WHAT IS AMERICAN LITERATURE? AN OVERVIEW When the English preacher and writer Sidney Smith asked in 1820‚ “In the four quarters of the globe‚ who reads an American book?” little did he suspect that less than two hundred years later the answer in literate quarters would be “just about everyone.” Indeed‚ just a few years after Smith posed his inflammatory question‚ the American writer Samuel Knapp would begin to assemble one of the first histories of American literature as part of a lecture series
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Postmodern literature The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post-World War II literature. It is both a continuation of the experimentation championed by writers of the modernist period (relying heavily‚ for example‚ on fragmentation‚ paradox‚ questionable narrators‚ etc.) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. Postmodern literature‚ like postmodernism as a whole‚ is difficult to define and there is little agreement on the
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Chapter 2 What is Literature and Does it Matter? What is literature? You’d think this would be a central question for literary theory‚ but in fact it has not seemed to matter very much. Why should this be? There appear to be two main reasons. First‚ since theory itself intermingles ideas from philosophy‚ linguistics‚ history‚ political theory‚ and psychoanalysis‚ why should theorists worry about whether the texts they’re reading are literary or not? For students and teachers of literature today there
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Josh Beal English 106 Professor Laverick September 14‚ 2010 Christmas Christmas is an important holiday for everyone in America. It emphasizes a time of fellowship and giving between loved ones and family. Unfortunately‚ Christmas in America has changed throughout the years. The social traditions of Christmas in America have changed from a traditional celebration of American families and the celebration of Christ’s birth to a prideful‚ competitive marketing strategy to increase economic
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Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing by Roberts and Jacobs Mary F. Clifford‚ Instructor English Composition III What Is Literature and Why Do We Study It? • Literature is – Composition that tells a story‚ dramatizes a situation‚ expresses emotions‚ analyzes and advocates ideas – Helps us grow personally and intellectually – Provides an objective base for knowledge and understanding – Shapes our goals and values by clarifying our own identities‚ both positively and negatively
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“Compare and contrast the presentation of female protagonists in Gothic Literature‚ in order to determine the validity of Gothic as a serious genre rather than the merely macabre” The three texts; Bram Stoker’s Dracula‚ The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Selected poems by John Keats project images of female characters in very different ways. Much of the portrayal of females is in correlation to the attitudes and position of women within society at the time of writing. The preconception
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Tucker Wright Catcher in the Rye Essay 2008 (B): In some works of literature‚ childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works‚ they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play‚ explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. Often when one looks back on their life as a child‚ they often see their time as a child to be one of the most peaceful
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Seminar Group: SEM003 WRITTEN AND SPOKEN ENGLISH Giving effective presentations is one of the essentials when competing in the business world and taking up leadership positions. Yet‚ I was used to be a shy person‚ and afraid of public speaking before. I felt extremely nervous when making presentations in front of crowds. This year‚ being an Aiesecer member of the external relations team‚ it helps me to boost up my confidence in speaking English. I was given many opportunities to meet the
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Nature of Accessibility The abstract concept of accessibility in literature does not have one sole definition and can vary on a number of different factors. It is how difficult a reader finds the literature that he/she is reading. It is what the reader expects to get out of the reading prior to reading it‚ and what he/she actually interprets and understands after reading it. Accessibility can vary from reader to reader. A college English professor and a middle school student are more than likely not
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Literature and Life Debora C. English 125 Professor Daw March 28‚ 2011 Literature and Life The magic of reading is that it brings you to another place and feeling. At times it can make you smile with character‚ and other times make you cry with him. Sometimes it may even allow the reader to identify with the characters. Reality can often be a lot like a piece of literature‚ in that a person may be going through the exact same thing‚ or something similar‚ and be feeling the same way. It
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