American Literature Commons^™

Morton, David, 1886-1957 (Sc 449), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 449. Letter written by David Morton, Amherst, Massachusetts, replying to an admirer, Mr. Goodrum. Morton was an author originally of Elkton, Kentucky.

Allen, James Lane, 1848-1925 (Sc 442), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files) below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 442. Letters from James Lane Allen, Atlantic City, New Jersey, summer 1906, and New York City, 30 September 1906, to cousin Helen inquiring as to the illness of her father, his uncle John, and expressing sorrow at his death.

Harvard Cowboys: The Role Of Silas Weir Mitchell's Creative Works In Defining Western-Style American Masculinity, Becky De Oliveira

The Hilltop Review

There were probably few men better placed in the latter part of the nineteenth century to help other men create a persona of strength and vigor--based quite firmly, too, in the tradition of literature and writing--than Silas Weir Mitchell (1829-1914), a physician who "achieved great success in popularizing the idea of a correlation between mental activity and nerve strain" (Will, 293).

Cobb, Irvin Shrewsbury, 1876-1944 (Sc 2547), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2547. Printed letter of condolence from Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb, 3 April 1942, written to Mrs. Matthew J. Carney on the death of her husband.

Troubetskoy, Amelie (Rives), 1863-1945 (Sc 574), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Mansucripts Small Collection 574. Holographic letter to the editor of Harpers Magazine which concerns letter of acceptance for Amélie (Rives) Troubetskoy’s story, “Her Christmas Caddy” and revisions made under the direction of Mr. Alden.

Morton, David, 1886-1957 (Sc 550), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 550. Letter, 19 March 1949, to Marjorie Clagett, Bowling Green, Kentucky, from poet David Morton, Deerfield, Massachusetts, concerning his visit to Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green. Also, a printed copy of one of his poems as requested. Morton was originally from Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky.

Obenchain, Lida (Calvert), 1856-1935 (Sc 578), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 578. Photocopies of a letter written by Lida (Calvert) Obenchain, author, from Dallas, Texas, to Otto Rothert, author, Louisville, Kentucky, which contains literary and family information; an article written by Mrs. Obenchain and published in McCall’s Magazine; and some biographical notes.

Wilcox, Ella (Wheeler), 1850-1919 (Sc 577), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collecction 577. Letter written by Mrs. Ella (Wheeler) Wilcox, a poet, to Mr. Bery?, replying to his inquiry about her writings. Also, holographic copy of one of her poems is included.

America In Verse: The Laureate Project, Leah Kind, Dan Gleason, Erin Micklo, Margaret T. Cain

Understanding Poetry

The purpose of this project is to allow students to use their (developing) skills of poetic explication and close reading, combined with research and analysis, to discover and establish a solid case for a poet they will nominate as the next American Poet Laureate. Working in groups of 3-4, students will identify a published, living American poet who has not yet been designated a laureate. The project demands a wide array of skills as the students research bibliographic information on the poet: read and analyze the poet’s body of work and select one central poem to represent that poet; amass …

Cawein, Madison Julius, 1865-1914 (Sc 531), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 531. Letter from poet Madison Julius Cawein, Louisville, Kentucky, to Fred H. Day, Boston, Massachusetts, a publisher, relative to several of Cawein’s books of poetry and to a book by novelist and poet Alice Brown.

My Mark Twain: Old Man River, Amelia Tatum Grabowski

Student Publications

Flowing across his pages, the Mississippi River inextricably winds itself through Mark Twain’s canon. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that my image of Clemens, my Mark Twain, is as a personification of his beloved river. Twain draws his readers to the water’s edge, seduces readers to stare into his depths, and reflects the achievements and failings of humanity. Furthermore, like the Mississippi River, Twain embeds himself in the American psyche.

Banks, Nancy (Huston), 1850-1934 (Sc 516), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 516. Letter, 8 June 1902, from Nancy Banks, Morganfield, Kentucky, to Mr. Parker, inquiring as to whether he had received a copy of her book "Oldfield" which she sent him because of his assistance to her in the writing of it.

