The varied carol i hear - Essay Example

“The geese gently set Skywoman on the earth and she opened her hands to let the seeds fall on the soil. From the seeds grew the trees and grass, and life on Earth had begun.” (Iroquois Creation Story). Where better to begin this journey through the history of literature than at the onset. The Creation Story of the Iroquois was the first story ever told. It is the story of how the Iroquois believe their world, Turtle Island, came to be. The reason this myth carries such significance is because it explains the world view or basic outlook of the Iroquoian people in the 17th century.

And while we view this story as “myth,” the Iroquoian people truly believe in its authenticity and this belief gives it great force in their lives. (http://www.greatpeace.org/overview/creation.htm). When the European colonists arrived in America, the indigenous Native Americans spoke hundreds of distinct languages, engaged in many different religious practices, and structured their cultures in extraordinarily diverse economic and political forms. And unlike the Europeans, the majority did not use a formal alphabet.

It was not until the early 19th century that Native American verbal expression was recognized as literature from a Western perspective. (http://www.wwnorton.com/naal/vol_A/welcome.htm). This is an important piece that has been considered as revolutionary as Karl Marx’ Communist Manifesto. The objective of this work is that it searches for (and discovers) a solution to the working man’s problems through individual and peaceful methods. Instead of simply studying the problems of the 1850’s, Thoreau based his philosophy on ageless and proven truths from the past thus allowing himself to look into the future. (www.kenkifer.

com/Thoreau/index.htm). During the 1830’s through the 1850’s, differences in social status, such as gender and class, were the main subject matter of all writers. And almost all writers were at odds with Protestant