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The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth
by R.W.B. LewisIntellectual history is viewed in this book as a series of "great conversations"—dramatic dialogues in which a culture's spokesmen wrestle with the leading questions of their times. In nineteenth-century America the great argument centered about De Crèvecoeur's "new man," the American, an innocent Adam in a bright new world dissociating himself from the historic past. Mr. Lewis reveals this vital preoccupation as a pervasive, transforming ingredient of the American mind, illuminating history and theology as well as art, shaping the consciousness of lesser thinkers as fully as it shaped the giants of the age. He traces the Adamic theme in the writings of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Henry James, and others, and in an Epilogue he exposes their continuing spirit in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, J. D. Salinger, and Saul Bellow.
The American Art-Union: Utopia and Skepticism in the Antebellum Era
by Kimberly A. OrcuttThe first comprehensive treatment in seventy years of the American Art-Union’s remarkable rise and fallFor over a decade, the New York–based American Art-Union shaped art creation, display, and patronage nationwide. Boasting as many as 19,000 members from almost every state, its meteoric rise and its sudden and spectacular collapse still raise a crucial question: Why did such a successful and influential institution fail? The American Art-Union reveals a sprawling and fascinating account of the country’s first nationwide artistic phenomenon, creating a shared experience of visual culture, art news and criticism, and a direct experience with original works.For an annual fee of five dollars, members of the American Art-Union received an engraving after a painting by a notable US artist and the annual publication Transactions (1839–49) and later the monthly Bulletin (1848–53). Most importantly, members’ names were entered in a drawing for hundreds of original paintings and sculptures by most of the era’s best-known artists. Those artworks were displayed in its immensely popular Free Gallery. Unfortunately, the experiment was short-lived. Opposition grew, and a cascade of events led to an 1852 court case that proved to be the Art-Union’s downfall. Illuminating the workings of the American art market, this study fills a gaping lacuna in the history of nineteenth-century US art. Kimberly A. Orcutt draws from the American Art-Union’s records as well as in-depth contextual research to track the organization’s decisive impact that set the direction of the country’s paintings, sculpture, and engravings for well over a decade.Forged in cultural crosscurrents of utopianism and skepticism, the American Art-Union’s demise can be traced to its nature as an attempt to create and control the complex system that the early nineteenth-century art world represented. This study breaks the organization’s activities into their major components to offer a structural rather than chronological narrative that follows mounting tensions to their inevitable end. The institution was undone not by dramatic outward events or the character of its leadership but by the character of its utopianist plan.
The American Classics: A Personal Essay
by Denis DonoghueHow is a classic book to be defined? How much time must elapse before a work may be judged a "classic"? And among all the works of American literature, which deserve the designation? In this provocative new book Denis Donoghue essays to answer these questions. He presents his own short list of "relative" classics--works whose appeal may not be universal but which nonetheless have occupied an important place in our culture for more than a century. These books have survived the abuses of time--neglect, contempt, indifference, willful readings, excesses of praise, and hyperbole. Donoghue bestows the term classic on just five American works: Melville's Moby-Dick, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Thoreau's Walden,Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Examining each in a separate chapter, he discusses how the writings have been received and interpreted, and he offers his own contemporary readings, suggesting, for example, that in the post-9/11 era,Moby-Dickmay be rewardingly read as a revenge tragedy. Donoghue extends an irresistible invitation to open the pages of these American classics again, demonstrating with wit and acuity how very much they have to say to us now.
The American Climate Emergency Narrative: Origins, Developments and Imaginary Futures (New Comparisons in World Literature)
by Johan HöglundThe American Climate Emergency Narrative reveals reveals how much of what has been called "climate fiction" casts ecological breakdown as an emergency for American capitalist modernity rather than for the planet. The book traces the origins of this narrative back to the arrival of settler capitalism in America, when the understanding of the planet and its people as extractable resources was established. Since then, this narrative has elided the violent history of the climate crisis while at the same time leveraging the military as a bulwark against the crises capitalism has caused, the people it has uprooted, even the ailing planet itself. This is an open access book.
The American Dream and the Popular Novel (Routledge Library Editions: The American Novel #8)
by Elizabeth LongThis title, originally published in 1985, examines conceptions of success and the good life expressed in bestselling novels – ranging from historical sagas and spy thrillers to more serious works by Updike, Bellows, Steinbeck and Mailer – published from 1945 to 1975. Using these popular books as cultural evidence, Elizabeth Long argues that the meaning of the American dream has changed dramatically, but in a more complex fashion than has been recognised by that country’s most prominent social critics. Her study presents a challenge to prevailing social-scientific views of contemporary American culture, and represents, both in theory and method, an important contribution to the study of culture and social criticism.
