The process of writing an essay on American literature should begin with the creation of an outline. The structure lists the essential points you want to cover in the paper and provides you with a framework you will use to write it.
The finished result should adhere to the initial list. However, you can modify it if you find new matters you want to discuss.
Without a clear outline, your American literature essay may appear weak and disconnected. A work that has one will appear more interesting and convincing, even if it contains the same ideas.
When writing an outline for an essay, you should first list all of the ideas that come to your mind when thinking of the topic.
They do not necessarily have to be contained solely within the work. For example, you can research the author’s life and identify a connection between his ideas and romanticism.
Then, you will reduce the number of ideas by folding some of them into other, related ones as lesser mentions. Lastly, organize the order in which you will cover the topics so that it follows a logical progression.
Here are some tips for your outline creation:
Always include an introduction and conclusion into your outline. They are critical elements for a literature essay.
When writing critical essays on American literature, try to associate each major point with an external piece of evidence.
Try to choose your themes so that they are connected. This will make it easier to maintain a progression between different topics.
Choose your titles and subtitles so that they are clear and concise.
To find American literature research paper ideas and American literature topics as well as samples that illustrate the process of outline creation, visit IvyPanda.
It is not difficult to realize that Hawthorne's intention in "Young Goodman Brown" is to force the reader to experience the temptations which Brown himself must endure and that he is made to see the [...]
In Wilbur's poetry, signs of recurring impatience have been traced with the materialism of the metropolis and the redemptive vision of a regionalist culture wedded to the soil.
By naming his play Fences, the plural form of the word even though only a single physical fence is evident in the play, August Wilson brings attention to the symbolism of the fence itself as [...]
A peculiar feature of the passage is that instead of revealing the distinctive features of African Americans, the author concentrates on the fact that the distinction between the races in the American society is dependent [...]
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 [...]
Her philosophy is based on a close look at the history of scientific, technological, and Industrial Revolutions of nineteenth century, and understanding of the benefits of political/economic freedom of the capitalist system that could carry [...]
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.
Corresponding tendencies in the drama are shown in the writings of Ibsen, Hamptman and Galsworthy."In the United States, Wolfe, Hemingway and Faulkner are among the leading representatives of the modern school of realism"..
A writer, in his most abject and humane form, is serving the purpose of expressing his personal and intimate reflections of the world to the complete stranger who reads his works.
Her assumed insanity was to be expected after all the things she has endured the loss of a mother while growing up, the death of a father, the sudden loss of a charmed way of [...]
The novel "The grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck is claimed to describe the lives of ordinary farm workers all over the United States of America who moved to California during the period of the [...]
In this discourse two of his famous short stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" are studied in an attempt to better understand the use of symbolism, the literary tool of irony, and [...]
For instance, in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat the police arrive and stimulate a desire on the part of the narrator to confess his crime and undergo punishment from the state.
To emphasize the difference between the characters' political views the author chooses the country's portrayal through insider and outsider perspectives, on the one hand, showing the evocations of those who remained in Cuba and, on [...]
In the story Hawthorne pondered upon the three ways of making God's word clearer to people. The author himself and his main hero saw the mission of a clergyman in explaining the Bible to the [...]
The hesitancy and repetition of phrases, the parallels of contrast, express and enforce the strong bound between George and Nick. In the case of George and Nick they form the basis of their relationship.
Likewise, his position in the family changing from a 'son', 'the boy' and finally to 'it' not only indicates the severity of torture faced by David, but also the writer's expertise in explaining it.
A masterpiece, "One for the Road" ended a painful period of writer's block for Harold Pinter in a manner swift and strange and led to an explicitly political agenda of his subsequent plays, "Mountain Language" [...]
In "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorne presents the idea that the Puritan religion, because of these beliefs, has lost all sense of meaning to the younger generations as a recently married Puritan man makes a journey [...]
At the beginning of the novel, Tom is a naughty boy, constantly getting into danger and running away from it, an instance when Tom flees the penalty of stealing jam.
Anna's ability not to be jealous of her mother's constant attention to Kate distinguishes the girl from other children. Anna realizes that her mother is extremely tired of the life that does not stop to [...]
The simple truths in the book were relevant to all generations and hence the book is of universal appeal."How to Win Friends and Influence People" tapped into the insatiable hunger for self-improvement and success in [...]
