- This semester you have read twenty American short stories written over about two hundred years. Having done so, describe what you see as the primary trends in the evolution of this literary form. That is, attempt to explain how the American short story has changed from the time of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne until now.
Like some other things in society, literature has revolutionized through different periods. During this period, the authors applied distinct styles in their literary presentations. The various methods include neoclassicism, nationalism, American romanticism, American transcendentalism, realism modernism, and many others. Between the years 1660- 1798, literature experienced neoclassical movement that was based on satire, classical ideal, and uncertainty. The authors of this period were Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. During this time, the irony was used to entertain people and caution them against certain behaviors in the community. As a result, the essay explores the changes in the American short story since the time of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne until now.
First of all, unlike the previous literary movements, the 20th-century American authors modified and extended the short story evolution to express controversial and subversive ideas without endangering their reputation in the literature market and without isolating the readers. Both Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne have spanned the American literary tradition. The two of the earliest American short stories include Hawthorne’s The Legends of the Prince-House and Washington Irving’s The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The short narrative evolution structure allows Hawthorne and Irving to simultaneously acknowledge Britain as America’s influential predecessor and express the intentions of the original colonies to establish themselves as a nation (page NINE). Due to too much scorn that the Americans were experiencing in the 1800s, Irving decided to venture into short story writing to change the attitude on the American writers from both sides of Atlantic by creating short stories that would impress everyone.
On the other hand, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Legends of the Province-House combined four of his stories that provide insight into his accurate perception of conflict through which America gained liberation. Besides, the use of the word “Legend” portrays the author’s relationship to fiction and facts. Therefore, both Irving and Hawthorne derived their works from the British literary worked.
During the period between 1830 and 1870, romantic movements emerged. Romantics adopted different thinking that values the individual over a group, personal instead of objective, and explored an individual’s emotional experience over reason. Besides, the movement also values the desolation of nature over human-made demand.
Romanticism as a worldview took hold in western Europe in the late 18th century, and American writers embraced it in the early 19th century.
By contrasting two stories written in the last sixty years (since 1950), attempt to convey the range and scope of the modern American short story. Proceed like this: choose two stories that you see as very different from one another; then explain these differences in terms of (a) subject, (b) writing style, or voice (c) technique (the author’s manipulation of point of view and time), and (d) plot.
Neoclassicism(1660 to 1798)
The neoclassical movement in literature was based on classical ideal, skepticism and satire. Noted authors during this movement include Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift.