If I was teaching a course in American Literature since 1865, the texts that I would choose to teach would be “Tulips” by Sylvia Plath, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Sula by Toni Morrison, Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins […]

Mark Twain’s celebrated novel Tom Sawyer (1876) has generally been considered by literary critics to slightly less accomplished on a technical and thematic level than its purported sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, (1885). Although many reasons for this discrepancy in the level of critical reception of the two works may be reliably cited, one of the contributing factors to the critical reception of Tom […]

Puritanism in American Literature The Puritans had a large influence in American literature and still influence moral judgment and religious beliefs in the United States to this day. Puritan writing was used to glorify God and to relate God more directly to our world. Puritan literature was commonly a realistic approach to life. “Puritanism as a historical phenomenon and as a living presence in American […]

In the years that followed, American businessmen merged the processes and created successful publishing houses which created a need for the development of American literature. In the early 18005, limited resources such as financial stability and viable transportation made publishing in the United States a less than profitable venture. The rand 18005, however, generated technology that helped to dramatically Increase profitability In the trade. Progressive […]