Martin Eden and the Education of Henry Adams

2006-04

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Author: James Burrill Angell
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595390579
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 83

This volume argues that Jack London's Martin Eden and Henry Adams' The Education of Henry Adams are two of the first works in American literature to embody the motif of existentialism. The development of the existential dilemma in each work will be supported through references to earlier European existentialist writers, with Nietzsche as a focal point. The 19th century fin de siècle was a time of tremendous change, both materially and philosophically. The dawn of the last century was a time of great wealth and imperialistic expansion for Western civilization, but also a time in which the seeds were sown for later military conflict; the enormity of which the world had never witnessed before. From the vantage point of the post-World War years, the materialism of the fin de siècle was a decorative façade that concealed from view the underlying reality of the human abyss. The outbreak of the First World War changed all of that, and the two works examined here anticipated that change. Henry James described the underlying reality of the fin de siècle when he remarked: "To have to take it all now for what the treacherous years were all the while making for and meaning is too tragic for any words." Henry Adams and Jack London mirror this sentiment in their respective works by depicting the philosophical turbulence of the 19th century fin de siècle.

Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Industry Development (HACID 2024)

2024

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Author: Zhong Chen
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 2384762818
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 367

The Education of Henry Adams

2022-10-04T17:27:17Z

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Author: Henry Adams
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 562

One of the most well-known and influential autobiographies ever written, The Education of Henry Adams is told in the third person, as if its author were watching his own life unwind. It begins with his early life in Quincy, the family seat outside of Boston, and soon moves on to primary school, Harvard College, and beyond. He learns about the unpredictability of politics from statesmen and diplomats, and the newest discoveries in technology, science, history, and art from some of the most important thinkers and creators of the day. In essentially every case, Adams claims, his education and upbringing let him down, leaving him in the dark. But as the historian David S. Brown puts it, this is a “charade”: The Education’s “greatest irony is its claim to telling the story of its author’s ignorance, confusion, and misdirection.” Instead, Adams uses its “vigorous prose and confident assertions” to attack “the West after 1400.” For instance, industrialization and technology make Adams wonder “whether the American people knew where they were driving.” And in one famous chapter, “The Dynamo and the Virgin,” he contrasts the rise of electricity and the power it brings with the strength and resilience of religious belief in the Middle Ages. The grandson and great-grandson of two presidents and the son of a politician and diplomat who served under Lincoln as minister to Great Britain, Adams was born into immense privilege, as he knew well: “Probably no child, born in the year, held better cards than he.” After growing up a Boston Brahmin, he worked as a journalist, historian, and professor, moving in early middle age to Washington. Although Adams distributed a privately printed edition of a hundred copies of The Education for friends and family in 1907, it wasn’t published more widely until 1918, the year he died. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1919, and in 1999 a Modern Library panel placed it first on its list of the best nonfiction books published in the twentieth century. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Martin Eden

1915

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Author: Jack London
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Authors
Languages : en
Pages : 428

A Preface to Colonial American Poetry

2005-02

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Author: Wisam Abdul Jabbar
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595343287
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 266

A Preface to Colonial American Poetry is a practical source for anyone interested in American literature. Encyclopedic and groundbreaking, A Preface to Colonial American Poetry presents a critical, analytical survey of Colonial American poetry within the context of American literature in general. In clear and easy to understand language, the book chronicles significant events from the arrival of the first emigrants at the Jamestown colony to the Declaration of Independence. The poetry of New England, Middle and South colonies is discussed with its fascinating interplay of diverse influences. The early settlers had already burned most of their bridges to the traditional culture behind them when they sailed for America and yet their writers kept looking back for inspiration. Author Wisam Khalid brings his modest experience with foreign students to the formation of this book to help international students better understand American history and literature in terms of discovery, foundation, periods and pioneers. Author Wisam Khalid has tailored this book to fit the needs of not only foreign seekers but also native undergraduates who will find interesting comparative insights into American and English poetry.

A Companion to American Literature

2020-04-02

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Author: Susan Belasco
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119653347
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 4743

A comprehensive, chronological overview of American literature in three scholarly and authoritative volumes A Companion to American Literature traces the history and development of American literature from its early origins in Native American oral tradition to 21st century digital literature. This comprehensive three-volume set brings together contributions from a diverse international team of accomplished young scholars and established figures in the field. Contributors explore a broad range of topics in historical, cultural, political, geographic, and technological contexts, engaging the work of both well-known and non-canonical writers of every period. Volume One is an inclusive and geographically expansive examination of early American literature, applying a range of cultural and historical approaches and theoretical models to a dramatically expanded canon of texts. Volume Two covers American literature between 1820 and 1914, focusing on the development of print culture and the literary marketplace, the emergence of various literary movements, and the impact of social and historical events on writers and writings of the period. Spanning the 20th and early 21st centuries, Volume Three studies traditional areas of American literature as well as the literature from previously marginalized groups and contemporary writers often overlooked by scholars. This inclusive and comprehensive study of American literature: Examines the influences of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and disability on American literature Discusses the role of technology in book production and circulation, the rise of literacy, and changing reading practices and literary forms Explores a wide range of writings in multiple genres, including novels, short stories, dramas, and a variety of poetic forms, as well as autobiographies, essays, lectures, diaries, journals, letters, sermons, histories, and graphic narratives. Provides a thematic index that groups chapters by contexts and illustrates their links across different traditional chronological boundaries A Companion to American Literature is a valuable resource for students coming to the subject for the first time or preparing for field examinations, instructors in American literature courses, and scholars with more specialized interests in specific authors, genres, movements, or periods.