Title: Themes of American Literature
1Themes of American Literature
- American Identity
- Individualism and the American Dream
- Portrayal of Nature
- Religion and morality
2The American Identity
What is an American? When did the colonists
become American? Does a distinct American culture
exist?
3Individualism and the American Dream
Individualism is the belief that a single person
has control of his (or her) own fate.What is the
American dream? Money? Freedom?
4Portrayal of Nature
Imagine the wilderness here in America when the
first Europeans came. Is nature a source of
wealth or a source of spirituality? Is nature
innately good or innately evil?
5Religion and Morality
From the Puritans city on a hill and the
Enlightenment idea of human perfectibility to
William Bennetts Book of Virtues, religion has
always been at the forefront of American
dialogue.