Category: Literary Studies
Posts of studies, opinions, and reviews on English literature and authors.
Writers of the Past and Present
Miranda Alexander Inspiration is everywhere. It lurks within the darkest of alleys and pursues our interest of mind. Though it has the will and strength to conquer any brain it […]
Nathaniel Hawthorne May Have Been On To Something
Lyssa Henry At risk of sounding like an ultra-judgmental-of-other-Christians “Christian,” I would like to address something that I am reminded of upon reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Celestial Railroad. Hawthorne’s tale, […]
One for All!
Kit Schleifer Why would none of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales make it into the American Canon? Recently, in class, we discussed reasons for this, and among those was that […]
An Indian’s Looking Glass
David Stephens William Apess was born in 1798 in the small town of Colrain, Massachusetts where his people, the Pequots, mostly resided on two small reservations. Not long into his young life […]
Snowflakes Are Only Appreciated in Frozen Water Form
Rebecca Reese What makes a “good” book? Is it character development? Is it a riveting story line? Is it the choice of setting? In American Literature this week, we had […]
A Life Well Lived
Julia Joyce By the end of the Leatherstocking tales Deerslayer/Natty Bumppo/the Trapper is nearing ninety years old. He has lived a long life, and he and everyone else knows it […]
Bibliophiles and Literary Canons
Miranda Alexander There is one question that never fails to send my mind into a rather fantastic frenzy: “What is your favorite book?”. Naturally this would seem to be a […]
How Do You Write About Something You Haven’t Experienced?
Lyssa Henry James Fenimore Cooper was a phenomenal writer. He took readers to places they had never been to feel things they had never felt, which is a big goal […]
The Impact of Washington Irving
David Stephens Washington Irving is often referred to as the Father of American literature due to the success that he achieved with his writings. He is the first American writer […]
Bryant Abroad
Kit Schleifer Among the readings for William Cullen Bryant we find Letter X. In it, he goes into much detail about his travels from Richmond to Charleston. The more I […]
R.I.P. to the Hero of Husbands
Rebecca Reese “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving is a classic example of what all men dream of. You enjoy shrugging off responsibilities in order to hang out with your […]
Rip Van Winkle’s Life Choices: Terrible or Genius?
Lyssa Henry Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” is about a man who is not entirely satisfied with his life and decides to go hunting to avoid his wife, […]