Literary Canon Research Paper

The literary canon, a historical body of masterpieces and classics, is considered the best of the best; literary works that withstood the test of time. Many of the authors whose works have been included in the canon are white males like William Shakespeare and Mark Twain. The general exclusion of women and other races often means the merit of their works are overlooked and dismissed.

Because of the different views of the time, one would expect a variety of opinions reflected in the writing of the time, however because the canon is primarily white males it is limited to a small portion of the population. The rest of the population ”women, blacks, Hispanics, those of Oriental descent and other ”are excluded and their opinions are often overlooked.