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American Literature Commons

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Full-Text Articles in American Literature

A Genealogy Of Self-Development In Modern America, Kelsey M. Binder Dec 2018

A Genealogy Of Self-Development In Modern America, Kelsey M. Binder

English Department: Traveling American Modernism (ENG 366, Fall 2018)

This article offers a hypothetical conversation between various authors and creators who have embarked on progressive self-development journeys under the influence of a shared society that intermittently embraces and rejects the structures of the American Dream. While examining the instinctive human motives that cause the radical decision to actualize one’s life, this paper attempts to bridge the psychology of the desire for personal growth to our influential cultural landscape. It explores and analyzes the self-development journeys of individuals such as William Least Heat-Moon and Chris McCandless, as well as the recent message of self-development found in a cinematic pop culture …


The Thrill Of Being Here: A Letter From Fortin De Las Flores, Mexico, John D. Hazlett Dec 2005

The Thrill Of Being Here: A Letter From Fortin De Las Flores, Mexico, John D. Hazlett

John D Hazlett

"The Thrill of Being Here" is an epistolary meditative essay on the desire for, and difficulties of, penetration, considered as a goal of travel, intercultural communication, and understanding of the other. Writing from a small town situated in the uplands of Veracruz, Mexico, Hazlett considers the possibility that a series of acupuncture sessions might serve as a fine metaphor for his year living and working abroad.