It is tough to come up with a definition of what American literature is. It is a product of the cultural diversity of people who live and write in the United States. However, not every literary work produced in the US can be included in this list.
Of course, American literature is predominantly in English. One of the early 21st century developments is an increase in authors who write in their language. However, they still can be considered American. As a result, African American, Asian American, and other ethnic branches of literature emerged.
Assigned to write an essay about American literature? In this article, our experts tried to simplify the task for you. We’ve described the periods of the United States literary tradition so you can navigate freely. Also, check a list of topics for your American literature essay. Finally, see some examples of the works written by other students.
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Literature reflects society. It magnifies all the good and bad values, mirroring the life of the country and its development. In this section, we’ve described the main periods in US history. It will help you realize what to discuss in your essay on American literature.
The Colonial and The Early National Period (1607-1830)
The first European settlers started describing their experiences in the 1600s. The narration was practical, direct, and copied the British literary style. The earliest American literary works were mainly nonfictional. The first president of the Jamestown Colony wrote about his personal experiences and published them from 1608 till 1624. Such prominent writers as Nathaniel Ward and John Winthrop elaborated on the topic of religion. African American tradition started during that period, too. For instance, Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano created the first slave narratives.
The Period of American Renaissance (1830-1870)
Romanticism values a person’s emotions over reason. American writers embraced this movement at the beginning of the 19th century. For example, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the vivid examples of Romantic writers. In New England, several thinkers emerged too after 1830. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote essays, while Henry Thoreau wrote a story of his life. Poets such as Herman Melville and Walt Whitman began publishing their works at that time too.
The Realistic and Naturalist Period (1870-1914)
The Civil War fueled the realistic period in American literature. Mark Twain was one of the most notable writers of that era. In his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he depicted the actual Americans.
Naturalism is another literary movement that was prevalent at that time. For example, Theodore Dreiser embraced it. His novel Sister Carrie is an essential American naturalist novel.
The American Modernist Period (1914-1939)
The modernist period was one of the most fruitful in American history. It got intensified after the advancement in science and technology. The outcomes of WWI and the Great Depression caused a lot of contradiction. Thus, it found its way into art and literature. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Wright, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and many more writers became dominant voices.
The Contemporary Period (1939-Present)
The period has started after World War II. American literature during that time became more inclusive and had a variety of voices. Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison tell stories of race and sexuality. American contemporary novels had many forms, like postmodern and feminist ones.
21 Amazing Topics on American Literature
You may wonder what to write in your American literature essay. The abundance of writers and literary works make it difficult to choose. That’s why we combined several ideas. We hope you’ll find them useful in identifying the topic for your work. If not, you can let our title generator create a few original ideas on the subject.
But first, check these ideas for your essay on American literature:
Harriet Beecher’s art of persuasion as the author in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Naturalism and regionalism in American literary tradition.
The influence of Phillis Wheatley on American Literature.
What is American literature? What are its characteristics?
The themes of early American literature.
The importance of magical realism in American literature.
Oral storytelling techniques in Native American literature.
The influence of naturalism on American writers.
Early American literature and the power of religious ideologies.
The idea of masculinity in the colonial period in American literature.
The black experience manifested through African American poetry.
Historical factors that influenced the Romantic period of American literature.
How did Gothic literature in American tradition start?
Levels of literacy in African-American literature.
Native American mythology in American literature.
The issues of divorce and love in Latin American literature.
The evolution of the role of women in American literature.
The theme of perseverance in African American literature.
The topic of slavery in early American literature.
The significance of the American Renaissance for American literature.
The role of James Fennimore Cooper in enhancing nationalism.
Thank you for your attention! American literature is indeed a vast subject. We hope that this article will help you focus on a good idea. If you are still unsure what topic to choose, check our American literature essay samples below. You can look through them faster if you use our summarizer.
Instead, she knew that though the husband was important to her, marriage had made her a subject to him. Mallard was not able to handle the swings in her emotions and this cost her life.Mr.
The setting of "The Lottery" is synonymous with the setting in most small towns of the 1930s. The plot of "The Lottery" revolves around a ritual known as the lottery that is performed in villages [...]
Being a person of Cherokee origin, the author is concerned with discussing the problems of the First Nations, paying focused attention to cultural heritage, and the disadvantages of total assimilation.
His work is full of irony in that man is the Supreme Being who has the ultimate authority to shape nature in the way he deems best. However, by a measure of his acts compared [...]
This paper presents the tools of characterization and the setting of the short story "The Lottery" One of the most outstanding tools of characterization in this short-story is actions.
There is a statement that Willy Loman is a tragic hero according to Arthur Miller's definition of what a tragic hero is in his famous essay Tragedy and the Common Man.
The outstanding character in the tale, who is also the narrator, attracts a lot of attention from the readers. The narrator forms the basis of the tale.
Even as Bharati has quickly adjusted to the American culture, as evidenced by her wearing of American clothes, in contrast, Mira is reluctant to embrace the American culture.
Moreover, the location of the lottery at the town square between two buildings- the post office and the bank represents the political and economic power of the government and those in power such as Mr. [...]
Kingston's mother cautions her to keep silence and not tell anyone about the aunt's story, and this story came at the time she had begun menstruating and was warning her or else she would end [...]
Literacy is a skill that is never late to acquire because it is essential for education, employment, belonging to the community, and ability to help one's children.
The use of irony Poe uses three types of irony in the story as a literary tool that facilitates the readers' understanding of the friendship that exists between Montresor and Fortunato.
Thus, Louise's feelings are pretty explainable by the fact that she can devote her life to herself with the death of her husband. The realization of this leads her to delight and a feeling of [...]
The plot of the book involves the description of the Tucks and Fosters Family. In the film, Winnie and Jesse are of the same age and seem to equally feel love for each other.
The complex nature of the setting, therefore, influences the direction of the story in that it helps the author to sufficiently blend historical and futuristic ideal in a way seen as still relevant to the [...]
In the story, the author juxtaposes the young couple with the man to highlight the solitary existence of the latter. In contrast to the man, the boy and the girl feel as the people around [...]
Pages: 3
Words: 810
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Didion was experiencing the emptiness and meaninglessness of her life in New York, the city that kept disappointing her, not because it was a bad place to live but because it was not the place [...]
The main subject of the novel is the family relations and problem of a person's worthiness in the society. The author explores and analyses such social problems as a person's worthiness and the ills of [...]
Throughout the story, the narrator, together with the rest of the women trapped in the wallpaper, is desperately trying to break loose from the function that the society has assigned for them.
The present paper shows that the theme of coming of age is developed in the short story through the parallelization of girls to aliens and through the growth of the main characters' understanding that the [...]
In the case of the story, the sacrifice was the baby, the most precious individual in both parents' lives. In other words, the author uses the description of the external environment in order to set [...]
Stephen Crane's The Open Boat revolves around four shipwrecked men: the captain, the cook, the correspondent, and the oiler. Thus the danger of the wind and the waves natural forces are so awesome that without [...]
The author tries to bring to the attention of the users how basic knowledge of finances is very vital in any business undertaking and how corporations can contribute to the rich becoming even richer.
The setting in The Young Goodman Brown influences the development of plot and character. It illustrates how Hawthorne's setting and symbolism of the Young Goodman Brown contribute to the meaning of the entire piece.
Therefore, his connection with the Gatsby's story is that he is depended upon to serve as the mouthpiece of the older generation as he metaphorically transcends through time to retell the Great Gatsby tale accurately [...]
The main treasure of pirates, as it was emphasized by Lin, is the collection of books, and the ability to read them became the most praised ability a human possesses.
The main character of the story, an old African-American woman is a symbol of all the oppressed members of the Black community that have suffered humiliation and prejudice.
As a result, the conflict reflects both the misunderstanding between the daughter and the mother and the failure of the model of upbringing based on coercion and the suppression of children's will.
Although the color palette presented in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is rich, the problem of differing social status is most vividly described in the novel through the use of golden and silver colors that stand [...]
The Laguna ritual for giving a deceased member of the tribe a decent send-off involves tying of a feather in the hair, smearing of symbolic colours on the face, wrapping of the corpse in a [...]
