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Файл:History of the USA Literature. Study aid
.pdf
E.V. Chelpanova, M.A. Kurochkina,
F.K. Zakirova
HISTORY OF THE USA
LITERATURE
Study aid
Moscow
IPR MEDIA
2026
UDC 82.0
BBK 81.432.1
C50
Authors:
Chelpanova E.V. — Candidate of Pedagogy, Associate Professor,
South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University;
Kurochkina M.A. — Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor,
South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University;
Zakirova F.K. — Senior Teacher,
South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University
Reviewer:
Kushneruk S.L. — Doctor of Philology, Professor,
Chelyabinsk State University
Chelpanova, Elena Vladimirovna.
C50 History of the USA Literature : study aid / E.V. Chelpanova,
M.A. Kurochkina, F.K. Zakirova. — Moscow : IPR MEDIA, 2026. —
217 p. — Text: digital.
ISBN 978-5-4497-5116-4
The study aid consists of a lecture course offering theoretical material on the history of
literature in the United States, and a practical part including excerpts from works of fiction
and tasks for literary analysis of the text. The purpose of this study aid is to acquaint English
language learners with the chronology of the literary process, with the main trends of literary
thought, with the distinctive features and characteristics of each literary period, with original
works of fiction by outstanding English-speaking writers and poets, with elements of literary
analysis of fiction.
The study aid has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Federal
State Educational Standard of Higher Education and assures the acquisition of a set of
competencies provided by the disciplines “History of Literature of the USA”, “Literature of
Great Britain and the USA”, “Literature of the countries of the studied language”.
The texts are selected and arranged in a sequence corresponding to the theoretical
material. Each work in prose or verse is accompanied by tasks, the performance of which
will provide a deeper understanding of what is stated and the possibility of analysis at the
level of text, context and subtext. The study aid is intended for bachelors of the Faculty of
foreign Languages studying in the direction “Pedagogical education”, profiles “English.
Foreign language”, “German. English” and “French. English”, as well as in the direction of
“Linguistics”, the profile focus “Translation and translation studies”.
Educational digital edition
ISBN 978-5-4497-5116-4 © Chelpanova E.V., Kurochkina M.A.,
Zakirova F.K., 2026
© Original layout, design.
LLC Company “IPR MEDIA”, 2026
Educational publication
Chelpanova Elena Vladimirovna
Kurochkina Maria Anatolyevna
Zakirova Flura Karimovna
Еditor M.V. Leman
Technical editor A.D. Talmayeva
Cover by Ya.A. Kirsanov, S.S. Siziumova, photo bank Freepik
Signed for use 17.12.2025. Data volume 7 Mb
LLC Company «IPR MEDIA»
8 800 555 22 35 (toll-free in Russia)
E-mail: sales@iprmedia.ru
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 8
PART I. THE BEGINNING OF NATIONAL LITERATURE
IN AMERICA .................................................................................................... 10
1.1. American literary periods ............................................................................. 10
1.2. National peculiarities of American literature ............................................... 11
1.3. Indian contribution to American literature ................................................... 13
1.4. The Historical background of the Colonial Period ...................................... 14
1.5. The Colonial Period in American Literature ................................................ 16
1.6. The Enlightenment / the Age of Reason /
the Revolutionary Age ......................................................................................... 17
PART II. ROMANTICISM .............................................................................. 22
2.1. Roots and features of romanticism in literature ........................................... 22
2.2. The Early Romantic Period .......................................................................... 24
2.3. The Late Romantic Period. Transcendentalism ........................................... 28
2.4. Romantic poetry. H.W. Longfellow, W. Whitman ...................................... 36
PART III. AMERICAN LITERATURE OF THE SECOND HALF
OF THE XIX CENTURY AND THE BEGINNING
OF THE XX CENTURY. REALISM .............................................................. 40
3.1. The historical background of realism ........................................................... 40
3.2. Realism and its features ................................................................................ 41
3.3. Psychological realism and Henry James ...................................................... 41
3.4. Regionalism (local colorists) ........................................................................ 43
3.5. The Naturalist Period .................................................................................... 46
PART IV. AMERICAN LITERATURE OF THE FIRST HALF
OF THE XX CENTURY. MODERNISM ...................................................... 52
4.1. The historical background of modernism..................................................... 52
4.2. The Lost generation ...................................................................................... 53
4.3. Modernism and its main features ................................................................. 57
4.4. Novels of social awareness,
literature of the Great Depression period ............................................................ 61
