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AMERICAN LITERATURE - Coggle Diagram
AMERICAN LITERATURE
What does it focus on?
Early American Literature examines the cultures and literatures of the Americas from the colonial period through the early national period of the United States.
American literature explains basic characteristics of all kinds of literature such as characters, plots, settings, images and themes. It embodies the ideas of americans and makes certain places known. It also tells stories of certain characters americans' have had with their unique culture. It also helps the reader understand the ways Americans have changed over time, allowing readers to become more intimately aware of the totality of the American experience.
Which are recurrent themes?
The American Dream
Endless opportunities
Optimistically expect life to get better
self-reliance
Loss of innocence/coming of age
These two generally go hand by hand. The protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of dissillusionment.It relates to a feeling of being freed from a fixed belief.
Alienation and Isolation
Characters mayfeel a sense of withdrawal from the rest of the world. The relation ship with nature society or science may be either optimistic, inspiring and idealistic, or sorrowful, dark, morbid and corrupt.
Other major themes
Survival of the fittest, Rebellion and Protest and Disillussionment.
Key American Authors
Edgar Allan Poe
Herman Melville
Walt Withman
Mark Twain
T.S Eliot
William Faulkner
Tennessee Williams
Kurt Vonnegut
Which are the movements within American Literature?
Native American Literature
Colonial Literature
Enlightenment and Revolution
American Gothic
Romanticism and Transcendentalism
Literary Realism, Naturalism and Modernism
Contemporary & Postmodern Literature
How does it differ from Britsh Literature?
British Literature
Considered richer such as it goes back to the 10th century, time in which it emerged, much earlier than the American.
Considered deeper beacuse of its writers: Shakespeare, Bronte, Lord Byron, Kipling, Dickens, Austin, Rowling, Woolf, Tolkien, Orwell, and Collins.
Regarding narration, British writers tend to use classical British English; their vocabulary is richer.
British literature mostly invokes romance, human values, ideals, and manners, although class differences are often discussed or referenced in some meaningful way. There is a common thought that British writers’ works come “from the heart,” while American writers are more cool-headed and cynical.
English writers mostly emphasize their culture and manner.
The English language is considered classic. In British English, the suffix –t is added in irregular verbs. British creators mostly pair up collective nouns with plural verbs. English creators follow classical, sometimes conventional traditions paths in writing, but this doesn’t make English literature less interesting.
Regarding punctuation, there are some minor differences that are found interesting when in consideration.
American Literature
American literature’s history dates back to the 17th century, being this one a British colony.
There are many globally known US writers: J. F. Cooper, J.D. Salinger, Jack London, E.A. Poe, Mark Twain, Scott Fitzgerald, W. Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Ernest Hemmingway, and Stephen King.
The language of an American writer is simultaneously simpler and more accessible. This language is more modern than original British English.
The common tendency of American literature is to be focused on politics, economics, and social status. Satire, sarcasm, and cynicism can be also often find their way into the works of American authors.
American writers discuss American history and social issues. American writers of the 17th century invoked Puritanical morals. In the 18th century, revolutionary topics prevailed in American style. Also, American writers often described events that took place during the development of the country.
In American literature, English is more modern. Americans adopted the English language for their literature.
How is it similar to British Literature?
Both have key writers for global literature in history.
As well as early writings in the UK, early American works involve topics related to religion and politics.
Americans adopted the English language for their literature.
Both English literature and American literature offers a lot of interesting differences for consideration.
Begginings
This history of American literature begins with the arrival 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).
Characteristics
American Literature tends to reject authority and to emphasize democracy and the equality of people. They often celebrate nature and a sense of boundless space.
American writers have always had a strong tendency to break with literary tradition 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.
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 difficult times.