Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Leaves of Grass
wanted “to define America, her athletic democracy.”
his poems contain lists of “sights and objects” any
19th century American could recognize
his two favorite words are “sing” and “absorb”
He “absorbs” the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of
the world around him, and then “sings” them out in
poetry.
remained an incomplete “work in progress,” the book
grew and changed as he and America grew and
change
Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)
First edition
From: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun05.html
Uncle Tom's Cabin
George Peck's
Grand Revival of
Stetson's Uncle
Tom's Cabin
Booked by Klaw & Legree Topsy
Erlanger,
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
From http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/30/crusoe4.html
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Twin’s later novels seemed less hopeful about
democracy and pessimistic about the goodness
of human nature
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900)
The $30,000 Request (1904)
The Mysterious Stranger (1916)
shows the conflict between the ideals of
Americans and their desire for money