Famous American Writers

It is a truth universally accepted that some of the exemplary minds ever to breathe on this earth looked to essay writing as a great motivation. This is to tell you how important it is when it comes to showing your creativity and expressing your ideas for the public actually to read and be contented with your writing.

On the contrary, when the students of today come across essay writing, it turns out to be like a headache igniter. Yes, we all get a headache sometimes, but the one we're talking about doesn't ache. The immediate instinct and notions that come to their mind are the intense moments of tire and boredom that essay writers have to go through to come up with a leading paper.

Funny enough, American literature could not be what it is today if it were not for the significant contribution of the famous American essayists that existed over time in the past. These outstanding essay writers formulated many of the current literary traditions of writing are now studied in higher institutions as part of the curriculum.

This begs the biggest question, why is that William Hill Brown or Charles Dickens took their sweet time and formulated essays and poems? If at all you're wondering why they did so, well, here is the answer to the question. Unlike novels that take quite some time writing, are long and most of them boring except for the few like Moby Dick (Who'd get bored reading the story of a revenge mission by whale hunters against the most significant white whale ever lived. In our view this is one of the most exemplary and captivating narratives Herman Melvin ever wrote), essays offer the perfect opportunity and platform for writers to express their opinions and views in a best summarized and concise way.

One thing about these novels is that the authors express their narratives through the selected characters in the story, well, this doesn't take the first persona narration, and this makes the author passive voice. Essays give an American writer a chance to sit behind the wheel and drive the whole conversation in an active voice.

Outstanding Essayists in the Entire American Literature

In America, literature is dated back to the colonial days. A more significant number of famous writers during times were servants of God and preachers who took advantage of their better understanding of literature to come up with essays and poems that were the message. This era was faced by lots of social injustices like racism and slavery white the settlers dominating over the Africans.

Above all, the main issue that was facing the people of America was the slave trade. This was a significant setback for many African-Americans as they were mistreated and treated like animals. Looking at such occurrences, the clergymen during those days began rebuking some of these acts of injustice through the essays and poems. For instance;

  • John Woolman

This was a clergyman turned activist during the colonial times. He witnessed the ongoing slavery that hit the streets of America and white supremacy that made African-American to be perceived as beings that don't deserve to be in America and are not to be granted any civil rights. In the colonies, the black people never had a chance to express their grievances, and this didn't turn out well for them. Such experiences motivated John Woolman to write on the issue of slavery just so to show to the world what was going on. He published books like; On the Slave Trade, Some Considerations on keeping Negros.

  • Samuel Sewall

Sam was also a victim of colonial oppression. He encountered traumatizing experiences that made him decide to write on what was going on. Being that he possessed the writing skills, his duty was to compose fight for it to be published. He came up with essays that rebuked the injustices that went on during that time secondary to the North America slave trade.

After a long run with the colonialists, there came out a new era of democracy which steer the struggle for America's independence from the Europeans. Later on, in the late 18th century, we see the British settlers giving in. In the year 1776, America gets freedom. Nonetheless, this period was not suitable for most essay writers due to British superiority. During these times, American authors were forced to first fit into British culture. This wasn't enough, and they were asked to model their narratives to go by the English Literary traditions that were accepted as per the European literature specifications at that time.'

This experience from the British authors gave birth to several activists, and speakers used their mastery of the language to talk about the ongoing oppression. This was done through their essays and poems, which gathered quite an audience and far much contributed to the settlers giving in to independence. Some of these writers were:

  • Thomas Paine

He was an activist who campaigned against the European superiority and is remembered to date for his significant role in fighting for America's independence. The people of America at that time were going through lots of trauma and depression. Thomas was there to give them a message of hope and remind them of light at the end of the tunnel. In his writing, Thomas expresses his view on America as a promising country and with great people. He went to publish several pieces that showed his mastery of literature and creativity. The well-recognized ones are; Common Sense and The Rights of Men.

  • Benjamin Franklin

Franklin was a great innovator and fighter who made it his duty to drive the European settlers out of their country. It was time America enjoyed democracy and be the land of freedom it was meant to be. Citizens of America had rights that had to be respected. You won't mention American literature without touching on the works of this high and forever will be an influence. The writer was a man of the people, and this prompted an autobiography on him to be crafted. This was a story on the fight for independence; how diplomacy came to work. Some of his exemplary works made its publication, and the most popular among them all is The Way of wealth and Temple of Learning.

The experience gathered by Americans in fighting for independence and the never-ending wars was enough to make strong enough to hack through the trying times of forming a nation. It was in these times that American literature took a different stance from the British literary traditions and now adopted its fundamental research that focused on the future. This was the era of romance that was graced by exemplary essays and poems that sent inspiration all over America. This was an excellent opportunity for Americans to experience themselves differently.

Some of the greatest writers during this time were;

  • James Fenimore Cooper

Who is Cooper is not one of the exemplary essay writers during the age of romanticism? This was a time when America had just got independence and was now focusing on the future and freely expressing their emotions, ideas, and thoughts. The narratives were thrilling, and he applied the literature tool of realism to show epic romance in his stories. This did quite well and attracted a vast audience who loved to read his romance novels. In his book Leatherstocking Tales, He tells of the life in the Wilderness.

He and others are remembered for their enormous contribution in practical nonfiction. This was a unique and creative form of writing adopted by American writers in the romance period just after their democracy. It displayed various aspects of the society on some whole another level. Not to forget William Bryant, who brought a new approach to poetry writing that completely, changed parts of the typical English traditions of essays and poems.

  • Henry David Thoreau

Henry was a great author born in Massachusetts in July 1817. History remembers him as a massive influence on the community of America through his creative works and talks. Unlike his time of existence, he was a non-conformer who believed that everyone ought to create their ideal ways of culture and traditions they fit well into. Through his talks and writings, he managed to express his concerns and opinions on the human form of life and was quite a skeptic towards the changes that came about in one's lifetime. He was an advocate for a simple life and was against the unnecessary complexities that humans bring upon themselves.

During his time, there were also other speakers and writers who were against his perceptions and went ahead to criticize his works despite the creativity and adventure it brought to American literature. Many of the critics were British authors who were amazed by the creativity he posed. Some of his publications include; A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Walden; Or Life in the Woods.

  • Ralph Waldo

Ralph is another great writer of the romantic era. During his entire life, he managed to compose several essay and poems with some featuring some aspects of the Spanish culture. He found inspiration from the customs and traditions of the American and Spanish community and used writing to express a view on them. He majored on romance and had a gentle style of putting it across to his listeners. This gathered quite an audience, and many of his readers called him the romance guru.

This era of romance only went for too long until war kicked in and changed everything. Terror now replaced the romance vibe that existed. There was a never-ending civil war that ensued between people of the North and those of South America. It went on for some time, and later on, the North came out as victors of this devastating war. This came with a considerable paradigm shift in the way things were done for those who shifted to the North adopted a whole new culture that was very much different from the one before.

This is the remarkable dawn of a new age of natural selection where only the tough get to succeed. This period was known as realism and gave birth to writers that have never been experienced. This was a period of creativity, ingenuity, and competition, or else your essay writing wouldn't be recognized. Exemplary essays and poems were written by smart thinkers and genius people who produced the best American writers in time. We are ye to experience a more profound and involving age like this one.

Realism involved the use of literary tools like satire, humor, and imagery to put across your ideas. The goal was to make your descriptions and stories as vivid and involving as they could get. Some of the greatest authors of this age were;

  • Jack London

Jack was a brilliant mind in the realism era. His primary focus of writing was on the success of the many people of the community. He made it his duty to follow through the footsteps of the road to success, and this was evident on how he crafted his papers. Some individuals went through the tough times that this realism era posed and fought through to succeed. And just like we earlier on said, this a time of doing or die and so you can imagine. Some of the most thrilling and intriguing publications by Jack were; The House Beautiful and The Dignity of Dollars.

  • Henry James

Aside from Jack London, this was also a magnificent writer during the times of realism. His primary focus was on cohesion. What were some of the relationships America had with other nations during that time? He analyzed and researched on America's cohesion and international relations. His approach and perspective towards writing were that of appreciating and making people see the importance of national cohesion and what better international relations could do to other individuals. America at that time was a nation recovering from the civil war and was building bridges to more fabulous and favorable country. James also wrote essays and poems, among the top poems being The Art of Fiction.

Conclusion

The famous American writers are quite many, and we can name them all. Besides, we are not listing but instead sharing some knowledge on some of their magnificent works of literature. Go and check out some of the books covered by these essayists and appreciate the great skill they possess.

Which famous essay writers do you know?