English & American Literature an Overview Essay

A.INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS Literature is said to be one of the passages of emotions and feelings to the environment – an expression of thoughts, opinions and the things they want to aspire and change and to all things a person is sensing. It is also a way to make a passive way of expression, like what Dr. Jose Rizal did to build flames of independence in our country. It is also like art or music, but literature is said to be more expressive and elaborative, yet not other people can be pleased by any form of audio-visual forms. Literature is said to be any kind of written text that expresses whole expression and feeling. A simple sentence, a word or even a symbol like and apostrophe or a period can also be considered as a literature. Other forms of literature include: a sweet lullaby your mother used to sing when you as a baby, a rock song you are like or a novelty song that made a major trend in the entire planet, or a simple hum. See, there are a lot of examples of literature and we are living with it since we were born until our last breath. This research will discuss an overview about the two of the most influential countries and their literature: the English and American literature. It is said that these countries became the rivals of the 1st generation of the Earth according to the historians. Englishmen or the people of England and the Americans have distinct cultures, types of government and the literatures that they are progressing up to now. These countries progress in their own ways by means by their own perspective of history and culture that affects their food, music and most especially their literature. B.STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The main focus of this research is about the distinct differences of two cultures in terms of the literatures: the English and American literature. English Literature, literature produced in England, from the introduction of Old English by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century to the present. English literature shows the historical traces of their country. American Literature, on the other hand, was influenced by the British during their colonization in the early times. C.PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is to know the difference of English and American Literature and how they influenced each other’s perspective of creating literature. It also focuses on the importance of the two types of literatures that the readers will be interested to know and it builds interest on the things that the literatures have in common. D.RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS The research questions for the study will be: 1.What is English Literature? 2.What is American Literature? 3.Is there a significant difference between English and American Literature? What factors affected their differences? 4.Is there a significant relationship between English and American Literature? 5.What is the importance of knowing the difference and relationship of two literatures? 6.How can it influence the readers and our country? E.SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS This research focuses the difference, importance and influences of English and American literature. It limits the study in other forms of literature around the world or a part of the world except the literatures of England and America. CHAPTER 2 – BACKGROUND A.LITERATURE REVIEW In this part of the chapter, we are going to explore the literatures of both countries, from the moments of past to the modern times. English and American literature’s differences and relationship can be scrutinized if the research will start at the beginning of existence of both literatures. A.1 ENGLISH LITERATURE According to angelfire.com, â€Å"English Literature, literature produced in England, from the introduction of Old English by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century to the present. The works of those Irish and Scottish authors who are closely identified with English life and letters are also considered part of English literature.† the basis of the English language today is based on the Anglo-Saxon language. The British people started to explore and invade lands during the 5th century. English poetry is focused on â€Å"bold, strong in form and spirit† themes and the use of alliteration in their poems. The classic poetical piece, Beowulf was written during the 8th century. It was one of the critically-acclaimed pieces of history. Because of the poem Beowulf, there were other poems written that time such as â€Å"Dream of the Rood† by Cynewulf, â€Å"The Wanderer† and â€Å"The Seafarer†, which were considered to be the most beautiful poems. English pros e, on the other hand, influenced by Christianity. The imposing scholarship of monasteries in northern England in the late 7th century reached its peak in the Latin work Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 731) by Bede were considered to have the greatest influence in English literature. During the Middle period, some Italian and French literary pieces were influenced the English literature. There was the weakening of English literature until the Renaissance age (1485-1660) came. Vast literary pieces were published and influence the way how British read and create literary pieces. Works of some authors like Sir Thomas More and his work Utopia (1516) passively expressed the most influenced words to the Englishmen. There is also the famous works of William Shakespeare, breaking records and brought the most influence through his literary works. Some of which is â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, Hamlet (1601?), Othello (1604?), King Lear (1605?), Macbeth (1606?), and Antony and Cleopatra (1606?)—look deeply into the springs of action in the human soul. There were a lot of changes after the existence of Shakespeare’s tragedies and dramas but there is still the influence of the Holy Bible and the church in most of their poetry and prose. A.2 AMERICAN LITERATURE The influence of English language truly dominated the American soil. According to Wikipedia,†The first item printed in Pennsylvania was in German and was the largest book printed in any of the colonies before the American Revolution.† The Spaniards and the Frenchmen had the biggest colonies in America and the literary works that can be published in English language are only available in England. Native American tribes have also their literary works that they used as rituals for ceremonies and celebrations.