Classic American Literature - Essay Example

American Literature Over the ages, literature has had very many impacts on the lives of people that thrive at the different periods. Literature has its origin from a time that is way back in lineage and thus much more impulsive when it comes to the effect that it has on society. This is also from the fact that despite civilization, literature has remained strong and resourceful in terms of the different notions that society bears. Very many different periods of literature and according to the various studies done in the course, there has been the revelation of several of these periods. Studies carried out in the course portray this. Writers studied in week 2-4 of the course represent authors from the pre-colonial era while those studied from week 5-8 represent authors of the colonial era. In depth analysis of these works reveals the various aspects of literature important to contemporary society. Focusing on the writers allied to the pre-colonial period, most of their messages were rather impactful to the people that they dwelt with and the literary works that they put down did not spread far. The goal of these writers was to empower individuals. This is from the fact that this era was coupled with a lot of travelling as they migrated to Northern America from various points in Asia (Ralph 219). Travelling was not an easy task and thus the travelers were most often exhausted with others dying along the way. This got them depressed and weary to a point where they lost hope. Most of the writers at that time wrote of various previous experiences encountered and the manner through which they went strong to avoid all forms of misery. This was great at encouraging the travelers more. For the writers in the colonial period, it was different in terms of the goals from the fact that the situation was much different. People at this time were suffering from the hands of other officials and thus the importance of creating literary works that involved condemnation to the colonizers. However, a common goal experienced both by the writers of the pre-colonial period and that of the colonial period is the message of unity. While travelling, unity was necessary for the migrants to act as a form of strength and for the natives of colonies in an effort to defeat the colonizers in their quest of acquiring their resources. There was also the great change experienced by the Literature field having people migrate from the neoclassical literature that previously existed to the unfolding Romantic literature at the time. The revelation and explanation of this is got from the various songs composed by French neoclassic artists such as Alexander pope. Most of this literature talks about the various exploration journeys that the writers took and the changes involved (Jonda 171). However, the settlement of the migrants into the United States and the various interactions in Europe led to cultural interactions and thus producing an allure of romance and thus the imposed romance. This revealed the fact that the society was changing and the love poems and songs that the artists such as Richard Strauss brought out express this. Several writers can be witnessed as transitional figures in terms of literary periods and historic works. This is clear in that everything they wrote reflected the aspects of the world that were present at the time. Pima Indians and Cotton Mother were just some of the most important transitional authors (Ralph 231). This is clearly expressed from the manner in which they wrote songs about the various journey experiences that the people experienced as they shifted places. Upon settling, the tone of the songs changed to that of misery and struggle sending the message of liberation and freedom clearly. This was a clear transition from the pre-colonial period to the colonial period. One of the most acclaimed people and writers in the history of the United States is Thomas Jefferson. The manner in which he clearly articulated the concerns of the common American citizen throughout the colonial period was very clear. His drafting of the Declaration of Independence saw the liberation of very many Americans from a life that was laden with struggle, fear and pain (Jefferson 125). This was also similar to Benjamin Franklin who has received the title of one of the fathers that founded the United States. His works clearly reveal various issues that the Americans went through and many of these include the fighting for human rights for the Americans in an effort to gain freedom. He did this through the various newspaper articles that he published among several books. Emotions clearly define the deeper feelings that a person bears and a clear identification of these feelings was and is important to any Romantic author in a bid to express matters of the heart clearly. Nature also comes in handy as the general atmosphere of the people around and their views towards certain relationships assist in the expression of love in relation to the outer environment. The individual is tied to the emotions because it is he who articulates the feelings to be put down while the supernatural is there to guide through. All these when combined provide a rather distinct work of art by a romantic author. Work Cited Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers. 2008. Print. Jonda, McNair. “Classic American Literature.” Journal of Negro Education 80. 2 (2011): 163- 175. Print. Ralph, Bauer. “Early American Literature and American Literary History.” Early American Literature 45. 2 (2010): 217-233. Print. Read More