5
4.5. Mythological and symbolic methods.
Symbolism of “Grapes of Wrath” ....................................................................... 65
4.6. The world of politics and the concept
of the past in literature ......................................................................................... 67
4.7. New satire ..................................................................................................... 71
PART V. CONTEMPORARY PERIOD. POSTMODERNISM .................. 73
5.1. The historical background of postmodernism .............................................. 73
5.2. Postmodernism and its main features ........................................................... 73
5.3. Black Humour. ............................................................................................. 74
5.4. Joseph Heller’s anti-war novel “Catch-22” .................................................. 75
5.5. Post modernistic features in Kurt Vonnegut’s works .................................. 80
5.6. New tendencies: Thomas Pynchon. John Barth. John Updike .................... 84
5.7. The Beat Generation ..................................................................................... 87
PART VI. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHORT STORY
AS A GENRE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE ............................................ 89
6.1. A brief overview of the short story
as a genre in American literature ......................................................................... 89
6.2. Satirical tradition in American short stories.
Mark Twain ......................................................................................................... 92
6.3. O. Henry ....................................................................................................... 95
6.4. Dorothy Parker ............................................................................................. 97
6.5. Ring Lardner ............................................................................................... 100
6.6. William Saroyan ......................................................................................... 101
6.7. Ernest Hemingway ..................................................................................... 103
6.8. Flannery O’Connor ..................................................................................... 104
6.9. Catherine Ann Porter .................................................................................. 106
6.10. Isaac Asimov ............................................................................................ 107
PART VII. UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS
IN AMERICAN LITERATURE .................................................................... 111
PART VIII. AMERICAN DRAMA ............................................................... 115
8.1. Pre-war American Drama. Eugene O’Neill’s Expressionism .................... 116
8.2. Post-war American Drama. Existentialism and Naturalism
in Tennessee Williams’ plays ............................................................................ 118
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8.3. Tragic Elements in Arthur Miller’s plays .................................................. 119
8.4. Absurdism and Edward Albee .................................................................... 122
PART IX. AMERICAN POETRY ................................................................ 124
9.1. Thomas Stearns Eliot .................................................................................. 124
9.2. Robert Lee Frost ......................................................................................... 124
9.3. Sylvia Plath ................................................................................................. 125
9.4. Allen Ginsberg............................................................................................ 126
PART X. MULTICULTURAL ELEMENTS
IN AMERICAN LITERATURE .................................................................... 128
10.1. Jewish roots .............................................................................................. 128
10.2. Afro-American Literature......................................................................... 131
PART XI. EXTRACTS FOR READING,
TRANSLATION AND DISCUSSION .......................................................... 133
11.1. Washington Irving. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (extract) .................... 133
11.2. Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart (extract) ....................................... 136
11.3. Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter (extract) ................................... 140
11.4. Walt Whitman. O Captain! My Captain! ................................................. 143
11.5. Henry Longfellow. Psalm of Life ............................................................. 144
11.6. Herman Melville. Moby Dick (extract) .................................................... 146
11.7. Mark Twain. The Celebrated Jumping Frog
from Calaveras County ..................................................................................... 149
11.8. Bret Harte. The Luck of Roaring Camp.................................................... 153
11.9. Henry James. The Turn of the Screw (extract) ......................................... 156
11.10. John Steinbeck. Grapes of Wrath (extract) ............................................ 159
11.11. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms (extracts) ............................... 162
11.12. F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby (extracts) ................................... 167
11.13. Kurt Vonnegut. 2BRO2B ........................................................................ 172
11.14. Donald Barthelme. Some of Us Had Been
Threatening Our Friend Colby ........................................................................ 176
11.15. Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman (extract) ........................................ 180
11.16. Jack London. Martin Eden. Chapter 1 (еxtract) .................................... 183
11.17. Jack London. The Call of the Wild. Chapter 5 (еxtract) ........................ 185
11.18. Arthur Hailey. Airport (extracts)…. ....................................................... 187
11.19. Ray Bradbury. Here There Be Tygers (extracts) .................................... 190
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PART XII. TASKS FOR SEMINARS .......................................................... 194
12.1. Questions for oral survey ......................................................................... 194
12.2. Recommendations for a literary diary ...................................................... 202
12.3. Written questionnaire ............................................................................... 202
12.4. Topics for the essay .................................................................................. 203
12.5. Sample tasks for the final test .................................................................. 205
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 213
SOURCES ........................................................................................................ 214
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INTRODUCTION
The textbook " History of the USA Literature" is intended for students of the
Faculty of Foreign Languages who are studying in the field of Pedagogical
Education, with the profiles of "English Language. Foreign Language", "German
Language. English Language", and "French Language. English Language", as well as
in the field of Linguistics, with the profile of "Translation and Translation Studies".
