Self-Revelatory Works

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how American literature is filled with examples of the American impulse toward self-analysis, especially within autobiographical writings. The paper explores the idea of analyzing one's life, as contained within various works of 17th and 18th century American literature. The paper draws examples from two authors from the Puritan/Colonial Period; Mary Rowlandson and Jonathan Edwards, two authors from the Enlightenment period; Benjamin Franklin and Olaudah Equiano and one author from the Romantic Period; Louisa May Alcott.

From the Paper:

"In her autobiographical account of being captured, along with her young children, and mistreated by Indians "The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" (1682), the author states, self-reflectively, at the beginning of her narrative: "Oh, I may see the wonderful power of God, that my Spirit did not utterly sink under my affliction: still the Lord upheld me with His gracious and merciful spirit, and we were both alive to see the light of the next morning. Rowlandson's quest for self-analysis and self-revelation in this account centers on her relationship with God, before, during, and after her ordeal, and explores how the painful events she describes have in fact helped her to better understand her relationship to God."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. (Norton Critical Edition). New York: Norton, 2002.
• Lawall, Sarah, et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th Ed. Volume A. New York: Norton, 2003.

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