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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.
In the post-war period, Thomas Jefferson established his place in American literature through his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, his influence on the U.S. Constitution, his autobiography, his Notes on the State of Virginia, and his many letters.
The growth of American literature, however, follows closely the history of the nation from its beginning to the present time. American authors have written countless essays and songs, poems and plays, novels and short stories. There is space here to discuss only some of the most important.
May 31, 2022 · Where did the idea of American exceptionalism come from? And how does literature fit into any of this? In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor Ilan Stavans about his new book, What Is American Literature? .
Dec 23, 2012 · In 1935, Carl Van Doren's preface to What Is American Literature? summarized some of the by-then-routine sticking points: “Has America a literature at all? Has it a literature distinguished from all others? Is it American when it does not deal with American subjects?
- Elizabeth Renker
- 2013
One of the most important books to emerge in early America was Noah Webster’s The American Spelling Book (1783). Webster’s textbook, usually referred to as the “blue-backed speller,” was used to teach five generations of Americans to read, first by learning syllables, then working up to whole words.
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Feb 25, 2023 · The Puritans tend to be overrepresented in the histories and literature of the seventeenth century English colonies in North America; however, they were hardly the only group from England to travel to the new world.