The American Experience: Student Companion All-in-One Workbook (Pearson Common Core Literature)
by The Editors at the PearsonWorkbook to accompany language arts textbook
The American Experience: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes)
by Pearson Prentice HallLiterature textbook from Pearson Prentice Hall.
The American Experiment and the Idea of Democracy in British Culture, 1776–1914 (Ashgate Series in Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Studies)
by Ruth LiveseyIn nineteenth-century Britain, the effects of democracy in America were seen to spread from Congress all the way down to the personal habits of its citizens. Bringing together political theorists, historians, and literary scholars, this volume explores the idea of American democracy in nineteenth-century Britain. The essays span the period from Independence to the First World War and trace an intellectual history of Anglo-American relations during that period. Leading scholars trace the hopes and fears inspired by the American model of democracy in the works of commentators, including Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Dickens, John Stuart Mill, Richard Cobden, Charles Dilke, Matthew Arnold, Henry James and W. T. Stead. By examining the context of debates about American democracy and notions of ’culture’, citizenship, and race, the collection sheds fresh light on well-documented moments of British political history, such as the Reform Acts, the Abolition of Slavery Act, and the Anti-Corn Law agitation. The volume also explores the ways in which British Liberalism was shaped by the American example and draws attention to the importance of print culture in furthering radical political dialogue between the two nations. As the comprehensive introduction makes clear, this collection makes an important contribution to transatlantic studies and our growing sense of a nineteenth-century modernity shaped by an Atlantic exchange. It is an essential reference point for all interested in the history of the idea of democracy, its political evolution, and its perceived cultural consequences.
The American Heritage Children's Thesaurus
by American Heritage Dictionary Editors Paul HellwegHow do you choose the best word for a sentence? The American Heritage(R) Children's Thesaurus has a wide range of entries and carefully selected synonyms which will add color and precision to writing at every level. With its innovative design, The American Heritage(R) Children's Thesaurus encourages students to distinguish among an array of synonyms by testing each word against an example sentence. Synonyms are grouped according to meaning and usage, helping students learn to think analytically and to be selective. This unique book will expand children's vocabularies while teaching them valuable new word skills. Features include more than 35,000 synonyms, a clear sample sentence for every sense of every entry, lively full-color photographs throughout, and more than 100 antonyms and word-group features.
The American Heritage Dictionary
by Houghton Mifflin Company StaffYOU ARE YOUR WORDS The words you use define you. Make the most of them with The American Heritage® Dictionary. THE FIFTH EDITION FEATURES Clear definitions written in a style that is accurate and easy to understand New words and senses in all areas from science and technology to food and clothing Biographical and geographical entries that identify the people and places you need to know Useful illustrations that enhance the definitions and make learning easier Expert guidance on usage based on surveys of the American Heritage® Usage Panel Etymologies, synonyms, antonyms, and much more
The American Idea of England, 1776-1840: Transatlantic Writing (Ashgate Series in Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Studies)
by Jennifer ClarkArguing that American colonists who declared their independence in 1776 remained tied to England by both habit and inclination, Jennifer Clark traces the new Americans' struggle to come to terms with their loss of identity as British, and particularly English, citizens. Americans' attempts to negotiate the new Anglo-American relationship are revealed in letters, newspaper accounts, travel reports, essays, song lyrics, short stories and novels, which Clark suggests show them repositioning themselves in a transatlantic context newly defined by political revolution. Chapters examine political writing as a means for Americans to explore the Anglo-American relationship, the appropriation of John Bull by American writers, the challenge the War of 1812 posed to the reconstructed Anglo-American relationship, the Paper War between American and English authors that began around the time of the War of 1812, accounts by Americans lured to England as a place of poetry, story and history, and the work of American writers who dissected the Anglo-American relationship in their fiction. Carefully contextualised historically, Clark's persuasive study shows that any attempt to examine what it meant to be American in the New Nation, and immediately beyond, must be situated within the context of the Anglo-American relationship.
