What is the American Literature Essay, and how do I write one?

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The American describes all works of artistic writing, contained in the books, diaries, poems, speeches a and even architecture that tells the past of America; how it all began with people occupying a new land that was relatively unexplored, the role of colonization, religious movements, wars among other fundamental issues of those times. The literacy reveals Americans’ economic activities and how that has evolved over a long time, their politics, and religion and social life.

Much of the American literature was greatly influenced by different historical periods, specific events, and some personalities. Most of the American literature publications trace the American path narrative have followed from the pre-colonial times into the present through literary movements such as romanticism, realism, and experimentation.

Your task will be expressing your knowledge of American literature and demonstrate impeccable argumentation and analytical skills.

There are numerous approaches one can use in developing and analyzing the American literature in an essay. Some of the approaches are Analytical, argumentative, and descriptive approaches. The approach selected is based on the style required to be adopted in writing your essay.

Tips on writing a great American literature essay

  1. Write on a specified style

To write successfully, follow specific instructions on the approach that should adopt for the essay. These could be analytical, descriptive, and argumentative of positional. Once you have cracked this embark or preparations and collection of and documentation of relevant supportive ideas by reviewing appropriate materials, including books, novels, poems, etc., find those publications’ central claims and use them in your essay.

  • Objectivity

Be very objective and unbiased when writing your essay and incorporation complexity when writing to give your essay more thrill. Make it accurate, expressing, and highly engaging to prompt the reader to read it. Have a powerful introduction based on an anecdote or a poem excerpt or literary quote that will set your essay’s tone and provide an excellent hook to ensuring your readers are more interested. No sugar coating here! Continue by giving straightforward claims and citing relevant sources throughout the essay.

  • Maintain a logical flow

The first hint for finding logical flow is a powerful thesis statement. It introduces the key elements embedded in the essay in a particular order. In writing your body section, follow the same order of issues in your thesis statement. Using transitional words and expressions is another effective way to establish flow in your essay. It makes your work easy to read when the paragraphs are linked. Again address one issue at a time to ensure your readers understand what you are talking about. Do not mix up your ideas; it will only show your inadequate analytical skills.

  • Do not narrate stories from your sources

If anyone is interested in reading the pieces of literature, they will go for the sources. Thus, there is no pint reproducing the works you have cited will make your examiner doubt your credibility, plus there are high chances your work will be plagiarized. Do effect analysis depending on the instruction style and utilize examples from your sources instead; it saves time, and your work will be most likely impress the reader.

  • Gather adequate information on your topic

You will provide compelling evidence for any claims only with adequate information. Therefore, gather as much information as you possibly can to assist you with a dependable evidence base. It ensures you can substantiate your views in a scholarly manner, which usually attracts the top score!

You could be wondering how to organize your work in the scenario you are not provided with a topic. This is the most advantageous scenario because you have the opportunity to write on the issues that are most interesting to you. However, there are some topics that you can use to help you think of what you can expect if you are prompted to write an American literature essay and a brief description of each.

Ten ideas for American literature essay topics

  1. The Role Of Religion During Early American Literature

Religion was among the significant issues in the European wars that saw people flee to America. There are some very credible sources in the American literature that you can use to gain insights into how important religion was in American people’s history. Write about the freedom of worship and its beginnings and how that influenced the American constitution.

  • The Role of Religion in Early American Literature

The early beginnings of American history were characterized by religious movements, which inspired many people to write on what they experienced at the time. Read about the role of the Bible and how it influenced writers in the early years of America. Write about the influences of the European religion and how it affected how the Americans conceived it differently.

  • The Struggle to Gain Equality: A Study of Native American Woman in Literature

Write about women and their role in the women’s rights movement. “The leaders of this campaign—women like Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Ida B. Wells—did not always agree with one another, but each was committed to the enfranchisement of all American women.” Find more of these on history.com

  • The Three Writing Styles of African American Literature

Among the themes and issues explored in this literature are African Americans’ role within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and social equality. African-American writing has tended to incorporate oral forms, such as spirituals, sermons, gospel music, blues, or rap.

  • The Truth to the Puritanism Lifestyle in American Literature

Puritanism, a religious movement toward cleansing the church of its Catholic ties, profoundly affected the writing of the time. Authors of the period were characterized by first-person works that were heavy on simplistic language and sentence structure and religious references and Biblical allusions. Their idea was religious freedom and the quest for truth best on the Bible as the standard for doctrines, not tradition.

  • The Use of Humor in the Writings of Mark Twain

Though Twain is best known for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his first short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is more representative of his outstanding achievements as a humorist. Build on examples from these works of Mark Twain to write a successful essay.

  • Those Most Nearly Touched: Social Criticism in American Literature

The works of Edmund Wilson and John Updike, Gore Vidal, and Susan Sontag are some of the most-read authors on social criticism. Consider reading their letters and other works to find the gist of how rampant they were.

  • Timeline of American Literature and Events

In this one, you are expected to provide the events as covered infamous works in the American literature and their implications in the American way of life. The task is an exploration and a summary of significant events.

We hope this will help you a lot in your next American literature essay.

Please leave your comments and suggest any topics for a sample in our next essay.

Thank you.

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