The lightning becomes the conflict inside her and the beating of the rain on her roof is the beating of her heart as she finally expresses her passion with Alcee.
Critics admit that Salinger's depiction of Holden Caulfield symbolizes the dilemma of the idealist in the contemporary world and shows the primary structural framework of a novel.
Stradlater reveals to Holden that he has a date waiting and that he needs to shave. Stradley asks Holden to write an essay for him and informs him that the former is taking a girl [...]
She broke into the issue as a youthful woman in the 1860s with "Life in the Iron Mills," which established her as one of the founders of American Realism.
Finally, the destruction of the Usher's house can be explained by the fact that its base was not solid and the change in weather conditions caused it destruction.
Whitman on the other hand demonstrates the idea that we are all part of a large whole, he explains, "And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand and the egg of wren".
Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale, is Ahab's adversary, at least in the mind of the captain. Moby Dick is experienced in the ways of the chase and shows his power and fury in [...]
It is clear that the narrator disapproves the way chosen by his younger brother."I did not like the way he carried himself, loose and dreamlike all the time...and I did not like his friends, and [...]
The paper provides a discussion of the short story and analyses the theme of emotion and depression that the main character Stetson Gilman undergoes and her advent into insanity caused by the wrong treatment given [...]
The theme of sin is depicted through emotional sufferings and experience of the main heroes of the novel: Hester Prynne, her husband Roger Chillingworth and Hester's lover, Dimmesdale.
But, what actually makes the hardships of the Indians in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation bearable to the reader is the excessively used hilarity and empathy that Alexie has used in the anthology.
Gilman uses such important details as the smell of the wallpaper and shades of color to depict her feelings: "the only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the [...]
John Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums" reflects the struggles of a stereotyped woman of the time, Elisa Allen to find her own identity in the oppressive world of men.
The short story "The Country Husband" by John Cheever reveals the darker side of Suburbia, "the side which traps its residents in a web of conformity," and the protagonist of the story Francis Weed, is [...]
These assessments are made based upon the appearances of others, such as in her identification of the cotton print dress that is recognizable to Mrs. Through imagery and setting, O'Connor is successful in heavily lacing [...]
Hester returns to Boston just before her death, in order to be buried in the same grave as Dimmesdale, with 'A' inscribed on their tombstone. Much to her son's anger and disgust, she marries Claudius [...]
Sara is shocked at the turn of events and their mother is a mute spectator to her daughters' miserable lives. The harsh realities of life have made her a mature woman, a Jewish woman of [...]
Those running away are not sure of where they are going as Le Guin put it at the end of the story "The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to us [...]
A peculiar feature of works of this type is that the main characters, women, are not treated as they should be: they see numerous deaths of their dearest people, they are deprived of the fulfillment [...]
But if you look at the other side of the story this kindness shown to Bartleby is only the social responsibility of one person to the rest of the world.
The rules in a conventional Chinese family are obligatory, where a wife has to be subservient to her husband, so also the children to their father, and each and every person including the husbands, wives [...]
Margaret Walker's Jubilee is a lyrical novel that captures and shapes the saga of the African American experience by using the lyrics of slave songs and spirituals that give testimony to the legacy of her [...]
In order for the writer to familiarize the reader with the setting of the story, she has succeeded in inviting the reader to be part of the story by describing in detail the setting, from [...]
The story focuses upon an unnamed narrator who struggles to find a sense of fulfillment in a world in which personal fulfillment is supposed to be accomplished through making the right purchases and having access [...]
I believe that the narrative style of the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer called Everything Is Illuminated is one of the main factors that determine the never ending interest of the readers towards the book.
As he stood beneath the lights of the strident room, the inhabitants beam him and make him replicate himself; an unintentional orientation to parity nearly damages him, but the whole thing terminates well and he [...]
Hawthorne uses the symbol of the birthmark as a way of illustrating science's approach to the aberrations of nature as a problem that needs to be fixed.
One might find a lot of factors that led to it: the author's writing style, the lightness, and simplicity of depiction, the ordinariness of the topic chosen, etc.
The fish, not striking symbolizes a lack of interest in Nick's in his relationship with Marjorie. In reference to the love he shared with Marjorie, Nick says "It is not fun anymore.
It is important to note the fact that culture-based poverty due to discrimination of the past or political ineffectiveness of the nation can have a profound ramification in the lives of its victims.
