ENG 145: American Literature: Beginnings to 1914

Between 1771 and 1790, American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin sat down to record the important events of his life, from his childhood in Boston to his work as a printer in Philadelphia, to his trips to Paris and his plans for the first public library. The story of the invention of the Franklin stove, the first Poor Richard's Almanac, and his experiments with electricity are all included here. His "Project for Moral Perfection"--a list of desirable virtues and steps to achieve them--influenced the modern self-help genre. Hundreds of years later, Franklin's account of his rise from middle-class obscurity to become a world-renowned scholar and civic figure continues to promote the American Dream. First published in 1791, this unabridged version of Franklin's autobiography is taken from the 1909 copyright edition.

From the celebrated early American author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow": The nineteenth-century classic work of fantasy about one man's twenty-year nap.   In the years before the American Revolutionary War, in a village at the foot of New York's Catskill Mountains, lives a kindhearted Dutchman named Rip Van Winkle. He's admired by all his fellow villagers except for his wife, who incessantly nags. One day, in order to avoid her, Rip heads off into the mountains. There he discovers a group of mysterious men wearing antiquated clothes and playing ninepins. Soon Rip falls asleep amongst these strangers--only to wake up twenty years later to a vastly changed world.   Originally published in 1819 in Washington Irving's book, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., "Rip Van Winkle" was one of the first works of American literature to be widely read abroad and helped shape American folklore. Nearly two hundred years later, the story endures, continuing to capture the imaginations of readers young and old.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Illus. in black-and-white. This action-packed edition of James Fenimore Cooper's famous adventure brings the wilds of the American frontier and the drama of the French and Indian War to vivid life. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of the most compelling accounts of slavery and one of the most unique of the one hundred or so slave narratives -- mostly written by men -- published before the Civil War. The child and grandchild of slaves -- and therefore forbidden by law to read and write -- Harriet Jacobs was defiant in her efforts to gain freedom and to document her experience in bondage. She suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her master at the age of eleven. In 1842, she fled North and joined a circle of abolitionists that worked for Frederick Douglass's newspaper. In 1863, she and her daughter moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where they organized medical care for Civil War victims and established the Jacobs Free School.

A young American woman searches for love and independence in Europe in this iconic tale. Old World and New World values collide in this classic coming-of-age romance. A delicious comedy of manners from master storyteller Henry James, Daisy Miller has long reserved its place in the annals of America's most oft-read novellas, and its examination of culture and class differences continues to resonate today--on both sides of the Atlantic.   Annie "Daisy" Miller is a new-money American girl from Schenectady, New York, on a European tour with her family. While at an upper-crust lakefront retreat in Switzerland, Daisy's younger brother, Randolph, introduces her to the older, more refined Frederick Winterbourne, and the Swiss-educated man is stunned by Daisy's unique combination of naïveté and flirtatiousness. As rumors fly regarding Daisy's active nightlife and her suspect relationship with a young Italian man, Winterbourne chases her to Rome, his meddlesome aunt questioning the girl's breeding and propriety all the while.   Rich in complex characterizations and superb in its economies of form, Daisy Miller is a must-read for serious connoisseurs of American literature, who will appreciate how James renders such an expansive world within a relatively tight space. Written by a master of his craft, this novella is easily one of James's most beloved works, timeless in its approach to the complexities of the human heart.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.  

Mark Twain's masterpiece and the greatest of American novels. Tom Sawyer's best friend, Huckleberry Finn, takes center stage in this classic tale of boyhood adventure. Fleeing his drunken father and the civilizing influence of the Widow Douglas, Huck and the runaway slave Jim pilot a log raft down the mighty Mississippi River. The colorful characters and dramatic situations they encounter along the way--from bloodthirsty thieves lurking in an abandoned steamboat to a pair of aristocratic conmen dead set on robbing Arkansas blind--draw the two escapees closer together, until Huck is forced to make a fateful choice between Jim's freedom and his own salvation.   One of the first major novels written in an American vernacular, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an essential part of the national identity. Its sophisticated treatment of serious themes such as the evils of slavery, the individual versus society, and the conflicting impulses of human nature, make it as vital and important today as when it was first published more than one hundred and thirty years ago.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.