American Literature

Edwin Arlington Robinson- father/mother/ 2 brothers died. Love of life married brother. Never Married. Wanted to be poet since age 11 and chose to live in poverty. Wrote traditional poems. Old-fashioned but deals with modern problems. Philosophy: Behind “the peaceful and genteel communities of small-town America” lies a substrata of failure, “loneliness, and terror.” Conflict with light and dark with the individual. Major Works; The Children of the Night, The Man Against the Sky, and The Man Who Died Twice. Quotes; I finally realized I was doomed, or elected, or sentenced to life, to the writing of poetry… I kept the grisly secret to myself. ; “The world is a hell of a place, but the universe is a fine thing.” ; “The world is not a prison house but a kind of spiritual kindergarten… ; “There are two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.” ; “Poetry is a language that tells us through a more or less emotional reaction, something that cannot be said.” RICHARD CORY
Miniver Cheevy, Mr. Flood’s Party, Dear Friends, Cliff Kingenhagen, How Annandale Went Out, Haunted House

Willa Cather- Nebraska, blend of romanticism, realism, and naturalism. Landscapes are important to her. Her characters often lose their culture when they move but is balanced by gaining courage independence. Etc. Philosophy; women’s roles, awareness of culture, admiration of courage. Major Works; My Antonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop, O Pioneers, One of Ours, The Professor’s House, The Song of the Lark. Quotes; “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” ; “Where there is great love there is always miracles.” ; “There are some things you learn best in calm and some in storm.” ; “I like trees….” ; “I shall not die of a cold” ; “Only solitary men known the full” ; “Sometimes a neighbor whom we have” ; “The fact that I was a girl never damaged” ; “The heart of another is a dark forest” ; “The stupid