Before I started this class, I thought I had a fairly good overview of American literature. Between my high school classes and a voracious appetite for books, I covered most of the major authors and periods. But of course, there's always more to learn and more to learn about the things I've already learned.
About America
1. Americans' ideals of capitalism owe a lot to Puritan predestination.
2. Americans have a long history of arguing over ostensibly ridiculous things, like whether or not spectral evidence should be allowed in a courtroom. But for us, it's always life and death, or at least we think so.
3. Our Founding Fathers had moral blind spots, just like anyone else.
4. I still can't imagine what allowed my ancestors (Southern cattle and cotton farmers) to justify building their way of life on the backs of slaves.
5. America is not free from the impulse to romanticize the lives of famous people.
About American Lit
1. The Puritan mindset was much more complicated than commonly represented.
2. History by itself is usually boring and complicated, much like real life. So when fictionalizing the Salem Witch Trials, Arthur Miller had to add a whole new conflict to simplify things.
3. Benjamin Franklin was not the simple, hardworking inventor I learned about in history class.
4. I still don't really like Melville, but now I appreciate what he was trying to accomplish with his particular style of writing.
5. Everyone, especially Southerners, should read a first-hand account of slavery. It complicated my relationship with my heritage all over again.
In short, I read a lot of stuff that I hadn't read before, and learned new things about the stuff I'd already read. Mostly, I learned (again...) that Americans have always had a great desire to fix their lives and everyone else's, which gave some perspective to my views of American political life.
I am glad to see this blog because I wasn't sure that the course was adding anything to your life/knowledge.
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