Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
1. American literature since the civil war enhanced my ability for critical thinking by
allowing me to understand the cause and reasons behind it. American literature did this
by giving me background information in order to understand the civil war. The story
“Editha” by William Dean Howells is an example of how the literature enhanced my
critical thinking. Editha is the main character, she is viewed as a pro-war individual and
her husband is viewed as an anti-war individual. The authors representation of each
character lets the reader know that he is against the idea of war. Editha is symbolized as
American, and her husband George is symbolized as the men who felt like they were
obligated to fight in war even though they were scared.
2. The use of language is a major factor within literature during this time of the civil war.
Language represents word choice, dialect and dialogue, connotation etc. “the tradgedy
of puddn’head Wilson” by Mark Twain gives good examples of this. Roxana is one of the
main characters in his slave story. Her dialogue is a good representation of language
because she had the accent of a Southerner. This helped the reader picture a setting in
the story since it took place in Missouri and slavery was accruing. Her grammer was also
broken up so the reader gets an understanding of how the slaves where mistreated by
their slave owners and how uneducated they were. This impacted my own writing and
communication skills because it allowed me paint a better picture when im writing and
create imagery by my choice of language. It helped my communication skills by allowing
me to articulate what I am trying to say better in a conversation.
3. American literature since the civil war led me to rethink my own sense of personal
responsibility by giving me the opportunity to see how important writing can be and the
impact that it can have. Their writings during this time displayed their viewpoints and
opinions on certain topics such as slavery, racism, women’s rights and the idea of war.
The story “I am joaquin” shows an example of personal responsibility. The speaker of
the poem made it his personal responsibility and duty to take back from the Europeans
what was rightfully his and that of his people. That was their culture and their history
which they had been robbed of.
