill

was the foremost American playwright of the period. His Long Day's Journey into Night (written

1939-41. performed 1956) was the high point of more than 20 years of creativity that began in

1920 with Beyond the Horizon and concluded with The lceman Cometh (written 1939, performea

1946).

During the 1930s Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets, and Langston Hughes wrote plays that

exposed injustice in America. Thornton Wilder presented a realistic (and enormously infiuenua

vision of small-town America in Our Town, first produced in 1938.

5. The Contemporary Period (1945 to present)

The United States, which emerged from World War ll confident and economically strong.

entered the Cold War in the late 1940s. ... The 1950s and 60s brought significant cultural shirs

within the United States driven by the civil rights movement and the women's movement.
The United States, which emerged from World War Il confident and economically strong.

entered the Cold War in the late 1940s. This coflict with the Soviet Union shaped global politics

for more than four decades, and the proxy wars and threat of nuclear annihilation that came to

define it were just some of the infiuences shaping American literature during the second half of

the 20th century. The 1950s and 60s brought significant cultural shifts within the United States

driven by the civil rights movement and the women's movement. Prior to the last decades of the

20th century, American literature was largely the story of dead white men who had created Art

and of living white men doing the same. By the turn of the 21st century, American literature had

become a much more complex and inclusive story grounded on a wide-ranging body of past

writings produced in the United States by people of diferent backgrounds and open to more

Americans in the present day.

Literature written by African Americans during the contemporary period was shaped in

many ways by Richard Wright, whose autobiography Black Boy was published in 1945. He left

the United States for France after World War Il, repulsed by the injustice and discrimination he

faced as a black man in America; other black writers working from the 1950s through the 1970s

also wrestled with the desires to escape an unjust society and to change it. Ralph Elison's novel

Invisible Man (1952) tells the story of an unnamed black man adrift in, and ignored by, America.

The three characteristics of American Literature include plot of decline, indifferent of

nature, 3rd person omniscient reaction to romanticism and surrealism. Firstly, American Literature

reflects beliefs and traditions that come from the nation's frontier days

Characteristics of American literature include an emphasis on pitting the American ideals

of forward-looking pragmatism and energy against what is often depicted as the effete

traditionalism of Europe, as well as an emphasis on exploring the American Dream. While trying

to develop a distinct voice, American writers also very much leaned into European traditions.

Activity 2. Answer the following questions. Do not copy verbatim the answers from the
internet, put it in your own words. (5 points each)

1. What is the plot of the Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras

County?"

2. What is the plot of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

3. What is the plot of Earnest Hemmingway A Farewell to Arms?

What is the plot of Henry James novel The Golden Bow7

5 Write a three-paragraph reflection of the novel The golden bow.

Activity 3. Write a 4-paragraph Essay on the study of English &American literature.

Suggested readings:

Beowulf

2 The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

4 Earnest Hemmingway A Farewell to Arms?

Summary:

The story of English iterature begins with the Germanic tradition of the Anglo-Saxon

settlers. Beowutf stands at its head. This epic poem of the 8th century is in Anglo-Saxon, now

more usually described as Old English. It is incomprehensible to a reader familiar only with

modern English.

Likewise American literature is 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. After a successful rebellion against the motherland, America

became the United States, a nation.

End of Module 1.

Prepared by

Dr.Lúsito P. Munoáda, JD

References: Course Professor

https //www livescin