Final Exam

After taking the class Major American Authors my view on what a “major American author” is has changed. Before entering into this course I believed a major American author as a writer who is well known throughout the United States. As I look over what has been read and discussed throughout this course my idea has now formed to believe that a major American author is someone who has had a significant influence in American literature.

My first perception of a major American author was a person who was prominent in society. The word “major” is what shaped my definition of an American author. I believe a writer is major when they are well known and a household name throughout the United States. When we began the course we read Frederick Douglass’ The Heroic Slave. He is the perfect example of the type of authors that I believe we were going to read. His name is used in every early American history course since elementary school. Also, his narrative is a common piece of literature that many students read in their high school and college years. Since he is an important figure in American society, one is compelled to take the meaning of his work seriously which is an important quality in a major American author.

As we came towards the end of the course, we read Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Tolkas who completely transformed my view of a major American author. While at first I thought that a major American author is someone who is well known, I now believe them to be a person who has a significant influence on other writer’s in American society. Since Stein was a mentor to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway, her influence brings curiosity to look into her work more. After reading The Autobiography of Alice B. Tolkas, her chaotic structure made me think what about her influenced these other great writers. While I am still not able fully understand her influence, since she had an effect on what we consider great writes makes her a major American author. Without her, the way we know and appreciate these authors such as Ernest Hemmingway may not be the same.

Finally, I found that in order to be a major American author, their work has to be timeless. A timeless piece of work is something that will have relevance whatever century, decade or year it is read in. Frederick Douglass will forever be important in history for his impact with the abolitionist movement. The The Heroic Slave told a story of certain incidents that happened. Douglass’ elements teach current generations about the reality of slavery during his time. He tells the story of one man account to reach freedom from the life of oppression he faced and the point in which he had enough. Also, he showed the power in slaves as they stand up against those inflicting pain on him. With Gertrude Stein, her story of Alice Tolkas tells the story of their adventures together. He accounts with many artist and writers, especially Picasso and Matisse. Since she had an intimate relationships with these men and many others, one become more intrigued in order to find out more about these people. As long as others are interested in these artist and writers, he work will forever be relevant. The stories of both authors keep the timeless aspects which allow them to become Major American Authors.