Assigment #10

The literature is very important both in personal and professional aspects. Studying literature can be an enriching and revealing experience. The literature itself has a special beauty, which is enriched in large part by the language and the resources which are used to trigger those feelings in the viewer you goose bumps. Besides, literature is a form of expression that is a fundamental part all human beings, so it becomes part of our culture, this being an essential element in the development of the whole person and of course a professional. Moreover, the module of literature is important because enhance the language and the vocabulary; vocabulary not only in professional aspects, but also in personal aspects, as I told before. With these tools it is possible to express a rich way in the aspect of using the words without being repetitive or limited, this because lexicon is increasing in a significant way. 

Thanks to this module literature I feel more prepared to face the globalized world and often requires knowledge beyond banal things; this also gives me an overview addressing many aspects, for example, historical context of many important events in history that have some influence about what might happen today. Now I am able to concern of many things, including how the world was before, how people live in other parts of the world through literature 

The literature is very important because it helps to any person to escape the real world and at the same time reflect about his/her experiences, situations and ways of thinking. 

I think that even though I was not present 100% of the classes, I always tried to be a participant student, and I tried to share my ideas and opinions with my classmates and teacher, in order to learn in a better way. I realized that this module requires much more dedication, so the autonomous work required too much. Taking into account the above, I made ​​me a bit complicated spend all the time that it required because I often preferred to work on other things like thesis, rather than literature.

Despite the fact that I did not dedicated the appropriate time to work on literature, I have been improving my four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking. Through the module I have had to read many books, texts and different documents related to American literature, to present different topics in front of my peers, to receive input from the teacher and my classmates, and I have had to write essays about various topics related to literature and its different periods.

I believe that it was a useful module for me as a pre-service teacher. Although, I think this might be more fruitful and this could have a better development if the module was taught in the fourth year of the program because in this semester we do not have enough time to devote to literature, and despite the importance it has, it is difficult to acquire knowledge in these conditions.

In my opinion, the teacher’s performance was appropriate to this module, and it was according to module requests. He was always alert to the students’s concerns, so from my point of view he was always looking to satisfy their professional needs. 

Finally, I believe that the methodologies which were incorporated to this module were the correct. The main problem, in my opinion, were the tasks and assignment given by the teacher to us, because as I said before we did not have enough time and sometimes I prefer to develop the assignment but I did not receive an appropriate feedback so it was difficult for me to know if I was in a correct way or if I was wrong. Probably a feedback could encourage our learning and it could generate a better students’ performance in next classes.

Assigment #9

American dream can be defined as equality of opportunity and freedom that allows all U.S. residents achieve their goals in life only with effort and determination. This idea first expressed in 1931 by the American historian James Truslow Also, it refers to that prosperity which depends on one's skills and work, not a destination dictated by rigid social hierarchy, although the meaning of the phrase has changed over the history of the United States. For some it is an opportunity to achieve more wealth than they could have in their home countries, for others it is the opportunity for their children to grow up with a good education and great opportunities, and finally, there are those who see it as the opportunity to be an individual without restrictions based on race, class, religion, etc.

On the other hand, The Frontier is the argument presented by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that American democracy was created by the American frontier. It emphasized the results; particularly American democracy was the most important outcome, along with egalitarianism, lack of interest in high culture and violence. Besides, it was emphasized the preparation and the process of moving boundary the impact it had on pioneers going through the development. Turner created an evolutionary model who had been studied the evolution with a leading geologist Thomas Chamberlin Chrowder, the use of the time dimension of American history, and the geographical space of the land that became the United States.

Furthermore, multiculturalism is the first expression of cultural pluralism, which promotes non-discrimination on grounds of race or culture, celebration and recognition of cultural difference and the right to it. Multiculturalism is located within antisimilacionista philosophy of cultural pluralism is both a factual situation as a social organization proposal. Within the pluralist paradigm, the multiculturalism emerged as a model of public policy and as a philosophy and social thought to react to cultural uniformity in times of globalization. It is designed as an opposition to the tendency in modern societies towards unification and universal culture that celebrates and seeks to protect cultural diversity, while focusing on the frequent unequal relations of minorities compared to the majority cultures, 

Finally, it is important to mention that The salad bowl theory is based on people with different culture identities being incorporated in the same society. They can live together without any conflicts even though they have different aspects. For example, lettuce, tomatoes and onions can share the same bowl, and taste good together although they are not the same vegetables. What I mean is that Chinese, afro American, white people, etc. can live together and it is good with variations. So therefore, people with different cultures can in fact communicate, exchange, share and co-operate.