The American Idea: The Literary Response to American Optimism
by Everett CarterThe American idea," a blend of the Idea of Progress and a belief in the essential goodness of man, has determined the form of much of our significant literature. Carter treats the response to this idea in most of the major and many of the minor writers of the nineteenth century, including Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, William and Henry James, Mark Twain, Howells, and Henry Adams, and sees the persistence of the idea in the novels of Saul Bellow. "Originally published in 1977.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
The American Indian Intellectual Tradition: An Anthology Of Writings From 1772 To 1972
by David MartinezIn The American Indian Intellectual Tradition, David Martínez presents thirty-one essays that exemplify Native American intellectual culture across two centuries. The occasion for many of the pieces was the exertion of colonial and then federal power to limit or obliterate the authority and autonomy of American Indians. The writers featured were activists for their home communities and for all indigenous people. <p><p> Martínez divides his book into three critical epochs of American Indian history with section introductions that provide political context for the selected readings. Works by Vine Deloria Jr., Elias Johnson, Laura Cornelius Kellogg, Susette La Flesche, D'Arcy McNickle, Samson Occom, John Ross, and twenty-one other writers and community leaders are accompanied by bibliographies. The essays display the diversity and sophistication of American Indian writers; although Martínez's approach is pan-Indian, each author is situated in terms of his or her specific culture, politics, and historical context. At the same time, throughout the book there are significant recurring themes that enable the reader to appreciate the scope of the American Indian intellectual tradition and the common cultural standpoints that bind these various writers together.
The American Isherwood
by James J. Berg Freeman ChrisNovelist, memoirist, diarist, and gay pioneer Christopher Isherwood left a wealth of writings. Known for his crisp style and his camera-like precision with detail, Isherwood gained fame for his Berlin Stories, which served as source material for the hit stage musical and Academy Award–winning film Cabaret. More recently, his experiences and career in the United States have received increased attention. His novel A Single Man was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film; his long relationship with the artist Don Bachardy, with whom he shared an openly gay lifestyle, was the subject of an award-winning documentary, Chris & Don: A Love Story; and his memoir, Christopher and His Kind, was adapted for the BBC. Isherwood&’s colorful journeys took him from post–World War I England to Weimar Germany to European exile to Golden Age Hollywood to Los Angeles in the full flower of gay liberation. After the publication of his diaries, which run to more than one million words and span nearly a half century, it is possible to fully assess his influence. This collection of essays considers Isherwood&’s diaries, his vast personal archive, and his published works and offers a multifaceted appreciation of a writer who spent more than half of his life in southern California. James J. Berg and Chris Freeman have brought together the most informative scholarship of the twenty-first century to illuminate the craft of one of the singular figures of the twentieth century. Isherwood, the American, emerges from the shadow of his English reputation to stake his claim as a significant force in late twentieth-century American culture whose legacy continues in the twenty-first century.Contributors: Joshua Adair, Murray State U; Jamie Carr, Niagara U; Robert L. Caserio, Pennsylvania State U; Niladri Chatterjee, U of Kalyani, India; Lisa Colletta, American U of Rome; Lois Cucullu, U of Minnesota; Mario Faraone; Peter Edgerly Firchow; Rebecca Gordon Stewart; William R. Handley, U of Southern California; Jaime Harker, U of Mississippi; Sara S. Hodson, Huntington Library; Carola M. Kaplan, California State U, Pomona; Benjamin Kohlmann, U of Freiburg, Germany; Victor Marsh, U of Queensland; Tina Mascara; Stephen McCauley; Paul M. McNeil, Columbia U; Guido Santi, College of the Canyons, California; Kyle Stevens, Brandeis U.
The American Jeremiad
by Sacvan BercovitchWhen Sacvan Bercovitch'sThe American Jeremiadfirst appeared in 1978, it was hailed as a landmark study of dissent and cultural formation in America, from the Puritans' writings through the major literary works of the antebellum era. For this long-awaited anniversary edition, Bercovitch has written a deeply thoughtful and challenging new preface that reflects on his classic study of the role of the political sermon, or jeremiad, in America from a contemporary perspective, while assessing developments in the field of American studies and the culture at large.
