LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2012 final exam—Answers to Question B4 "Classic, Popular, & Representative Literature" final exam assignment

Angela Sims

The View from Over Here

          When constructing an accurate picture of the literary landscape of the American Renaissance, literature must be drawn from different directions. Popular, classical, and representative texts all have a place at the table when learning about specific genres and eras of literature. Each type has its own value and weight in educating people about a specific aspect of the historical and political context. Using a combination of these types, as we did in class, gives a more complete view of the political and historical issues of the time.

          The most widely-known and typified choice of literary study are the classic works. As the academic choice of literature being studied in institutions of higher learning, classic literature offers the long tradition of literacy and the “official” voice. They are the books we continually pick up and read over and over again, finding renewed perspectives each time. This literature is controlled and usually highly intellectual. Some of the classic writers of the American Renaissance include Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau. These writers feature varied styles while exploring sensitive issues with historical knowledge and depth. “Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what was expected of heaven or fear’d of hell, are now consumed,” Whitman poses. “I Sing the Body Electric” displays Whitman’s mastery over language and text. He makes it look effortless. Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” echoes the same control and intellectual probing. “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing.” Thoreau exacts authority through his words. While Classic literature acts as the “official” demonstrative text of the time period, the alternative view, popular and representative literature, establishes its importance as a resource, as well.

Popular literature is the books and other texts that were commonly read during the particular time period. Although many of these texts were sold, no critical acclaim correlates to these works backing up their importance as timeless literature. As time has passed, their relevance in society has faded, like a fad, only in fashion for a season or two. Their prominence to our modern society is the telling nature of what the people were reading during that time period. What made it worth reading? The domesticity of the female novelist proved popular during the American Renaissance. Books like Wide, Wide, World and The Lamplighter lent their sentimentality to bookshelves everywhere. People read these books mainly for entertainment and some moral purpose. These texts usually followed a predictable formula and were often written as a series of novels. A modern example would be Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight series. Easily digestible, these books offer little intellectual challenge and can be read fairly quickly. This contrasts with the classical work, where much time is spent pouring over the text and analyzing the subtext and critical themes.

          The other “alternative” view of literature is called representative. Representative literature departs from the popular and classic by acting as the voice of the underrepresented or cultural “other.” These texts, oftentimes, challenged the political and social norms while asserting an emotional cause close to the person or people group represented. Some of the representative American Renaissance authors include Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. These two former slaves wrote about their experiences to send a message to our country. “I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away,” Jacobs writes. Many people were not able to relate to claims like this; however, her story acted as a catalyst to encourage and strengthen the abolitionist movement. People could no longer claim ignorance about the slavery movement. The details were written out in black and white for all to see. Representative literature gave a face to the impoverished slave and gave a voice to African Americans, among many others in American Renaissance.

          It is always vital to see the other side of things in literature. With a mixture of the three different types of literature, one can get a clearer picture of the historical and political climate, shown through the literature during the time. While reading through some of the past final exam essays that respond to the question of classic, popular, and representative literature importance, I was struck by Matt Chavez’s answer:

Exploration of the American Renaissance texts from a historical perspective is the most appropriate mode of approaching the categories.  In a contemporary American Renaissance course, the popular and representative works have a definite value.  Exploring the classic pieces is always valuable considering that the classic pieces have longstanding intellectual value.  But American Renaissance literature is the study of particular, very isolated period of time, meaning that the works unique to that time, such as the popular literature of Washington Irving or the representative works of Frederick Douglass should hold equal esteem from a literary perspective as the pieces which cross the bounds of literary movements. (Matt Chavez, 2010 Final, Essay B4)

I agree with Matt that all areas of literature should hold equal importance when studying the American Renaissance. Nevertheless, I want to further that idea by saying that all areas of literature should hold equal importance when studying ANY historical periods of texts, especially when in some cases the particular work may blur the boundary between classic, popular, and representative literature. Students should know the distinction and the functional value of each differing type.

In my future classroom, I plan to implement various forms of literature, covering all points of view. Students need to know that literature has many roles, applications, and speaks to the political and social climate of the time. While careful study is usually given to only classic writers, I feel that the changing environment of education lends itself to branching out and giving students more. In public school, I was rarely given the opportunity to interact with representative texts. The cultural landscape of our country continues to change and with it, our need to diversify our required reading lists.