In the paper, the author will explore the validity of this suggestion at length while promoting the idea that Keegan's collection of essays holds the actual key to understanding the ongoing geopolitical decline of the [...]
However, as time progresses, the relevance of the story may become outdated, beginning a discussion on its presence in the Americana literary canon."Good Country People" deserves continuous recognition in the canon due to its brilliant [...]
Despite the presence of many opportunities and positive dreams and goals, most of them fail to be realized due to misleading values and aims set by surrounding society; this idea is present in almost all [...]
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 [...]
Lack of directions and information that people with disabilities face when they find themselves in that condition is one of the problems that the author raises in the first part of her book.
It is humanity and collaboration that are invincible to the cruelty of nature. To Crane, nature is the uncontrollable and powerful force that is indifferent to people.
This paper provides a discussion on changes in the young woman's character, addressing her salient traits that remain the same and outlining the differences in her personality across time and media.
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 [...]
However, what the reader should acknowledge is that the author manages to present a wholesome and clear image of the issues and occurrences that defined the United States throughout the 1920s.
At the same time, Gladwell argues that, when applied to the areas such as business and economy, the blink may save the world due to the opportunities that it provides.
Based on Alexie's short story evaluated in this paper, as well as the general theme of his book, there are several key criteria to evaluate the existing conditions of Indians with: Drugs and alcohol usage;
As the European settlers came to the extensive lands of the Northern American continent, they faced the necessity to change their mindsets and identity.
In "Babushka Baba Yaga" this is translated through the transition from a positive change in the main character, while in the other book the author introduces hardships of life to illustrate the need to be [...]
In contrast to the brother, Sonny uses jazz music and heroin to cope with the despair of their living conditions. In the final part of the story, Sonny's performance at a jazz club brings his [...]
The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of "Two Kinds", and to discuss the causes of differences between mothers and daughters and the moment of the conflict resolution.
The indigenous population of Inuit that inhabits the Arctic territories of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland has been historically subjected to neglect and disregard from the majority of nations that came to explore their lands.
Maika, a teenage girl from the world in the state of war, is different from other characters of the book due to some of her physical features and an unconquerable will.
In the US, the concept of blackness is the key idea that defines the social, political, and cultural position of African-Americans, both in past and present periods of history.
The unusual character of these events resulted in the creation of the book Into the Wild by Krakauer, who tried to repeat the same way and explain the main causes of the main character's actions.
In the scene where Gilda is lying on her bed, and her husband Ballin comes in and sits next to her, there is a distinct focus of the camera on the woman's emotions.
The first task is the identification of the initial syllable followed by the production of a word or words with a similar syllable, which in this case is 'cl' in click and clack.
In conclusion, Bonnin's "Impressions of an Indian Childhood" belongs to the canon of a college survey course of American writers for a number of reasons.
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.
Such a dominant ideology, perceived as the dream-goal for the majority of the US citizens in the 1920s, was a special modification of the "American dream" in the era of post-war economic "prosperity".
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.
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.
For instance, the birth of a younger brother or sister, the beginning of school, or the divorce of parents would change the relationship between the child and his or her environment. In the given case, [...]
Burgess, which is the name of the main character, plays a trick with the citizens of Hadleburg, involving them in lies, thus ruining the virtuous reputation of the town.
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 [...]
Although the story mostly belongs to the science fiction genre, its central scene is focused on horror, and more specifically, the horror of the unknown that is emblematic of the dark fantasy genre according to [...]
While she succeeds in making her point and poking holes into the artistry of Mark Twain, I find her lacking in honesty on the moral issues raised in the novel and her comparisons between the [...]
At the beginning of the story, we come across Ann as one of the protagonists in the story as she tries to order and give instructions for her son's birthday cake.
Bassett is mostly an offstage character, and when on stage, he exists as Dr. Pride is one of the elements in the narrative and appears as social behavior in today's society.
There is also animation in the story where Brewster, a place, is given the human ability to wait on people. There is also the use of figurative language in the narrative.
The Battle Royal is a non-fictional work of Ralph Ellison and talks of the black people fighting for their freedom in the Whites' society. Furthermore, a good life is also embedded in hard work and [...]
In this part of the play, it is clear that Jack is not ready to hide his feelings and is happy to share them with someone who, in his opinion, can understand him.