Reference no: EM133225054
Assignment - American Literature Questions
Description - One of the first things we should discuss together as a class is what, exactly, American Literature is. In this course, we are studying American Literature, also known as U.S. Literature, from the time period of the U.S. Civil War (1861-65) to the present day. What is unique about this specific body of literature? What makes American Literature different from, say, British Literature or Brazilian Literature? What are some of the ideas, topics, events, and people you expect to discuss in an American Literature course?
For this post, I'd like you to think through some of these questions about what American Literature is or can be. Please respond to all of the below questions in a post of about 250 words. If you have trouble answering one of them, that's okay! I'm interested in learning what you do and do not know about American Literature, and I know that some people may not have read much or any American Literature at all before. That's why we're here--to learn more about it!
1) What is American Literature? What criteria could we use to determine if a work can be considered American Literature? Would you include:
-the language the text is written in?
-the setting of the work?
-the author's nationality or personal history?
-the work's content and themes?
-other factors?
2) If American literature is its own distinct kind of writing, what makes it different from other kinds of literature? What might works of American literature have in common with one another? What are some common topics or themes you think we might find by reading American Literature throughout this course?
3) What works of American literature have you read (if any)? What is "American" about these works?