Spoon River Anthology

Edgar Lee Masters grew up in Petersburg, Illinois and the small town city environment influenced his writing of the Spoon River Anthology (Masters 514). As he was growing up, Masters read the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Dickens (Masters 514). Reading some of the epitaphs in Spoon River, I can detect some Emerson in the passages. In "The Village Atheist", the atheist read "the Upanishads and the poetry of Jesus", but just because it was in writing, does not mean that it is true ("The Village Atheist"). Emerson also had that philosophy regarding writing on paper. When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves, Ralph Waldo Emerson was not on board (Hawthorne). Emerson believed that just because a piece of paper said people were free, they were not free. He thought that being free was a "mindset" and that individuals became free when they lived their lives as though they had been liberated (Hawthorne). The Spoon River Anthology reminds me of the Canterbury Tales. Both tales have many parts telling about different characters. While the Canterbury Tales involved stories told to others for entertainment, Spoon River Anthology involved a town of people telling their first person "epitaphs" ("Table of Contents") ("The Canterbury Tales"). Masters' Spoon River is a gossipy kind of tale when the members of the town called Spoon River told of the town gossip and did not keep any secrets to themselves ("Table of Contents "). The Canterbury Tales contained stories about different people and a certain event in their life with increased bragging or intensity as the people telling the tales tried to "one up" the previous person ("The Canterbury Tales").

The Spoon River Anthology was the first of its kind in America as other literature of the time period involved romantic, touchy feely, and sentimental writing (Masters 514). That is what made the book so popular when it was published. Some critics went as far as saying that Edgar Lee Masters was "America's first poet" as the book was told in first person free verse poems (Masters 514).



Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Canterbury Tales." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

Hawthorne, Julian. "Emerson as an American." In The Genius and Character of Emerson. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1885. Quoted as "Emerson as an American." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 28 Feb. 2012.

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Before You Read." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 514. Print.

Masters, Edgar Lee. "The Spoon River Anthology Table of Contents." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

Masters, Edgar Lee. "The Village Atheist." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

"Two Views of the River"

Mark Twain, born Samuel L. Clemens, grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, not to far from here, and growing up in the "west" influenced his writings (Twain 496). While Mark Twain was riverboating down the Mississippi River, the rest of the country was in an Industrial Revolution (Divine). "Two Views of the River" an exert from Life on the Mississippi was published in 1883 (Twain 496). In 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge under the guidance of financial supporter Boss Tweed, five time zones in the United States are created by John D. Rockerfeller, J. P. Morgan and Canadian railroad companies to help trains run smoother across the large country, and is published just after Booker T. Washington opened up the Tuskegee Institute (Divine). To think that Mark Twain was cruising down the Mississippi, observing the fauna, flora, and beautiful sunsets while the East Coast was experiencing great monopolies and political machines running cities, while the West Coast was still mining for gold and coal and building railroads eastward. Even though slavery was no longer legal in America, Mark Twain's tales of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn involve racial difference and inequality (Divine). Mark Twain's novels let the rest of the country know what was going on in the middle of America and on the river that gave the land life.

"Two Views of the River" is part of Mark Twain's memoir, Life on the Mississippi (Twain 504). He recounts how he viewed the river and nature around it with intense imagery of rivers turning to the color of "blood", "gold", then "black and conspicuous" when a log floated into his view (Twain 504). As Twain sailed the Mississippi and became more consumed with getting his steamboat safely to the final destination and less observant of the beauty of the life surrounding him (Twain 505). By comparing his experience to that of a doctor not being able to see past possible infections, disease, and ailments in his fellow man, Twain relates his experience to all readers as they might never might a Mississippi steamboat pilot, but with a high probability have met a doctor before (Twain 505). Henry David Thoreau would have been a friend of Twain as both men believed in the beauty of nature and how it affected everything around it (Harding). Twain could have visited Thoreau at Waldon Pond and they could have expressed their views on nature with each other.



Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 26 Feb. 2012.

Twain, Mark. "Before You Read." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 496. Print.

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 504-505. Print.

"from The Red Badge of Courage"

Stephen Crane was a Naturist just like Henry David Thoreau (Crane 492). Both men were Realists, but focused their writing more on the working class and the poor people and their struggles (Crane 492). Crane and Thoreau believed that "human destiny was shaped by powerful forces, including heretitiy, social and economic pressures, and the natural environment" (Crane 492). The men believed that humans had little control over their lives. That is why Thoreau wanted to better understand nature and how it affects the world and human lives, so he stayed isolated in the woods for two years, two months, and two days (Harding). In "The Red Badge of Courage", Stephen Crane gave an example of Naturalism by exposing the protagonist, Henry Flemming, to a "new environment" of battle and how Crane believes that since men do not have control over their lives, they should always exhibit "courage, honesty, and poise" no matter what life throws at them (Crane 492).