The American Journalist in the 21st Century: U.S. News People at the Dawn of a New Millennium (Routledge Communication Series)
by Paul S. Voakes David H. Weaver Randal A. Beam Bonnie J. Brownlee G. Cleveland WilhoitAn authoritative and detailed illustration of the state of journalistic practice in the United States today, The American Journalist in the 21st Century sheds light on the demographic and educational backgrounds, working conditions, and professional and ethical values of print, broadcast, and Internet journalists at the beginning of the 21st century. Providing results from telephone surveys of nearly 1,500 U.S. journalists working in a variety of media outlets, this volume updates the findings published in the earlier report, The American Journalist in the 1990s, and reflects the continued evolution of journalistic practice and professionalism. The scope of material included here is extensive and inclusive, representing numerous facets of journalistic practice and professionalism, and featuring separate analyses for women, minority, and online journalists. Many findings are set in context and compared with previous major studies of U.S. journalists conducted in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Serving as a detailed snapshot of current journalistic practice, The American Journalist in the 21st Century offers an intriguing and enlightening profile of professional journalists today, and it will be of great interest and value to working journalists, journalism educators, media managers, journalism students, and others seeking insights into the current state of the journalism profession.
The American Lawrence
by Lee M. JenkinsKnown as a distinctly English author, D. H. Lawrence is reevaluated as a creator and critic of American literature in this imaginative study. From 1922 to 1925, during his "savage pilgrimage" in Mexico and New Mexico, Lawrence completed the core of what Lee Jenkins terms his "American oeuvre"--including his major volume of criticism, Studies in Classic American Literature. By examining Lawrence's experiences in the Americas, including his fascination with indigenous cultures, Jenkins illustrates how the modernist writer helped shape both American literary criticism and the American literary canon. Reassessing Lawrence's relationship to American modernism and his literary contemporaries in the New World, Jenkins portrays Lawrence as a transatlantic writer whose significant body of work embraces and adapts both English and American traditions and innovations.
The American Midwest in Film and Literature: Nostalgia, Violence, and Regionalism
by Adam R. OchonickyHow do works from film and literature—Sister Carrie, Native Son, Meet Me in St. Louis, Halloween, and A History of Violence, for example—imagine, reify, and reproduce Midwestern identity? And what are the repercussions of such regional narratives and images circulating in American culture? In The American Midwest in Film and Literature: Nostalgia, Violence, and Regionalism, Adam R. Ochonicky provides a critical overview of the evolution, contestation, and fragmentation of the Midwest's symbolic and often contradictory meanings. Using the frontier writings of Frederick Jackson Turner as a starting point, this book establishes a succession of Midwestern filmic and literary texts stretching from the late-19th century through the beginning of the 21st century and argues that the manifold properties of nostalgia have continually transformed popular understandings and ideological uses of the Midwest's place-identity. Ochonicky identifies three primary modes of nostalgia at play across a set of textual objects: the projection of nostalgia onto physical landscapes and into the cultural sphere (nostalgic spatiality); nostalgia as a cultural force that regulates behaviors, identities, and appearances (nostalgic violence); and the progressive potential of nostalgia to generate an acknowledgment and possible rectification of ways in which the flawed past negatively affects the present (nostalgic atonement). While developing these new conceptions of nostalgia, Ochonicky reveals how an under-examined area of regional study has received critical attention throughout the histories of American film and literature, as well as in related materials and discourses. From the closing of the Western frontier to the polarized political and cultural climate of the 21st century, this book demonstrates how film and literature have been and continue to be vital forums for illuminating the complex interplay of regionalism and nostalgia.