Assignment #8 (Quiz)

During many years The United States’ government has been seeking to generate a development for its society. The objective has been to improve the living conditions of its citizens through a capital increase and a supposed improvement in the legislation. In this work will be possible to know two of the many laws that have been implemented in this country.

The history of the Chinese community in the U.S. is very extensive and there are a multitude of documents that speak of it, which have relevant background for understanding many of the historical passages. One of the many documents is The Chinese Exclusion Act was a federal law of the United States signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. It was one of the most important limitations of free immigration in U.S. history, prohibiting all Chinese labor immigration. The act followed revisions made in 1880 to the United States and China Burlingame Treaty of 1868, which allowed the U.S. reviews to suspend Chinese immigration. The act was originally scheduled for duration of 10 years, but it was renovated in 1892 and it was made permanent in 1902. It was finally repealed by the Magnuson Act December 17, 1943.

According to Galante (2203) the history of immigration to the United States and the contribution of immigrants and successive generations of American-born ethnic groups are important and essential factors in the history of the United States and the study of American social, economic, political, and cultural life. Between 1870 and 1900, for example, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States for a range of economic, political, and social reasons. Besides, a large number of Chinese immigrants arrived in the U.S., mostly on the West coast. By 1870, the Chinese were 8.6 % of the total population of California and constituted 25% of the labor force. Chinese immigrants arrived on U.S. coasts between the start of the California gold rush in 1849 and 1882, until the U.S. Congress enacted federal law in 1882 designed to prevent Chinese immigrants from entering or remaining in the U.S. Moreover, Galante (2003) exposed that

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group. It also was the first in a series of legislative, executive, and judicial acts by the U.S. Government in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries setting official immigration policies that many historians, scholars, and average citizens consider as racist. 

In addition, the Chinese Americans immigrants wrote a lot of Chinese American literature on nineteenth century, but those were written in Chinese. These Chinese-language writings have only recently been made available to be studied. These Chinese American authors wrote autobiographies as well as novels and poems, not only in Cantonese but also in Chinese and English. Some of these writers were Lin Yutang, novelist Yu Lihua, and Yung Wing, the first Chinese student to graduate from an American University, Yale.

On the other hand, The Sherman Antitrust Act was published on July 2, 1890; it was the first U.S. federal government measure to limit monopolies. The Act outlawed trusts, considering them restrictive for international trade. It was founded by U.S. Senator John Sherman of Ohio and approved by President Benjamin Harrison. 

The original text presented by Becker (2004) on his St. Olaf College’s page said in its first Section about Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty: "Every contract or combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states or with foreign nations, is declared illegal". 

Finally, The Sherman Act is a law that was penalized with the intention of curbing the monopoly of the steel and other industries characteristic of the era of industrial revolution. The standard does not penalize the figure of monopoly itself (ie, the exclusive control of a particular market), but rather that a business maintains and expands this situation at the expense of its competitors. It means, what is punished is the abuse of monopoly power. In short, what is sought is to protect competition to consumers’ benefits: more companies offer more products at lower prices, it is the reasoning. Title 15 of the United States Code outlines the role of the commerce and trade in the United States Code. Among the most notable laws is The Sherman Antitrust Act which can be found in: 15 U.S.C. ch. 1—Monopolies and Combinations in Restraint of Trade.

References

Galante (2003).The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): Brief Overview. Lehigh University Retrieved on 20th June, 2013 from http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/VirtualAmericana/chineseimmigrationact.html
Becker, A. (2004) The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). St. Olaf College. Retrieved on 20th June, 2013 from http://www.stolaf.edu/people/becker/antitrust/statutes/sherman.html#top

Assignment #6

Romanticism is a cultural and literary movement that took place in the first half of the nineteenth century, both in Europe and in America. This movement represents a total reaction; it was imposed by Neoclassicism reason, giving priority to feelings, emotions, fantasy and the ideal life. However, Realism emerged in Europe from 1850, when it was observed a progressive division between life and romantic mentality. It was generated a connection between reality and practicality of the bourgeoisie which conditioned the environment that will be seen with conformity or disagreement by the writers. Two important artistic movements were confronted and some of their literary features were exposed in a radical way, Romanticism and Realism in a drastic battle.

