Common Themes in American Literature

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Common Themes in American Literature

Common Themes throughout American Literature

Many authors contributed to American literature between 1865 and 1914. Although these authors came from all over the country and lived different life styles, they still managed to include similar themes in their works. A theme is considered to be the main idea of the work, or a meaning behind the story. Within this period of American literature, three themes continued to emerge: the concept of true beauty, protection of nature, and perception versus reality.

The first theme, the concept of true beauty is evident in "The White Heron" and "The Real Thing". "The White Heron" presents a little girl torn between material items (money) or saving a heron. It isn't until she climbs into the heron's tree and sees its perspective of the world, that she decides it's not worth the money to give the bird's hiding place up. Within "The Real Thing" a photographer begins using a beautiful, almost perfect, couple to do his photo shoots. After a few comparisons to his other female model he realizes that...

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