The American Midwest in Film and Literature: Nostalgia, Violence, and Regionalism
by Adam R. OchonickyA critical overview of the evolution, contestation, and fragmentation of the Midwest’s symbolic (and often contradictory) meanings in American culture.How do works from film and literature—Sister Carrie, Native Son, Meet Me in St. Louis, Halloween, and A History of Violence, for example—imagine, reify, and reproduce Midwestern identity? And what are the repercussions of such regional narratives and images circulating in American culture? In The American Midwest in Film and Literature: Nostalgia, Violence, and Regionalism, Adam R. Ochonicky provides a critical overview of the evolution, contestation, and fragmentation of the Midwest’s symbolic and often contradictory meanings.Using the frontier writings of Frederick Jackson Turner as a starting point, this book establishes a succession of Midwestern filmic and literary texts stretching from the late-19th century through the beginning of the 21st century and argues that the manifold properties of nostalgia have continually transformed popular understandings and ideological uses of the Midwest’s place-identity. Ochonicky identifies three primary modes of nostalgia at play across a set of textual objects: the projection of nostalgia onto physical landscapes and into the cultural sphere (nostalgic spatiality); nostalgia as a cultural force that regulates behaviors, identities, and appearances (nostalgic violence); and the progressive potential of nostalgia to generate an acknowledgment and possible rectification of ways in which the flawed past negatively affects the present (nostalgic atonement). While developing these new conceptions of nostalgia, Ochonicky reveals how an under-examined area of regional study has received critical attention throughout the histories of American film and literature, as well as in related materials and discourses. From the closing of the Western frontier to the polarized political and cultural climate of the 21st century, this book demonstrates how film and literature have been and continue to be vital forums for illuminating the complex interplay of regionalism and nostalgia.“Ochonicky presents an important reading of how nostalgia shapes the Midwest in the American imagination as a place of identity and violence. Past and present slip in this compelling and well-researched approach to the workings of contemporary culture.” —Vera Dika, author of Recycled Culture in Contemporary Art and Film: The Use of Nostalgia“By centering the concept of region, Adam Ochonicky provides an insightful and refreshing reading of American popular culture. In texts ranging from Richard Wright’s Native Son to John Carpenter’s Halloween, Ochonicky demonstrates the complex terrain of the Midwest in our cultural imaginary and the diverse memories and meanings we project upon it.” —Kendall R. Phillips, author of A Place of Darkness: The Rhetoric of Horror in Early American Cinema, Syracuse University
The American Professor Pundit: Academics in the World of US Political Media
by Valerie Martinez-Ebers Brian R. Calfano Aida RamusovicThis book considers the production of political media content from the perspective of academics who are increasingly asked to join the ranks of voices charged with informing the public. The work draws on the authors’ first-hand experience and relationships with media reporters, managers, producers, and academics offering their expertise to a wide array of media outlets to understand and report on the dynamics shaping how the academic voice in political news may be at its most useful. Featured prominently in the book is the trade-off between a conventional form of political punditry, which is often characterized by partisan rancour, and a more analytical, theoretical, and/or policy-based approach to explaining politics to both general and diverse audiences. Along the way, the work draws on original survey, in-depth interview, and experimental data to garner insights on what academics in media, reporters, and media managers perceive are the appropriate roles for academics featured in political media. This book also contains relevant technical tips for effective media communication by academics.
The American Puritan Elegy: A Literary and Cultural Study
by Jeffrey A. HammondHammond reconstructs the historical, theological and cultural contexts of these poems to demonstrate how they responded to a specific process of mourning defined by Puritan views on death and grief.
The American Reader: A Brief Guide to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights
by Worth BooksThe three most important documents in American history—expanded and explained. In the centuries since the creation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as its Bill of the Rights, the liberties set forth within these documents have faced many challenges, including war, unrest, political debate, and legal disputes. Such trials persist today, but the initial strength of our founding papers—shining as beacons of hope and freedom to America and beyond—continues to stand the test of time. Now, The American Reader provides a brief summary and analysis of these landmark documents: examining constitutional interpretation, specifically originalism vs. living Constitution; exploring the Declaration&’s &“saving principles,&” expressed by Frederick Douglass, one of many influential leaders referenced in this concise guide; and more. Also included are noteworthy facts about the founding fathers, a detailed timeline of events, and other fascinating trivia. At a time when our understanding of individual liberties in America is especially imperative, this essential reference puts our country&’s foundational beliefs into much-needed modern perspective.
The American Republic for Christian Schools (2nd edition)
by Rachel C Larson Pamela B. Creason Michael D. MattheuwsHistory textbook for Christian schools.
The American Roadside in Émigré Literature, Film, and Photography: 1955–1985 (Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture)
by Elsa CourtThe American Roadside in Émigré Literature, Film, and Photography: 1955–1985 traces the origin of a postmodern iconography of mobile consumption equating roadside America with an authentic experience of the United States through the postwar road narrative, a narrative which, Elsa Court argues, has been shaped by and through white male émigré narratives of the American road, in both literature and visual culture. While stressing that these narratives are limited in their understanding of the processes of exclusion and unequal flux in experiences of modern automobility, the book works through four case studies in the American works of European-born authors Vladimir Nabokov, Robert Frank, Alfred Hitchcock, and Wim Wenders to unveil an early phenomenology of the postwar American highway, one that anticipates the works of late-twentieth-century spatial theorists Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Marc Augé and sketches a postmodern aesthetic of western mobility and consumption that has become synonymous with contemporary America.
The American Shore
by Samuel R. DelanyIn the course of his considerations, Samuel R. Delany poses a theory of discourse and explores how the reading of various rhetorical turns, some science fictional, some not, is shifted by science fictional understanding.