Firstly, the romantic mind is characterized by the desire for freedom, manifested in romantic man's struggle against absolutism rejecting the rules hitherto in force and desire to express freely. Secondly, it was observed an individualist romantic man who was showing a strong personality, for this reason he felt the center of the universe; Idealism is the engine of romantic man who seeks to fulfill unattainable desires which relate to the motherland, love or justice; and disappointment, caused by not being able to achieve those ideals into reality, causes evasion, and even suicide. Nonetheless, for realistic ideology, Liberalism prevailed as a political concept initiated by the Romantics, but it was possible to distinguish two aspects: moderate liberalism which was typical of the bourgeoisie; and progressive liberalism which was typical of most dynamic and restless sectors. Also, among the proletariat, which is emerging in parallel with industrialization, it was introduced revolutionary doctrines such as socialism, communism and anarchism.

In the field of literature, poetry is the genre that best suits romantic ideals. The first manifestations of romantic poetry are narrative, so collect legends, historical events and stories imagined by the author. The romantic drama is also very important because it pretended to touch the audiences with melodramatic stories about mystery. Besides, the protagonist appeared who is outside the law or does not accept the rules of society: the beggar, the pirate, the executioner, the Cossack, the defendant, etc. It began to use poetry with metrical forms, verse and prose, and there is a break in theater rules in the three units (time, place and action), the appreciation for the nightlife, scary, the emergence of a violent nature unleashed, related to the exalted romantic feeling.

Nevertheless, the novel was the literary genre cultivated by realist authors. It allowed them to speak accurately about complete parts of the life of their characters as well as recreate the spaces for which these were developing. In addition, it was developing a rigorous observation and reproduction of reality, a theme centered on daily life. It is often possible to read a critic with social or moral intention on the problems that reality presents. It began to see the objectivity as an ideal of the novelist, but sometimes it goes through judgments and personal observations. Moreover, it uses a sober prose, sometimes carefully, sometimes familiar. The dialogues are adapted to the characteristics of the character, and the use of indirect free style (a mixture of direct and indirect speech), this in order to reproduce the thoughts or feelings of the characters within the discourse of the narrator, so the reader is introduced into the heart of the characters.

As a conclusion, according to what was said by Carter (1954) cited by Campbell the basic axiom of the realistic view of morality was that there could be no moralizing in the novel. The morality of the realists was built upon what appears a paradox morality with an abhorrence of moralizing. Their ethical beliefs called, first of all, for a negative response of scheme of moral behavior imposed, from without, upon the characters of fiction and their actions. Nevertheless, Romanticism increased the achievements of what it perceived as heroic individualists and artists, whose pioneering examples would make higher society.






References:

CAMPBELL, D. (2013) "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Retrieved May 25, 2013 from http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). Realism (arts). Retrieved May 26, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)#cite_note-15

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). Romanticism. Retrieved May 26, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

Assignment #5

 

America has always been a nation of immigrants. The displacement of people from their place of origin to other places, areas or countries, immigration has existed as long as humans. These displacements or changes occur for many different reasons: foraging, settlement of new lands, forced relocation of slaves, exodus of ethnic or religious minorities harassed by violence, horror of wars, political causes and so on.

Many groups and individuals have migrated involuntarily. From the fifteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century, millions of Africans, often captured by other African peoples, were arrested, taken from their land and sold into slavery in distant countries. First were sent to Portugal and then to other European countries, it reaching east to as far away as India and west to the United States, South America.

The development of the Industrial Revolution gave origin to the greater migration process at the whole story but it is taking new forms: the rural exodus (The Great European Migration between 1800 and 1950) which involved thousands of millions of farmers around the world. It originated an uncontrolled and excessive growth of large cities. Besides, it is estimated that international migration will increase throughout the nineteenth century and these are one of the most reliable indicators of globalization of the world system. Additionally, the 49% of international migrants in 2005 were women, being also more numerous than men in developed countries.

Migratory movements generated a series of demographic, economic and sociological consequences, both in places of origin and destination. In places (countries, regions, cities) of origin, the most visible benefits are the financial contribution received by the families of migrants, the decline in unemployment by reducing the working age population (which is what usually migrate) and reducing social tensions. The negative consequences can be, among others, lack of balance which are produced in the demographic structure by reducing young people, both male and female (depending on country), and increased aging rate, the interest to invest in technology, education , health and basic infrastructure, and the rupture of the family in case of individual migrations.

