N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn House Made of Dawn, the novel that began the AMERICAN INDIAN LITERARY RENAISSANCE, is Scott Momaday's masterpiece. He originally conceived the work as a series of poems, but under the tutelage of Wallace Stegner at Stanford, Momaday reconceived the work first as a set of stories, then as a novel. House is the story of Abel, an Indian from the Pueblo Momaday calls "Walatowa," a fictionalized version of Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, where Momaday grew up. Abel
The Poisonwood Bible as a Catalog of Romanticism In The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, the romantic standards that are associated with literature during the American Renaissance are evident. This popular novel, a New York Times Bestseller, embodies the concept of Romanticism with its gothic darkness, themes of loss and nostalgia, and a strong captivity narrative. The presence of a wise child and recurring double language are essential to the plot of the story. Nathan Price's misguided
Longfellow's Unique American hero in Evangeline Abstract: Longfellow's portrayal of the American Adam is set apart in that he does not praise this character as a role model for others. The concept of the American Adam is seen in a different light through the depiction of Basil in the narrative poem Evangeline. R.W.B. Lewis explores the quest of the writers of the American Renaissance to create a literature that is uniquely American in his 1955 text, The American Adam: Innocence
The Like Minds of Emerson and Douglass Few, if any, writers of the American Renaissance period had as great an influence on contemporaries as did Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was insistent that America put its mark on the literary world with its own, genuine American literature, and he launched the movement with his own works (Bode 574). Frederick Douglass was a slave of the American south when Emerson was starting out and moving up in his profession. Eventually, Douglass became Emersonâs fellow
Alcoholism Alcohol consumption was initiated on reservations when traders in the nineteenth century started to offer it to oppressed and depressed Native Americans. Natives represent, in fact, the ethnic group with the highest degree of alcohol consumption in the United States. Confinement on reservations after displacement brought for Native Americans identity conflicts and assimilation problems. This situation promoted the abuse of liquor to mitigate the psychological pain inflicted by the dispossession
Louisa May Alcott and Her Work Louisa May Alcott was a great writer of her time and is the perfect example of how mixed messages during the American Renaissance affected the lives of young women everywhere. In the book Little Women Louisa gives Marmee the appearance and attitudes of her own mother, Abba Alcott. Her mother once wrote women should assert their, "right to think, feel, and live individually·be something in yourself." In contrast, Louisaâs father, Bronson Alcott
Journalism and the American Renaissance The period in American Literature known as the American Renaissance was a time of great change in our country. It was an age of westward expansion and social conflict. Americans were divided on such volatile issues as slavery, reform and sectionalism that ultimately led to the Civil War. Emerging from this cauldron of change came the voice of a new nation - a nation with views and ideals all its own. The social, economic, technological and demographic
For many years, this period and these writers were known as the American Renaissance, a coin termed by F.O. Matthiessen in his book of that name in 1941. This book set the parameters of how to read and connect these writers until relatively recently, when its limitations, especially in terms of defining the "canon" of literary giants and what made them (all male) "giants" have been recognized and challenged. However, the term is still useful to some degree. It is a misnomer, if one thinks of the
Defining Self-Awareness in the works of Emerson, Whitman and Poe Literature in the American Renaissance influenced the Romantic sentiment that prevailed during this period: the emergence of the individual. This materialization evolved out of the Age of Reason, when the question of using reason (a conscious state) or faith (an unconscious state) as a basis for establishing a set of beliefs divided people into secular and non-secular groups. Reacting to the generally submissive attitudes predominant
Comparing Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl What provokes a person to write about his or her life? What motivates us to read it? Moreover, do men and women tell their life story in the same way? The answers may vary depending on the person who answers the questions. However, one may suggest a reader elects to read an autobiography because there is an interest. This interest allows the reader to draw from the narrator's
Transcendentalism Transcendentalism was a movement in writing that took place in the mid-nineteenth century. It formed in the early to mid nineteenth century and reached it climax around 1850 during an era commonly referred to as the American Renaissance, America’s Golden Day, or the Flowering of New England. The basic tenets of Transcendentalism involve the relationships between one’s self and the world at large. First, the search for truth in Transcendentalism begins with the individual
people began to question man’s place, or duty, on earth. Also occurring within the time of the Victorian Era is the American Renaissance. During this period, Americans were expanding their territory according to the belief in Manifest Destiny, or the idea that God or Nature intended for the United States to spread its civilization from coast to coast. Like the British, Americans questioned their moral responsibility concerning change and expansion. Consequently, the concerns of the people were echoed
Born in 1817, in Concord, Henry David Thoreau became one of the greatest writers among the American Renaissance. Thoreau based his whole philosophy on the fact that man needed to get rid of material things in order to be an individual. An exquisitely educated man, Thoreau went to Harvard, which placed heavy emphasis on the classics. Thoreau studied a curriculum that included grammar and composition, mathematics, English, history, and various philosophies. He also spoke fluently in Italian, French
equality to men. Whether it is intentional or unintentional, how the breast is perceived throughout history is a direct reflection of the views of the time. Legends about the breast have appeared in a variety of cultures, from Greek, Indian, to Native American myths, they all contain stories that involve biting a breast. For example, as an infant, Hercules was said to have gotten his extra-human strength from biting the breast of Hera. Other stories such as this can be seen as symbolic of an attack
Pocahontas and the Mythical Indian Woman Pocahontas. Americans know her as the beautiful, Indian woman who fell in love with the white settler John Smith and then threw her body upon the poor white captive to protect him from being brutally executed by her own savage tribe. The magical world of Walt Disney came out with their own movie version several years ago portraying Pocahontas as a tan, sexy Barbie doll figure and John Smith as a blond-haired, blue-eyed muscular Ken doll. Although Disney
the novels Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich and The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, the reader gains views of Native American culture, both past and present, through two disparate means of delivery. Both authors provide immensely rich portrayals through varying literary devices in efforts to bring about a better understanding of problems contemporary Native Americans face, especially regarding their own self-identity. The story of Love Medicine revolves around a central character, June
contemporary American life. In 1970, at the age of 19, with the blessings of her parents, Foster took the last name of her maternal grandmother, Naomi Harjo. As she often credits her great aunt, Lois Harjo, with teaching her about her Indian identity, this name change may have helped her to solidify her public link with this heritage. Although primarily known as a poet, Harjo conceives of herself as a visual artist. She left Oklahoma at age 16 to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts
Exclusion of Native Americans by the Spaniards and the Puritans I have chosen to compare the Native Americans to both the Spaniards and the Puritans. I will do so on three levels: culture, religion, and literature. I will show how both the Spaniards and the Puritans wanted to impose their traditions upon the Native American; however, the Spaniards did so by merging with the Indians and the Puritans did so by oppressing the Indian. To begin the comparison, I will explore the American Indians
The Last of the Mohicans as an American Romance In the 1820s, the Romantic Movement emerged in the United States as an embodiment of the American spirit after a second war with Britain. Although the Romantic Movement, or the American Renaissance, began to emerge decades after its European counterpart, elements of Romanticism can be traced to the chronicles of the first explorers who wrote about the beauty and mystery of the New World. Thematically, Romanticism is characterized by its longing
to North America. The native populations in North America held equal claims to their lands and the way in which they lived. With an influx of Europeans into the new world it was inevitable that a clash of culture between them would surface. Among the native populations to have contact with the Europeans was the Seneca. This clash of cultures left the people of the Seneca demoralized, defeated, and on the brink of extinction. After large contact with whites many natives were torn between two