American Literature EXTRA BACKGROUND READINGS

An Australian view on Understanding America (references Winthrop)

Concord MA homepage with links and information about Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne

A selection of Fanny Fern's articles, including her first one

19th Century American poets to compare to Whitman and Dickinson

More from Puddn'head Wilson's calendar

interesting information on the popularity of Pudd'nhead's calendar for Twain's readers

University of Virginia website discussing Pudd'nhead Wilson

The Muckrakers (Tarbell, Adams, Steffens, Sinclair, Adams and Riis)

Articles giving background and analysis on the fiction of Jon Hassler

A very nice page from the University of California system on the connection between food and American history/culture, with lots of literary references as well. (Be sure to click on the "Did You Know" links at the bottom of each main page for much more information about each topic)