On the other hand, in the places of destination, some of the most important positive consequences were: increasing young population and birth control, the contribution of manpower in order to sustain economic development, the social security income, and cultural enrichment. Negative effects include the social integration, conflicts, social tensions caused by xenophobic and racist attitudes; and the increased of illegal immigration.

During the nineteenth century until the Depression of the thirties of the twentieth century it was migrated more than 60 million Europeans. In a first immigrant’s wave, they departed for the United States and Canada European countries in central and northern Europe: UK, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway. In the last third of the nineteenth century Europeans were united (the southern and eastern Europe, particularly Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the Russian Empire). They expanded the immigration space also covering central and South America: mainly Argentina and Brazil.

The beginnings of industrialization in North America, a continent practically uninhabited, offered multiple investment opportunities and working to the people of central and northern Europe, primarily affected by the processes of industrialization. When at the end of the century South America was integrated into the international trading system, specializing in the export of agricultural products, the job offer was extended and brought to the people of southern Europe, which at that time began the process of modernization economic.

Assignment #4 (quiz)

ROMANTICISM PERIOD

Romantics was a philosophical and artistic movement with profound social implications that developed primarily in European and American literatures according to their linguistic, cultural and historical variables. The beginning and ending dates for this literary period are flexible. Moreover, the Romantic period covers the period between Jacksonian democracy to the end of the Civil War. Romanticism emerged in Western Europe in the late eighteenth century at variance with the hegemony of instrumental reason of the Enlightenment and is depleted by 1850 challenged by the new aesthetic of realism. This was a period of significant westward expansion, as well as one of significant political turmoil, particularly as the conflict over slavery came to a boil. The founder of literary Romanticism was the German philosopher Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), who proposed the infinity of personal feeling, nontransferable and often incommunicable, as the space where poetry is forged: evolutionary phenomenon, always unfinished, as opposed to the model neoclassical. This was raised in the inaugural text of Romanticism in 1798, published in the journal Athenaeum. Besides Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered to be a founding writer and philosopher within the American Romantic Movement, Emerson is possibly best known for his essays, from which emerge the grounding notions of Transcendentalism. 

This period was the first major explosion of a distinctly American body of literature; for this reason, this period is also referred to as the American Renaissance. Schlegel F. (1799-1800) in his work called Dialogue on Poetry and Literary Aphorisms, proposed “through artists mankind becomes an individual, in that they unite the past and the future in the present. They are the higher organ of the soul, where the life spirits of entire external mankind meet and in which inner mankind first acts”. From another point of view, it is a cultural revolution, the expression of the sensitivity of a new society in the growing conflict between the rising bourgeoisie and the emergence of new subjects and classes, as the proletariat. Utopian socialism is romantic connection. Sometimes, it is also an alarm reaction against modern scientism and industrialism as seen in the novel Frankenstein (1818) by English writer Mary Shelley. 

Romanticism is irrelevant to the forms, dynamic and historicism, but also providential and traditionalist. For all this, without losing sight of the universal, defends local and national differences, highlighting the genius individually or in the specific provisions of peoples. The literary forms were grown by the Romantic poetry, drama, without respecting the classical unities-the historical novel, diary, memories, confessions and travel writing. Even though many writers attacked romanticism Schlegel (1797) proposed in one of his works that poetry can be criticized only through poetry. A critique which itself is not a work of art, either in content as representation of the necessary impression in the process of creation, or through its attractive form and in its liberal tone in the spirit of the old Roman satire, has no right of citizenship in the realm of art. 

Readership augmented significantly and the 1850s saw a number of immensely popular novels. An example of the writers who increase their number of readers was Edgar Allan Poe, who developed fiercely original work, refining the short story genre, establishing detective fiction, and prefiguring the genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Poe’s work often explores questions of human being psychology, but can certainly be read to gesture to a sort of cultural psyche, a particular American unconscious. Romanticism emphasizes the whole thing that was not seen before such as feelings and emotions, so now the heart governs over the head; natural places began to be a point of inspiration for both poems and paintings, the supernatural began to have their space and mode of expression. No other period in English literature displays more diversity in style, theme, and content than the Romantic

Finally, the disagreement with the world is at the core of Romanticism. The romantic is an eternal discontent channel. Also, as the Romantics did not accept a world ordered according to the laws of reason and science, refused to accept his moral standards. The heroes of romantic literature are rebellious men who aspire to absolute moral freedom. The literature extols the bandits, pirates, prisoners, beggars, prostitutes, living on the margins of society and its laws. For this reasons I do not feel identified with this literary movement