The publication is a teaching and methodological support for conducting seminars
and practical classes in the following disciplines: "History of American Literature",
"Literature of Great Britain and the United States", "Literature of the Countries of the
Target Language", as well as for independent work by students. To achieve this goal,
the following tasks must be completed:
– to familiarize students with the stages of the formation and development of
American literature, as well as with the representatives of these stages;
– to develop students' abilities to identify general patterns of the historical
development of American literature; to identify the main literary trends and genres; to
analyze the ideological, social, and personal issues raised in literary works;
– to form students' skills in evaluating historical and cultural facts reflected in
literary works; in interpreting the ideological, genre-stylistic, and content of literary
works.
Applying knowledge about the history of literature in the country of the target
language, the main artistic systems of the main literary trends, the skills of a
comprehensive analysis of a literary work, understanding the author's position, and
perceiving the holistic aesthetic meaning of a text will help students in their future
scientific and professional activities.
The textbook has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the
Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education and reflects the required
competencies.
The publication consists of twelve sections based on the lecture course and
assignments for practical classes.
The content of the textbook is a preparation material for the exam in the
discipline "History of USA Literature" and the credit in the discipline "Literature of
Great Britain and the USA". During the preparation for seminars, independent work
plays an important role, which includes working with dictionaries and encyclopedias,
searching for and selecting material for reports and presentations, preparing problemsolving questions, listening to audio recordings, and watching videos.
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The publication contributes to achieving the required results of mastering the
disciplines "History of American Literature" and "Literature of Great Britain and the
United States": the student is able to correctly and fully analyze and summarize
information about the literary process in the countries of the target language, and has
a good command of oral and written communication. The student knows and can use
the main ways of expressing semantic, communicative, and structural continuity
between parts of an utterance, such as the compositional elements of a text
(introduction, main part, and conclusion), superphrasal units, and sentences. The
student is able to express their thoughts freely about the phenomena of the national
literature of the USA, using a variety of language means adequately in order to
highlight relevant information.
The textbook presented to your attention can be successfully used by students
of non-linguistic faculties, as well as a wide range of people who are learning English
by themselves.
10
PART I. THE BEGINNING OF NATIONAL LITERATURE
IN AMERICA
1.1. AMERICAN LITERARY PERIODS
American literature is traditionally classified into periods. Here is a general
guide to the major ones.
The Colonial Period (1607–1775)
It was the period of colonization of the North American continent. This period
starts with founding the first English settlement called Jamestown in 1607 and
continues up to the Revolutionary War in 1775. The majority of writings were
historical, practical, or religious in nature. Some writers from this period
include Captain John Smith, William Bradford, and Roger Williams.
The Enlightenment. The Revolutionary Age (1765–1790)
Beginning a decade before the Revolutionary War and ending about 25 years
later, this period includes the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and
Thomas Paine. This is the richest period of political writing. Important works include
“The Declaration of Independence,” Benjamin Franklin’s “Autobiography” and
“Poor Richard’s Almanac”.
Romanticism
The Early Romantic Period (1775–1828)
Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe created
distinctly American fiction.
The Late Romantic Period (The American Renaissance) (1828–1865)
Also known as the Age of Transcendentalism, this period is commonly
accepted to be the greatest of American Literature. Major writers include Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and
Harriet Beecher Stowe. Other major contributions include the poetry of Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow and Walt Whitman.
Realism (1865–1914)
Realism had a number of sub movements, such as regionalism (also called
local colour writing, represented by Mark Twain and Bret Harte), psychological
realism (Henry James), naturalism (which can be seen in the works by Frank Norris,
Theodore Dreiser and Jack London), muckraking novels (Frank Norris, Upton
Sinclair)
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