The primary objective of The Hunger Games is to provide entertainment for the residents of the Capitol and to establish their superiority over the people living in the districts.
Throughout the novel the major character Nick who was the narrator managed to bring out the main themes of the novel as well as developing other characters.
It means that Daniel knew the racist connotation of the song since he grew up in the South; still, he decided that he would utilize all these symbols to represent the pride in his origin. [...]
Thus, the speaker sees herself as a victim of the doctors just as the Jews were victims of the Nazi in the concentration camps. She used Jew Nazi illusion in the poem to pass her [...]
It is evident that the author, as well as the heroine of her poem, is a strong, or phenomenal, woman herself and this allows her to say what she says in her poem not from [...]
The poet creates a peculiar rhythmic pattern vividly imitating the natural jellyfish's movements by using the epithet "fluctuating" and the repetition of "it opens and it closes".
The focus of this paper is to analyze the article, A Romance to Kill For: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" published in the journal of Studies in Short Fiction in terms of [...]
Pages: 6
Words: 1713
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The title reveals the main idea of the story, i.e, the lesson about injustice. Of course, it is necessary to point out that the style of the story is quite colloquial.
This promise is immature; Walter knows very well that getting the money to invest in his business remains a point of contention, yet he promises Willy that he would take the money.
Alcott depicts the life of the teenagers and tells the story of how they marry to become wives and mothers. She captures what goes on in the mind of a woman and her ambitions.
In the given essay, it is discussed that The War Prayer cannot be viewed solely as a story of a pacifist, as the main argument is weak and unjustified. That is why The War Prayer [...]
I choose to analyze the poem from two perspectives that are; a poem denoting the life of Maya through the ups and downs of her life and from a bird's eye view, a poem describing [...]
The ex priest of never tells lies inspires the kid to do the right at times when it is only the good that would save him while the judge from his introduction in the kid's [...]
This is also a reflection of the impact of modern technology on the lives of the young as they grapple with new ways to survive and thrive in a world controlled by things that are [...]
The 'fearful trip' is an illusion to the troubles that the Americans including the president have to go through during the American Civil War while the phrase 'some dream that on the deck, fallen cold [...]
He supports his argument in the next paragraph, where he puts it across that they have been governed by a combination of unjust and just law whereby there is a need to separate the two.
This paper intends to explore the identity of the author and the critical figure of speech as well as the overall theme that is being discussed in the poem.
Reading this short story, the audience meets a young boy who desires to make a mash on a beautiful girl resorting to the use of lies and deceitfulness, but he soon realizes that such an [...]
Pages: 2
Words: 608
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That is why, according to a child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, Pecos Bill may be considered as a somewhat successful story for children and their perception of the world.
It should be mentioned that the story is the discussion of the reaction to the event and the characteristics of one hour in the life of Louise Mallard.
Connie's desire to be free is reflected in her behavior, attitude to parents, and her relation to personal sexuality, but when she is offered this independence, she understands that all she was searching for is [...]
The author identifies the decaying symbolism of the house in the text through the author's constant mentions of dust, which fills the Griersons' mansion: "faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils".
In spite of the controversy The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn generates, its hidden values support the use of this book in schools and prove the point it should not be among banned books.
In a nutshell, the complication is the internal fight, in the young woman's mind, as she wrestles between the Haitian culture and tradition that is against prostitution and her financial survival in the Haitian society [...]
The author's depiction of Ebro valley in this literary work is symbolic of a choice to have a child, and the dry, treeless land on the opposite side is representative of the life after abortion.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, The Story of the Good Little Boy narrates about the boy who makes incredible efforts at being good to the surrounding people, although it brings in no recognition on the [...]
The author wanted to show that the strength of the crowd, coupled with a strong sense of habit and tradition, so much clouded the mind that only the victim, left alone against the entire crowd, [...]
Additionally, the huckleberry is a shrub that grows in the northern part of the country. Additionally, the author showed the prevalence of gender-based violence in the period.
It is a horrifying story told from the point of view of a dying Negro slave, who is standing at the place where the first band of pilgrims landed in search of liberty.
In the earlier decades, realism was not the dominant literary style in the US but became more influential and important to a famous novelist in the US.