REFERENCES

MyLiteratureLab Pearson (1995-2010) Romantic Period. Retrived May 28, 2013 from http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/pcp_mylitlab_1_master/37/9657/2472208. cw/index.html

SCHLEGEL F. (1968) Dialogue on Poetry and Literary Aphorisms. Pennsylvania University Press. (p. 64)

ASSIGNMENT #3

Romantic Period was an artistic and literary movement which was originated in Europe in the late eighteenth century. The Romantic Period in English literature is taken to begin with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge`s Lyrical Ballads and end with the novelist Sir Walter Scott's death. Even though the works of J.J. Rousseau and W. Godwin had great influence, the French Revolution and its consequences had the strongest impact of all. This started as a revolt against social and political norms of the time, so it was associated with liberalism and radicalism. Also it had a great impact in different areas such as music (one of the earliest important applications of the term to music occurs in 1789, in the Mémoires of André Grétry), visual arts (used to refer loosely to a trend that appears at any time) and literature (this movement was started by the publication in 1798 of Lyrical Ballads, with many of the finest poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge).

On the other hand, it is necessary to understand the meaning of romanticism and from which comes the word. It is possible to rely on the statement given by Cuddon J. (1991) who says “A roman or romant came to be known as an imaginative work and a 'courtly romance'. The terms also signified a 'popular book'”; while Whitney (2000) added:

The word romantic (ism) has a complex and interesting history. In the Middle Ages 'romance' denoted the new vernacular languages derived from Latin - in contradistinction to Latin itself, which was the language of  learning. Enromancier, romancar, romanz meant to compose or translate books in the vernacular. The work produced was then called romanz, roman, romanzo and romance.

Romanticism emphasizes everything that was not seen before such as feelings and emotions, so now the heart governs over the mind; natural places began to be a point of inspiration for both poems and paintings, the supernatural began to have their space and mode of expression. No other period in English literature displays more diversity in style, theme, and content than the Romantic Movement. The German poet Friedrich Schlegel, who is given credit for first using the term romantic to describe literature, defined it as "literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form."

Nevertheless, the Romantic period’s aims are related with art, not beauty but the expression and feelings which can open wider horizons. It has, in fact, been defined in so many different ways. In addition, the right to individual and collective freedom is developed; this is subjective, expressing deepest feelings. Besides, the romanticism seeks to break the classic rules. Just the novel is based on objectivity, and it seeks to reproduce life accurately, so it is immersed in the environment and society.  Romantic works are characterized by a mix of genres, the combination of verse and prose, and the use of different metrical structures in the same poem. Literary genres in the romanticism are: poetry, fiction, prose and drama.

Therefore, poetry is a literary genre considered as a manifestation of beauty or artistic feeling through words using verse or prose (prose is opposed to verse because it has no metrical rhythm, or repetition, and rhyme). Often, term poetry is used as synonymous with lyrical, although from a historical point of view it is a subgenre of poetry.  Moreover, It is called fiction to reality simulation that perform literary and cinematographic works while the drama is a word that comes from Greek and means to act; it is divided into realistic and unrealistic genres without forgetting that it is also called drama to the work that includes certain elements, especially when you have a terrible, tragic and catastrophic end.

Finally, it is possible to mention some examples of romantic English poets are William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats; and some American poets are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman. Besides, there are Romantic essayists such as Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, and Thomas De Quincey.

References:

Whitney E. (2000). What is Romanticism? Retrieved May 18, 2013 from http://www.uh.edu/engines/romanticism/introduction.html.  University of Houston

CUDDON J. (1991) The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Third Edition. London: Penguin Books

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). Romanticism. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

ASSIGNMENT #2

Colonial literature was developed in America in the colonial times, that is, in the post-Conquest, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. In general, writers took the literary patterns existing in Europe at the time, and most of them were adapted to the local vocabulary because the dominance of the English language was hardly predictable. 

The writings of the colonial period are very important because they are the first step in literature of that period. It would not be fair to talk about bad writing by the quality or items containing in the books, because men probably had more important work to do before making or writing books. It must be taken into account, when the English people came to America were faced with extreme and a little exciting conditions for them. In fact, they were faced with unknowns things like flora, fauna, Indians, and in general to a new world that opened the doors to its culture. Probably, it was this kind of thing which stimulated their intellectual power and motivated them to write and tell to the world about their experiences.

