Throughout the course I learned about the ambiguity in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the importance of poetry and delving into the meaning of the words instead of just reading the words on paper and the Beat Generation.
In studying Hawthorne I was able to examine his use of ambiguity and how in many of his works there is a double meaning to his descriptions of events and settings. For example, in his story Young Goodman Brown, the main character’s wife is named Faith and after his experience with a black mass in the woods he loses his Faith. Whether or not Hawthorne meant Brown’s wife or his religious faith is ambiguous and left up to the reader to decipher.
I also studied the works of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. I preferred Walt Whitman more than Emily Dickinson because of his style. His use of free verse was unheard of at the time but I liked it because he told the story of the American people from the blacksmith pounding metal in the heat of his shop to the two teenagers frolicking on a hillside madly in love with each other. Dickinson wrote, at least to me it seemed, very vague poems.
Reading Jack Kerouac and his experiences in the beat generation opened my eyes to a type of living that I was completely unaware of. His narrative shows the highs and lows of living such a lifestyle and why it could seem euphoric at times as well as deplorable during the other times.
History of American Literature was extremely interesting and very informative. From reading the Puritan set tales of Hawthorne to Kerouac riding trains across the nation in search of his place in life helped me gain a deeper understanding of American Literature and all the changes it has gone through.