Henry Flemming is a middle class soldier who experienced war through vivid "colorful" descriptions (Cox). As he was filled with a "red rage", Private Henry Flemming swept through the battle field killing with his rifle, even though his bare hands would be a better weapon to satisfy his blood lust (Crane 493). Henry Flemming bravely fought in the battle even after his regiment retreated (Cox). Stephen Crane wrote about the war and how some of the soldiers, like Henry Flemming, gave into the blood lust and bravely fought the battles that some men could not finish (Cox).

Ralph Waldo Emerson was also a Naturalist. He expressed his views through "Nature" and believed that all morality comes from nature (Hawthorne). Henry David Thoreau differed in opinion as he believed nature was where the "restoring force" when society was the poisoning force and men should be closer to mother nature (Harding). Stephen Crane viewed nature as the force that controls human lives and because of that, people should always act with the best character because if nature decides your destiny, then you should live life to the fullest and to the best of your ability (Crane 492).



Cox, James M. "The Red Badge of Courage: The Purity of War." Southern Humanities Review 25, no. 4 (Fall 1991). Quoted as "The Red Badge of Courage: The Purity of War" in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Red Badge of Courage, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Crane, Stephen. "from The Red Badge of Courage." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 492-493. Print.

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Anna Sakach. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 24 Feb. 2012.

Hawthorne, Julian. "Emerson as an American." In The Genius and Character of Emerson. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1885. Quoted as "Emerson as an American." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 24 Feb. 2012.

"The Story of an Hour"

Wow. That was a very interesting story. Kate Chopin really expressed a woman's view of marriage in an almost discreet and unsuspecting way. "The Story of an Hour"is about a woman who learns about her husband death and goes to her room to mourn (Chopin 554). Instead of mourning alone, like what her sister Josephine thinks that Mrs. Mallard is doing, Mrs. Mallard is realizing that she is finally free and can be independent again (Chopin 555). When Mrs. Mallard "composes" herself and goes downstairs, supported by her sister, she is shocked by her husband walking in the front door (Chopin 555). The doctors say that Mrs. Mallard died of "heart disease - of joy that kills" (Chopin 555). Mrs. Mallard died because of the sudden despair, self pity, and depression that completely overrode the joy and pure happiness that she felt because she thought that she was "free, body and soul, free!" (Chopin 555). The story really drove home the message of women's role in society during the late 1880s. Women could not do anything without their husbands. When Kate Chopin's husband died, she had to petition to court to be the legal guardian of the children that she bore (Chopin 552). Women could not hold their own property, their wages belonged to their husbands, and if a divorce were to occur, a very rare case, the husbands would automatically have custody of the children (Divine). Women were payed lower wages then men and had very equal rights (Divine). Kate Chopin brought the issue of equality in marriage and in the work environment through her stories, some of which were found so "vulgar" and "offensive" that she had a hard time finding a publisher (Chopin 551).

Emerson supported women's rights, although he was not as blunt as Kate Chopin. He gave a speech at a Women's Convention and supported his wife, aunt, and female friends that campaigned for women's suffrage (Wayne). Thoreau never had a firm opinion on women and their place in society, but if he was in favor of the gender equality he probably would have been very bold in his endeavors, just like Kate Chopin.


Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 551- 555. Print.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Wayne, Tiffany K. "'Address at the Woman's Rights Convention'." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 22 Feb. 2012.

“from O Pioneers!”

Willa Cather was a pioneer. She moved out to Nebraska with her family when she was nine years old and drew on her first hand frontier experience as inspiration in her writing (Cather 519). She wrote novels based on her experiences in the land and the beauty that accompanied the wild (Cather 519). In "O Pioneers!", Willa Cather drew on her experience with the frontier land and wrote about farming immigrants and the hardships they faced (Cather 488). Because the Wild West was new and Americans had not farmed or lived on the dry flat land, new inventions and farming techniques had to be invented. Because of the lack of water, farming was a challenge west of the Mississippi. To deal with that problem, dry farming was invented when farmers dug deeper into the soil to access deep ground water to keep the roots watered (Divine). Because of the flat treeless land, farmers could not use timber to build their houses or fences to keep their animals in one centralized place. Sod houses and barbed wire were innovatively created as a solution to those problems (Divine). The farmers in the west had a hard time, but they survived through hard work and creativity. Willa Cather's farmers in "O Pioneers" also faced hardship through death and droughts (Cather 489). At their low point, the farmers reminisce about land to the east or any "place that had been proved hospitable" (Cather 489). The sons of the farmers dreamt about working in the cities as bakers as they lacked the "imagination needed" to survive and be happy in the west (Cather 489).