Rice, Cale Young, 1872-1943 (Sc 459), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 459. Letter from Cale Young Rice, Louisville, Kentucky, to Stuart McKenzie, of Florida, in which Rice discusses some of his own writings. Also printed book reviews (3).

"A Shade Too Unreserved": Destabilizing Sexuality And Gender Constructs Of The New Negro Identity In Harlem Renaissance Literature, Renee E. Chase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the Harlem Renaissance artistic movement was directly intertwined with the New Negro social movement of the time. Race leaders spoke to and influenced artistic trends, while artists often engaged with the New Negro race issues and social debates through their works. Wallace Thurman, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston used their own fictional works to explore the New Negro construct being promoted. In examining the constructed nature of this New Negro identity, these artists strove to destabilize the social "norms" upon which the identity was based. As they thematically and stylistically explored such social constructs through their fiction, …

Philips, Emanie (Nahm) Sachs Arling, 1893-1981 - Relating To (Sc 2533), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2533. Typewritten remarks, author unknown, about Emanie Nahm’s 1924 novel, Talk. The reviewer speculates on the people and places in Nahm’s home town of Bowling Green, Kentucky on which the novel may have been based, and refers to a reported visit to Nahm in Bowling Green by the author Rebecca West.

The Action Of Grace In Territory Held By The Devil: Flannery O’Connor And Cormac Mccarthy, Scott A. Singleton

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper compares the lives and work of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy. The two authors share similarities in their backgrounds, careers, and work. The paper begins with an examination of biographical information of both authors to contextualize their work and note commonalities in their lives and careers. The central idea is that Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy both create grotesque characters to reveal the depraved condition of humanity in order to highlight the need for redemption and the possibility of divine grace. To prove this, examples are discussed from multiple pieces of work by O’Connor and McCarthy including The …

“To Make Myself For A Person”: The Bildungsroman In Modern Jewish-American Literature, Kari Lynn Keeling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers and Abraham Cahan's The Rise of David Levinsky share many similarities: they both feature young Jewish protagonists who immigrate to America in search of the better life they believe America can provide. Though their novels have similar trajectories, each author answers the still relevant question of how immigrants might successfully assimilate into American culture in contrasting lights. Cahan's protagonist, in a superficial sense, achieves the "American dream," while Yezierska's Sara achieves a more modest success. However, Sara ultimately navigates the trials of cultural assimilation and identity formation more successfully. Levinsky gains monetary wealth by adapting to …

Anxiety And The Newly Returned Adult Student, Michelle Navarre Cleary

School of Continuing and Professional Studies Faculty and Staff Works

Based on interviews with students who had recently returned to school, this essay demonstrates the need for, challenges of, and ways to respond to the writing anxiety many adults bring with them back to school.

Monsters In Our Midst: An Examination Of Human Monstrosity In Fiction And Film Of The United States, Michelle Kay Hansen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The chapters within this dissertation concentrate on textual analysis of literature and film in which monsters appear in various forms, and particularly how those monsters still coincide with Noel Carroll's definition of "art-horror" in his book Philosophy of Horror, while proving that Carroll's definition of monster - and any others who may attempt to limit the definition of monstrosity - is incomplete and much too restrictive. I will be concentrating on monstrosity as it appears in gothic and horror fiction, film, and other elements of popular culture in order to explore the concept of "the monstrous" on multiple levels.

The …

Love Is Just A Word For The Last Body I'D Like To Keep Vigil Over, Robert Jagger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Love is Just a Word for the Last Body I'd Like to Keep Vigil Over is a collection of poetry that was composed during my time spent at UNLV. Comprised mostly of prose poems, it was heavily influenced by the works of Richard Hugo, Robert Coover, Joshua Marie Wilkinson and several French poets who are often categorized as being members of either the Symbolist or Decadent movement. At its best, the collection attempts to invoke a sense of Joseph Cornell's boxes--odd juxtapositions of everyday items and language that create new and uncertain circumstances. Unlike Cornell's boxes, however, the poems aren't …