How Does Literature Shape American Culture - 968 Words

American Literature: Literary or Geometry? How does American literature shape American culture? America, a baby nation compared to many other countries, has shaped itself into one of the most politically and technically advanced places in the world. The definition of American Literature is any literary work written in, or about The United States. The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, The Narrative of the Life of Fredric Douglass and various other works of literature are all pieces of American literature that have helped shape American society. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the sixteen hundreds. Hester Prynne is accused of committing adultery in her small puritan settlement but†¦show more content†¦This so much like the American attitude of the 1920’s where even the most average person felt like they had a chance of becoming a millionaire but that idea slowly consumed many Americans into debt or worse. The American dream developed further as the era went on and many challenged social reforms but when the stock market crashed so did this optimistic American dream. St. Johns Church, Richmond, Virginia on March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stands in front of the Virginia Convention to persuade them into joining the Revolutionary War in the hopes of gaining freedom from England. Given the era, Patrick Henry was taking an enormous risk proclaiming to fight against its mother nation. Although the speech was not entirely in truth, we still see an accurate repr esentation of Americans fighting for their dreams. In this case that dream was freedom. This piece of literature not only earned us our freedom, but also helped to better shape the American dream. Even fifty plus years after writing How to Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee is still one of the best American authors of the time. She paints a beautiful picture of the oppressed American south and elaborates the grim past of Jim Crow Laws and racial segregation. The book shares many lessons about family, friendship, forgiveness, and standing up for what is right -- even if theShow MoreRelatedThe Discipline Of American Studies Essay1676 Words   |  7 PagesThe discipline of American Studies is focused on exploring and understanding power, American society, culture, and related attitudes and behavior. An interdisciplinary approach focusing both on the retelling of queer narratives in Latinx literature and heteronormative ideology directly links to disciplinary foundations of literary theory, social identity, and cultural conditions demonstrated both in the fields English and American Studies. One specific area of disciplinary focus has been identityRead MoreWriters And Editors On Can ovista Restoration Essay1385 Words   |  6 Pagesand it is from that time that writing and literature thus begins in the social life of all mankind, it is not enough to say, that it is through literature that we can know what everything that had happened in centuries ago. However, while reading a book, or any other text, we find not only fragments of history, but also with a number of positions of the authors about current issues, including politics. The political relationship - is evident in literature politics, as writer Pascual Martinez as inRead MoreThe Emergence Of Self Concept1489 Words   |  6 PagesThe Emergence of Self Throughout our history the idea of self has developed and proved to be a dominant concept that Americans have come to understand. Not defined or found in lineage, religion, or history, the concept of self is defined by a collection of values. These values and principles are rooted in individualism, self-actualization, and self-reliance where people are able to fulfill their own destiny and believe in the promise that through ward work and determination life can be differentRead MoreAnalysis Of Maxine Trottier s Three Songs For Courage1440 Words   |  6 PagesCulture is defined as the arts, literature and intellectual life of a society, and it is part of what makes us human. Throughout history, literature has displayed the importance of belonging to a particular group, and how it complements one’s life. Culture dominance is defined as a culture that is deemed the most powerful or influential within a society in which other cultures are present. How can literature use literar y devices to teach us about culture dominance? Can a dominant culture be a positiveRead MoreEnglish Is An International Language1475 Words   |  6 Pagesstudents who study English literature or linguistics has been increasing. Learning English literature is a good choice to improve people’s English because literature and linguistics are related to each other. Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. And it’s not just about learning language; it’s about understanding the culture as well because language and culture are related very deeply to each other. With this, you can’t learn language without also embracing the culture. The â€Å"Linguistic RelativityRead MoreCultural Identity Essay790 Words   |  4 Pages As Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher once said, â€Å"culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being.† Cultural identity can be expressed through things like family values, ethnicity, and environment. Morals and opinions can be affected by the person’s views on the world and others. One’s culture occasionally informs the way one views others and the world because it can create or change your cultural identity, and develop one’s personal identity, whichRead MoreChallenges Faced By Ethnic Minority Supervisors1216 Words   |à ‚  5 Pagesguided by the courses I took in the doctoral program, my personal experience as a supervisor and the gaps in literature review that motivated me to pursue this area of research. In the past two and a half years of my doctoral program, I took courses (advanced clinical supervision, advanced family counseling, and independent research in multicultural counseling supervision, multicultural literature for children and adolescents, and a course on survey design in educational research) to help me better understandRead MoreAsian American And Asian Americans Essay1560 Words   |  7 PagesAsian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Am ericans are a â€Å"model minority†. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will becomeRead More Compare and Contrast the Way in which Emerson and Thoreau Represents American Identity1290 Words   |  6 Pageswhich ultimately led to prosper European cultures. Although America became an independent nation, European culture was still playing its role. Therefore, American writers namely Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau presented an idea about American Identity. Emerson in The American Scholar and Thoreau in Walden represents the idea of American identity by connecting this concept with nature and individuality but Emerson presents his idea about American identity in an intelligent manner whereasRead MoreThe Influence Of The Harlem Renaissance On African American Literature1144 Words   |  5 PagesThe Affect of the Harlem Renaissance on African American Literature The second half of the eighteenth century introduced a new expression to the literary world. The new expression was a voice that belonged to the African American writers. The African American writers wrote with a flair and brought a new perspective to the realm of literature. Literature, as America had known it, consisted of works from Christopher Columbus, John Smith, William Bradford, and Mary Rowlandson; these writers captured