Henry David Thoreau was a supporter of the pioneers as he believed it helped man become "one" with nature as he was forced to survive and tame nature (Harding). Thoreau admired the pioneers due to their "closeness to nature" (Harding). Thoreau took his philosophy seriously and he lived in the woods, alone with nature for two years, two months, and two days (Harding). His experience was not quite that of a pioneer, but he did develop a relationship with nature and the world surrounding him.


Cather, Willa. "from O Pioneers!." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 488-489. Print.

Cather, Willa. "Before You Read." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 519. Print.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 20 Feb. 2012.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a very interesting story by Ambrose Bierce. Ambrose Bierce faught in the American Civil War which gave him some background information for this short story (Bierce 387). Bierce was an interesting man who had some character traits that we have seen in authors before. Bierce was "idealistic, cynical, morose, stubborn" and known as "Bitter Bierce" (Bierce 387). He had a very interesting life story. After not completing high school, Bierce worked as a printer's apprentice then enlisted to fight in the Civil War (Bierce 387). After being shot in the head, Bierce worked in the humor section of several newspapers. Later he traveled to England where he wrote more before returning to America. My favorite part about Ambrose Bierce's life is that he disappeared in Mexico and no one knows what happened to him (Bierce 387). To this day no one knows how he died, when he died, or what he did in Mexico.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a great Civil War thinking story. As the story starts off with an omnipoent narrator who is observing a hanging on a bridge, the reader is left to wonder what exactly the "civilian" did to result in a hanging (Bierce 390). Then the person who was going to be hanged drifts off in thought about his wife and children before presumably being hanged when the sergeant "stepped aside" (Bierce 390). The next part is narratorated by Peter Farquhar, who the reader later learns is the man being hanged (Bierce 390). At the end of the second part Farquhar is given information by a disguised enemy soldier who, using reverse psychology, tells Farquhar about a bridge that the enemy soliders could use to invade Owl Creek bridge (Bierce 392). In a twist in the plot the bridge was really a necessity to the Farquhar's side and by burning the bridge, he unknowingly helped the enemy (Bierce 392). That is why he was being hung. The next part of the story was very interesting as Farquhar seems to evade death multiple times by having awesome neck muscles that can withstand being hung by a rope, a great lung capacity to escape drowning, and ninja like skills that allows him to dodge bullets and even cannons (Bierce 395-396)! Then the reader learns that he really died by the rope and in a couple of ticks of a watch, Farquhar dreampt up the whole scenario (Bruccoli)! The concept of having an entire scenario and story thought up in a couple of seconds is something masterfully done by Bierce (Bruccoli). Very few people have been able to accomplish that to the successful degree that Ambrose Bierce did.

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 387-396. Print.

Bruccoli, Matthew J., and Judith S. Baugman. "Peyton Farquhar." Student's Encyclopedia of American Literary Characters. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 15 Feb. 12.

“Letter to his Family”

Robert E. Lee was the leader of the Confederate Army during the Civil War after serving in the United States Army for thirty-six years (Lee 382). He only served as general for the Confederate States of America because his home state of Virginia decided to succeed from the Union and General Lee had very strong loyalty for his state (Lee 382). That loyalty characteristic is a great thing to have, and General Lee instilled that in his Confederate troops (Divine). The possible division of the Union greatly upset General Lee and he was "willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation" (Lee 385). Before any of the states succeeded, Robert E. Lee made clear that he would stay true with Virginia and "return to my native state and share the miseries of my people" (Lee 385). Even though General Robert E. Lee served with the Confederates, and not the Union, he did so for a good reason. He was not a supporter of slavery, but had an ambivalent view about slavery (Divine).

Henry David Thoreau was a firm believer in antislavery and that was the one political issue that he was vocal about (Harding). He would have disliked General Robert E. Lee as he was fighting for the "wrong side" and not for the freedom of the slaves (Harding). Ralph Waldo Emerson would have appreciated General Lee for sticking to his views and staying with Virginia throughout the war until the surrender at Appomattox which ended the Civil War (Divine). Throughout Abraham Lincoln's election and the succession threats, and the entire Civil War, General Robert E. Lee stuck with his guns and supported his home state of Virginia and defended it and the Confederacy to make sure his home state was preserved (Lee 385). General Lee had great characteristics and honor as he battled his fellow countrymen during the Civil War. Emerson and Thoreau would have both respected that loyalty aspect of General Robert E. Lee.


Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 13 Feb. 2012.

Hawthorne, Julian. "Emerson as an American." In The Genius and Character of Emerson. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1885. Quoted as "Emerson as an American." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 13 Feb. 2012.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to his Family". Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 382-385. Print.