Compare And Contrast Jack London And E. Cummings

1610 Words4 Pages

Do the events and trials a writer goes through effectively make their writing style change? Both Jack London and E. E. Cummings were literary giants for their own times. Both had different life events, grew up in different settings, and had different influences in their lives, but how much of a difference does that make? Londons Call of the wild is regarded as one of the best naturalist writings that not only was a big hit for naturalists, but for every generation afterwards. Cummings The Enormous room, shows the crucial punishment of a soldier who is confined into a room in a concentration camp in La-Ferte mace, normandy. Cummings book is based off of his real life time experience in a concenctration camp in which he endured many difficult conditions. What life, and era events caused these two well known writers to write these stories?
Jack London, who lived in the 19th century, and Edward Estlin Cummings, who lived in the 20th century, experienced many drastic changes from their era that would ultimately change the way they lived their lives, thought, and wrote. For London, writing was being changed in the sense that it was taking a less traditional approach, in favor for a more scientific approach. The period of naturalism is most commonly referred to as a period that was broken off of realism. However, some argue that naturalism is not just a piece broken off from realism, but rather an answer to the period of realism. "Naturalism is, in fact, viewed as a response to Realism" (Schoenberg). Although Realism and Naturalism share similar characteristics such as trying to effectively describe humans, they differ greatly in the way they try to achieve it. Naturalism trys to describe humans and the way they act exclusively by usin...

... middle of paper ...

...and traveling filled life. He visited the soviet union in 1931 to view their system of art and was dissapointed with the minimal amount of artistic freedom allowed. Cummings went on to develop various forms of literature throughout the rest of his life and eventually recieved numerous awards such as the Shelley memorial award for poetry and the Bollingen prize for poetry and continued to give speeches and poetry readings across the country until his death (Blank). Cummings is a great example of a person who does not let anything deter him from his goals. Even though Cummings had a traumatizing experience during WWI, Cummings did not let that shake him from his ultimate goal which was to excel at becoming a poet. Cummings was a very important man in the world of literature and he proved it by his constant poetry readings and lectures given across the united states.

Open Document