When Michael returns to his office, he remains unsettled, and he decides to ask for the eviction file, but the real estate lawyer, Braden Chance refuses to give it to him.
The photos symbolize their neighbor's, Kitty represents the couple's insatiable urge to act s others, and the locked doorknob symbolizes their inability to abandon their lifestyle.
In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald documents these changes through an in-depth exploration of cultural changes such as the rise in consumerism, materialism, greed for wealth, and the culture of loosening morals in the 1920s [...]
These led to the unresolved contradictions and persistence ideologies of racism, prejudice, violence and segregation, which led to limited opportunities for African-Americans as Frank Money shows in the novel.
A deeper contemplation of the first few pages of the story reveals that Jiya is always afraid of the ocean since he understands the wrath of the storm and the changes it has brought in [...]
The argument is that the author attempts to describe her as a pure and innocent female to ensure that the reader understands the perspective of Jay, but particular aspects of her true identity are revealed [...]
The girl invents a story about her being on a swim team in high school to strike a conversation with Elizabeth, Kelda, and Jack-Jack and convince them that she has coaching skills.
Religion in Gilead is the similar to that of the current American society especially, the aspect of ambiguity which has been predominant with regard to the rightful application of religious beliefs and principles.
In other words, the two little people with their intelligence cannot accept and adapt to change easily, while the two mice notice the change, adapt to it, and move on to find new cheese.
As it is shown in the book, she attempts to convey her sense of isolation to the reader and the implication of solitude in the individual's life. In the end, Esther is recovering and she [...]
Moreover, Sammy is unhappy at his place of work, and he is glad when the three girls walk in and take the mind of his work and away from his small and closed world.
Raymond Carver is the writer who uses minimalism in his writing style to set up the tone of the story from the very beginning."What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Carver explores [...]
The character of Pap is used to advance the theme of racism in the book. In the closing chapters of the book, Huck and Tom come to the realization that Jim is not property but [...]
The play is based on both Miller's personal experiences and the theatrical traditions in which he was instructed in."Death of a salesman" revolves around the Loman family with Willy Loman, the father, who also works [...]
By the use of the technique of contrasting the characters and their opinions in the story, the author succeeds in demonstrating the significance of comprehending our present life in relation to the culture that our [...]
At the very beginning of the novel called The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the author explains the meaning of fuku "...generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and [...]
Like the narrator, a reader may think that the story presents a happy ending, as the young woman "went to join the kingdom of her beloved". The woman wants the girls to find the answer [...]
The poem portrays a vivid image of the emotional rollercoaster the author is experiencing as he visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."Facing It" successfully incorporates the use symbolism and imagery throughout the structure of the poem [...]
When a person is forced to do something, he/she is sure to meet the resistance. When one is forced to do something, the natural reaction to resist appears.
This essay shall analyze the main scenes and the ending of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" This is why realism and real-life cruelty are the things, which are inherent to this story [...]
This follows the revelations of her background in the interview that ZZ Packer, just like the character Dina in the story, moved from a dominantly black neighborhood to a dominantly white university.
Pages: 5
Words: 1386
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The main themes that are evident in his work are the themes of death and love. He speaks of a chilling wind from the sky that emerged resulting in the death of her wife.
Thus, Ernest Hemingway makes extensive use of symbolism in order to convey nihilistic themes, because the main hero of The Sun Also Rises is a symbol of nihilism, the main heroine of The Sun Also [...]
Toni Morrison in Sula describes the problem of how society perceives post-traumatic stress disorder through the figure of Shadrack and his way of life after the First World War.
In "A Rose for Emily," the theme of adapting to the changing environment is developed through the character of Miss Grierson and her reluctance to the changes.
Another of the details that support the postulation that the main idea of the story is that assumptions can kill is the inability of the main character to recognize his limitations.
Barbara's Ehrenreich's text 'Serving in Florida' can be described as effective in terms of defining the main problems of the American poor through the prism of the personal experience of the author.
However, once the lover of the king's daughter is given the dreadful choice, the princess secretly interferes with the chance and gives the man a hint to open the door on the right.