Furthermore, America began its history around 1607 when a group of English sailors travelled to an unknown land and landing in a city which is now known as Virginia, at that time called Jamestown. At first, these trips were inspired by Spanish settlers who had found gold in South America, so the Englishmen thought that with this trip they would have the opportunity to get rich. 

However, they had a big disappointment because gold was not found there and they just came to a hostile environment that discouraged them but John Smith was who changed that idea and so everyone could be saved from devastating famine. Then, around 1619 the Africans, who were mostly slaves, travelled in inadequate and extreme conditions, but in order to look for a better quality of life they decided to accept those trips and they came to America. 

Besides, in 1620 a ship called Mayflower transported 102 English Pilgrims from England to America. They decided to renounce to the Church of England and they came with a different point of view, they kept in mind an special mission, they were called Puritans; this group of men and women were headed by William Bradford. In addition, in the ship mentioned before, it was signed an agreement on November 11, it was called The Mayflower Compact. It was a social agreement in which the settlers at New Plymouth followed the rules stipulated there and it regulated everything for the sake of survival. 

On the other hand, since the establishment of Jamestown American culture has been heavily influenced by English culture. A good example is the literature. In 1700 the output of English literature took an important role, which was developed gradually. The early writings were mostly religious texts, and even produced some of Puritan literature. 

Finally, it is important to mention that "The state of American literature in 1700, consisting of only about 250 published works, reflects the pressing religious, security, and cultural concerns of colonial life. Printing presses operated in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Annapolis, and colonists could also acquire works published in England". (Ramirez, B.). The first American author was Captain John Smith with his works: A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Noate as Hath Happened in Virginia (1608) and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Some examples of works in colonial period are: John Winthrop made the first entry in his Journal on board the ship Arbella (on March 29, 1630), Bay Psalm Book (1640), Journal called "History of Plymouth Plantation" (1620-47), Wonder-Working Providence (1654),), Day of Doom (1662), Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), History of the Dividing Line run in the Year (1728), etc. 

References:

Canada, M. (2001). Colonial America: 1607 – 1783. Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/index.htm 

·   W.W Norton & Company (2007) Overview: Beginning to 1700. Retrieved April 12, 2013 from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/naal7/contents/A/welcome.asp#1

   Ramirez, B. (unknown). American Literature: Beginning to 1700. Article to Cultura Estadounidense a través de la literatura. Católica del Maule University: Chile.

·   Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). American Literature. Retrieved April 13, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_literature

ASSIGNMENT #1

Literature like any of the arts is a personal reflection of a society. It helps to understand or know social ideas, emotional status, or just the point of view of the people. In my opinion, it is an internal voice produced by the thought processes around it. Also, I believe that there different kind of writers who are able to capture or create stories and they reach deeply into the human spirit in order to develop wonderful books.


In this course I would like to know more about American culture and literature. It is difficult to capture all the ideas, but I will make the effort to learn, know and internalize everything that happened in this important moment in history. When I read the syllabus I could realize how important elements make up this part of the story and how each of them takes a key role as the course progresses.


Honestly, last year when I heard about literature, it was not very nice but over time I began to realize that when you know the literature from the deepest this is a beautiful thing to learn.


Since I have 6 years I have read different kinds of books, novels, cartoons, fables, stories, etc. As time passed, I understood the real meaning to read and how much the books could teach and guide me in my growth process. At school, I had to read books every month and more than a pleasure, it became boring and tedious. Despite, when I was young I started reading interesting books for my age which drew me many lessons but when I finished my high school I did not read again until now.


During this time I have developed an enjoyment for literature, especially romance novels, being one of my favorite Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen. She was a British writer who was a pioneer of the genre, romance novels. In broad terms, this is a literary genre and its primary focus is on relationships between two people who are in love. Besides, happy endings are the most expected and desired.


The stories transfer me to a parallel world where everything is possible. They make me feel like I am escaping from my life into a world, where everything works out in the end, with happy and fantastic results. It seems like I could leave for a moment this earthly world that goes beyond dream things. However, these kinds of stories have a plot, characters, context, etc. like any book that will be developed through different situations. In addition, these novels help me to believe that a better world is possible if we fight for.


These recent years, I think I have developed a very positive thinking about literature. I am an optimistic and hopeful person who believes that writers of every generation will bring their own gifts, thoughts and ideas to the world through literature.