Introduction to American Literature
Walt Whitman’s famous question- what exactly is a thousand acres- began this lecture. Reckoning a thousand acres was likened to exploring American Literature or any literature. What do we do with literature, for instance; contextually, what is America? What is its issue with identity? America is a land or rediscovery and of lies simultaneously. It is imposing and with a multiplicity of terrain (multiplicity means varied and multi-faced; it was diverse and tricky) and at any point in its history the POV of the pilgrims and the motives must be considered. For the Pilgrims, America was a strange and dangerous virgin land. They were migrating, not on holiday. The early settlers had no intention of political or military invasion. There are tales told of the attacks on their covered wagons, by the ‘Indians’ whose superior horses could take them into their paths in the mountains- at a vantage point. The Native Americans were wary of the settlers. They thought the white man dangero...