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LITR 4231 Early American Literature |
Final Exam Essays 2014 Sample answers for |
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Elizabeth Sorensen
Charlotte Temple and Edgar Huntly
As the semester came to a close, we were assigned two novels
titled Charlotte Temple and Edgar Huntly. I have always found reading to be
relaxing, enjoyable, and somewhat of an escape from reality. These two gave me a
little bit of all three which I think was an excellent way to end this course.
Charlotte Temple is a character who a lot of women readers
can connect with. She is determined to be virtuous but falls in love and
everything changes. She runs away with Montraville to America, then becomes
pregnant, abandoned, then passes away after her baby is born. There is a moral
lesson to be taken away from this story which is there are consequences for
every decision that you make in your life. Charlotte went against her beliefs
and values so consequently she ended up disgraced and alone. Every woman can
relate or yearn to relate to the feelings that Charlotte felt in the novel which
I think is what made this novel so popular during its time period. Woman of that
time couldn’t necessarily do the things Charlotte did or if they did they could
have potentially ended up like her. To me, being able to connect to a character
in a novel allows readers to escape into another world and live vicariously
which is what makes reading so enjoyable.
In my opinion, Edgar Huntly was very different from Charlotte
Temple. This novel was very dark with mystery and adventure elements to it.
Edgar Huntly decides to investigate the murder of his fiance’s brother
Waldegrave. While investigating, he decides that a sleepwalking man Clithero was
the murderer. A series of events happen involving Indians, guns, and a panther.
Then the reader comes to find out that Edgar Huntly is suffering from
sleepwalking do all these things that have happened are causing disorder and
chaos in his life. Since I have been focusing on the enjoyment of novels, I can
see how this novel could appeal to some readers. Some might find the dark aspect
of the novel entertaining and others might find the love story between
Sarsefield and Mrs. Lorimer to be a relief among the darkness.
This novel was not my favorite but I can
appreciate its importance to American Literature.
This was the last literature course I had to take before
getting my degree and I am very glad to have ended on these two novels. They
allowed for a relaxing end to a stressful semester and I will forever be
grateful for having the opportunity to experience this course.
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