Category: american literature

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Charles Chesnutt and the Plantation Tradition

Last week, I wrote about race in two local stories by George Washington Cable and Kate Chopin. Over the next couple of posts, I want to look at the ways that authors such as Charles Chesnutt and Paul Laurence Dunbar work to counter the plantation tradition and specifically the continued perpetuation of an idealized South during the latter part of the nineteenth century and … Read More Charles Chesnutt and the Plantation Tradition

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George Washington Cable’s “‘Tite Poulette” and Race

Last week, I wrote about Sui Sin Far and her discussion of nationality and nationhood in Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of a Eurasian. Far highlights the arbitrary nature of of the term “nation,” and rather than holding “nationality” up for honor, she lifts individuality in its place. In a similar manner, George Washington Cable, throughout his works, illuminates the social constructions of race … Read More George Washington Cable’s “‘Tite Poulette” and Race

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Sarah Orne Jewett’s Fairy Tale: “A White Heron”

In A Jury of Her Peers, Elaine Showalter comments that Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” is “a fairy tale about a New England princess who refuses to be rescued from her isolation by the handsome prince” (192). Showalter’s description of Jewett’s story as “a fairy tale” caught my attention, and today I want to look at how we can read “A White Heron” … Read More Sarah Orne Jewett’s Fairy Tale: “A White Heron”

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William Dean Howells’ “Editha,” Richard Lovelace, and Shakespeare

Typically, critics read William Dean Howells’ “Editha” as a story that comments on our need to proclaim our national identities through patriotism and war and how that continual proclamation does more harm than good. Others read “Editha” through a feminist lens arguing that the focus of the story lies in the ways that Editha and Mrs. Gearson work to exert power over George. Today, … Read More William Dean Howells’ “Editha,” Richard Lovelace, and Shakespeare

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Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom

Last semester, I had students construct presentations of terms and historical events in my Early American Literature survey course. I have a posts on the assignment itself and on some of the projects that students created. This semester, I am tweaking that assignment in a couple of ways. Rather than having students present on specific terms and presenting during the last week of class, … Read More Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom