Candidacy Exam Sound Bites
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
"I hadn't had a bite to eat since yesterday, so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens—there ain't nothing in the world so good when it's cooked right—and whilst I eat my supper we talked and had a good time....We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft." At this point in Chapter 18, Huck has just escaped from the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud and is thoroughly sickened by society. Compared to the outrageous incidents onshore, the raft represents a retreat from the outside world, the site of simple pleasures and good companionship. Even the simple food Jim offers Huck is delicious in this atmosphere of freedom and comfort. Huck and Jim do not have to answer to anyone on the raft, and it represents a kind of utopian life for them. They try to maintain this idyllic separation from society and its problems, but as the raft makes its way southward, unsavory influences from onshore repeatedly invade the world of the raft. In a sense, Twain's portrayal of life on the raft and the river is a romantic one, but tempered by the realistic knowledge that the evils and problems of the world are inescapable.
James, Henry. Daisy Miller (1879)
"I hardly know whether it was the analogies or the differences that were uppermost in the mind of a young American, who, two or three years ago, sat in the garden of the 'Trois Couronnes,' looking about him, rather idly, at some of the graceful objects I have mentioned." One of the most notable aspects of Daisy Miller is the narrative voice that James chose to recount the story of Winterbourne and Daisy. It is a curiously hybrid voice, neither omniscient nor personally involved. The conventional narrative options open to James were first person, third-person omniscient, and third-person limited perspective, which is in fact the voice in which the vast majority of Daisy Miller is told. The voice is third person, and the limited perspective is that of Winterbourne. Before settling into this voice, however, James introduces the third-person narrator by having him speak in the first person—as in this quotation from early in Chapter 1. It is a transitional sentence that takes us from the initial panning shot of the town of Vevey to a close-up of the central character. In this quote, the voice of the narrator is breezy and conversational, and like the statement that the scene we are zooming in on occurred "two or three years ago," it has the effect of seeming to place the entire novel within the framework of a particularly delicious piece of gossip. At the end of the novel, after Daisy's death, this voice resurfaces briefly, just long enough to relay the latest piece of gossip about Winterbourne, which turns out merely to reiterate this first report.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
"I looks like gwine to heaven," said the woman; "an't thar where white folks is gwine? S'pose they'd have me thar? I'd rather go to torment, and get away from Mas'r and Missis." The horribly abused slave Prue speaks these words in Chapter XVIII, when Tom tries to convince her to find God and lead a Christian life, which he tells her will assure her an eternal reward in heaven. With this one line, Prue dramatically illustrates the extent to which racial politics and slavery were impressed upon slaves as unalterable, universal facts of existence. She assumes that if white people are going to heaven, she will be required to work as a slave to them in the afterlife. She unwittingly offers a devastating commentary on the horror of life as a slave when she says that she would rather go to hell ("torment") to escape her master and his wife than go to paradise with them. Stowe intended her novel for a largely Christian audience, and with these lines she meant to shock the reader into an awareness of the extreme misery slaves endured.
Whitman, Walt. Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1861)
"I too had receiv'd identity by my body, / That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body." The body is both a vehicle for individual specificity and a means by which to partake of common experience: it is where the self and the world come together.
Fern, Fanny. Ruth Hall (1854)
"In the present state of [her] affairs, [she] cannot afford to refuse." Fanny Fern's novel Ruth Hall and its portrayal of the challenges faced by women, particularly in mid-1830s America, amidst the market revolution and patriarchal hegemony. The author argues that the novel subverts power structures of its time, portraying the protagonist, Ruth Hall, as she evolves from objectification to becoming an autonomous agent. The essay draws on Michel Foucault's concepts of "discourse," "power," and the "subject" to analyze Ruth's resistance against patriarchal disciplinary power. It highlights Ruth's struggles against various forms of oppression, including domination, exploitation, and subjection. Ruth's strategic use of writing and engagement with capitalist forces is seen as a means of shaping her destiny and challenging male hegemony. The essay suggests that Ruth Hall's achievements represent a political and cultural step forward for women, promoting the idea of women as political and business leaders in a changing social landscape.
Norris, Frank. McTeague: A Story of San Francisco (1899)
"It was his ambition, his dream, to have projecting from that corner window a huge gilded tooth, a molar with enormous prongs, something gorgeous and attractive. He would have it some day, on that he was resolved; but as yet such a thing was far beyond his means." The gold tooth represents characters' desire to move upward in the socioeconomic hierarchy. When McTeague receives the tooth as a gift from Trina, he is mesmerized by it; it is "tremendous" and "overpowering"; and it shines "as if with a light of its own." He wonders what his rival, the Other Dentist, would think of it and imagines him "suffer[ing] veritable convulsions of envy." The tooth is a source of pride to McTeague, and he refuses to sell it to the Other Dentist when he calls on McTeague to inquire about buying it. McTeague telling the dentist he can't "make small" of him reinforces the tooth's connection to McTeague's social standing and the prestige that gold brings. As the McTeagues decline, they bring the tooth with them into their increasingly small and dirty homes, until at last the tooth is forgotten, used only to hold dirty dishes. The tooth's declining importance in the McTeagues' lives mirror McTeague's own downard slide.
Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle (1819)
"Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy, which indeed was a little questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely established; and it is now admitted into all historical collections as a book of unquestionable authority." In the introduction, the author insists on the truth of the story that follows. By explaining how the story is told by Diedrich Knickerbocker, a (fake) historian of the Dutch colonies, the story claims to be true, while simultaneously admitting to its fiction. This split sets up the instability of truth that Irving highlights throughout the story.
Poe, Edgar Allan. MS. Found in a Bottle (1833)
"Just before sinking within the turgid sea its central fires suddenly went out, as if hurriedly extinguished by some unaccountable power. It was a dim, silver-like rim, alone, as it rushed down the unfathomable ocean." Poe uses the color of the sun—and its sudden change in color—to dramatically alter everything around it. If you think about it, the quality of sunlight has a major effect on the way we see the world. And here, Poe's using that power to change the scenery—and reality—for our poor stranded narrator and the Swede.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (1850)
"Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom....It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" This quote, taken from Chapter 16, "A Forest Walk," is illustrative of the role Pearl plays in the text. It is also a meditation on the significance of the scarlet letter as a symbol and an exposition of the connection between sin and humanness—one of the novel's most important themes. Pearl is frequently aware of things that others do not see, and here she presciently identifies the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom with the metaphorical (and in this case also literal) lack of sunshine in her mother's life. Because she is just a child, Pearl often does not understand the ramifications of the things she sees. She frequently reveals truths only indirectly by asking pointed questions. These queries make her mother uncomfortable and contribute to the text's suspense. Here Pearl is assuming, as children often do, that her mother is representative of all adults. Her question suggests that she thinks that all grown women wear a scarlet letter or its equivalent. Surely, Pearl has noticed that the other women in town don't wear scarlet letters. But, on a more figurative level, her question suggests that sin—that which the scarlet letter is intended to represent—is an inevitable part of being a mature human being.
Tyler, Royall. The Algerian Captive (1797)
"My ardent wish is, that my fellow citizens may profit by my misfortunes. If they peruse these pages with attention they will perceive the necessity of uniting our federal strength to enforce a due respect among other nations...BY UNITING WE STAND, BY DIVIDING WE FALL."
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)
"Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of [my mother's] death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger." Douglass explains that his master separated him from his mother soon after his birth. This separation ensured that Douglass did not develop familial feelings toward his mother. Douglass devotes large parts of his Narrative to demonstrating how a slave is "made," beginning at birth. To some readers in Douglass's time it may have seemed natural for Black people to be kept as slaves. Douglass upsets this point of view by depicting the unnaturalness of slavery. He explains the means by which slave owners distort social bonds and the natural processes of life in order to turn men into slaves. This process begins at birth, as Douglass shows in Chapter I, which describes his introduction into slavery. Slaveholders first remove a child from his immediate family, and Douglass explains how this destroys the child's support network and sense of personal history. In this quotation, Douglass uses descriptive adjectives like "soothing" and "tender" to re-create imaginatively the childhood he would have known if his mother had been present. Douglass often exercises this imaginative recreation in his Narrative in order to contrast normal stages of childhood development with the quality of development that he knew as a child. This comparative presentation creates a strong sense of disparity between the two and underscores the injustice that creates that disparity. Though Douglass's style in this passage is dry and restrained, his focus on the family structure and the woeful moment of his mother's death is typical of the conventions of nineteenth-century sentimental narratives.
Jewett, Sarah Orne. A White Heron (1886)
"No amount of thought, that night, could decide how many wished-for treasures the ten dollars, so lightly spoken of, would buy." One way the hunter tries to get Mrs. Tilley and Sylvia to help him is by offering ten dollars to anyone who can help him find the heron. Rural people tended to have less wealth than city people at the time, so this amount of money is trivial to the hunter, yet significant to Mrs. Tilley and Sylvia. All night, they dream of what they could buy with the money, which increases the pressure on Sylvia to tell the hunter what she knows and betray the natural world.
Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
"No man can be a sailor, or know what sailors are, unless he has lived in the forecastle with them." The life of a sailor at sea is different from anything Richard has ever experienced. He quickly realizes that unless a person has had the experience themselves there is no way someone could speak for them.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Experience (1844)
"No man ever came to an experience which was satiating, but his good is tidings of a better. Onward and onward!" Emerson is saying that there is no such thing as an experience so satisfying that it makes us feel like we've gone through all we need to go through; every good thing that happens to us, instead of convincing us to be finished, makes us hope that something even better might happen later.
Chesnutt, Charles. The Goopherd Grapevine (1899)
"Now, ef you'd a knowel ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo, you'd a knowed dat it ha' ter be a mighty rainy day when de could n' line sump'n for his ****** ter do, en it ha' er be a mighty little hole he could n' crawl thoo, en ha' ter be a monst'us cloudy night w'en a dollar git by him in de darkness." While Julius does not directly state it, the implication of the quote is that the master is a devil, extracting the maximum work out of tired salves, snake-like, and most active in the dark. Julius's use of signifying instead of a more direct statement of his disapproval of McAdoo's behavior shows the hold that the deference learned in slavery has even after the end of slavery.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Philosophy of Composition (1846)
"Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the soul is susceptible, what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?" For Poe, authors must choose what effect they want to produce in their readers before they begin to write. Once they have selected this effect, they must decide on the elements needed to achieve it. This idea is directly connected to Poe's argument that the starting point of a narrative is its end, whether it's the outcome of the plot or the effect on the reader.
Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie (1900)
"Oh, blind starvings of the human heart!" In the specific case of Sister Carrie, and often more generally in American literary naturalism, the narrator has an interpretive interest so strong that the mind of the reader is automatically at odds with that of the narrator. We are free to read the narrator as an interested and fallible observer of the action because the mind relates to the experience of the characters in a way it cannot relate to the philosophy that is supposed to override that experience. As a result, Sister Carrie's narrator's final lament seems much less an expression of deterministic causality, less a statement about Carrie's inevitable and eternal malaise, and more the interpretive flourish of just another mind that has judged Carrie too harshly
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Black Cat (1843)
"One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree -- hung it with the tears streaming from my eyes, and with the bitterest remorse at my heart. " The fact that the narrator is not drunk emphasizes that his actions are not impulsive or fueled by external factors like intoxication. Instead, it suggests a disturbing level of premeditation and a calculated cruelty. This choice by Poe adds to the psychological horror of the story, as it portrays the narrator as someone capable of committing heinous acts even without the influence of substances. It heightens the sense of moral decay and instability within the character, making the narrative even more unsettling and psychologically intense.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)
"READER, be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts." Jacobs opens her autobiography with these boldly stated instructions to her mostly white readers. This passage seeks to preempt a common criticism aimed at slave narratives by proslavery forces: that they were fabricated or inaccurate. Jacobs knows that many white northerners will be unwilling to accept her story, so she must assert her authority over her narrative from the start. She literally orders her readers to "be assured," establishing an active, confident narrative voice. Also, Jacobs is about to make her sexual transgressions public, and she cannot trust genteel readers to be sympathetic. Therefore, she lets her audience know that whatever their interpretation of her story, she will remain firmly in control of it. Even as she asserts power over her readers, Jacobs also creates a feeling of intimacy with them by addressing them directly. This is an important strategy, given the sexually frank and politically controversial nature of her text. By making her narrator seem like a real person with whom readers can identify, she makes them less likely to automatically reject her story as unbelievable or immoral.
Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi (1883)
"The Mississippi is well worth reading about." In both Life on the Mississippi and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Mississippi River plays a significant role. In Life on the Mississippi, Twain uses the river as both the setting and a character. He describes the grandeur of the river and how it shapes the lives of those who interact with it. The river is an ever-present and active force that creates and destroys, and it becomes the life of the book. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the river symbolizes freedom and possibility for Huck and Jim. It carries them away from captivity and towards independence, but also exposes them to tragedies and life-threatening situations. Ultimately, Huck learns that freedom requires responsibility and decisions.
Crane, Stephen. The Blue Hotel (1898)
"The Palace Hotel...was always screaming and howling in a way that made the dazzling winter landscape of Nebraska seem only a gray swampish hush." The unique blue color of the hotel makes it stand out from its surroundings, like the startling blue legs of a kind of heron. The bright hue not only grabs the attention of passersby, but makes the wintry landscape around the hotel retreat into a quiet monotone. The portrayal of the hotel as "screaming and howling" hints at the violence to come.
Delany, Martin. Blake; or, The Huts of America (1862)
"The authority of the slaveholder ceases the moment that the impulse of the slave demands his freedom."
Douglass, Frederick. What to a Slave is the Fourth of July? (1852)
"The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable-and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former are by no means slight. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude." In almost no other section of Douglass's address does he specifically reference his own origins as a person who was subjected to enslavement. Therefore, this almost subtle reference to the slave plantation is an important framing for his narrative voice throughout the speech. He invites his audience to empathize with his situation before slowly laying out an argument for abolition.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)
"The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea,and a slave-ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo." Sublime. He can't express the terror of how miserable he is. The ocean as sublime. The seascapes described as scenes of enslavement
Crèvecœr, J. Hector St. John. Letters from an American Farmer (1782)
"The imperfect systems of men." James also explores the connections between the people and their environment on a more symbolic level, frequently drawing parallels between human and animal behavior or presenting animal behavior as a model to which humans should aspire. On several occasions, he celebrates the industry and organization of bees and the diligence of birds, concluding that "the whole economy of what we proudly call the brute creation is admirable in every circumstance," and superior to the "the imperfect systems of men" (35). He draws similar symbolic comparisons in his discussion of his relationship with his cattle, using the dynamics to demonstrate his views on the nature and purpose of government. He asserts that cattle need governing because the behaviors and inclinations of cattle "are exactly the same as among men" and concludes that "the law is to us precisely what I am in my barn-yard, a bridle and check to prevent the strong and greedy from oppressing the timid and weak" (30). Comparisons between plants and humans also appear regularly, with a particular focus on the suitability of American soil for healthy plants and healthy societies, which helps to illuminate the thematic concern with environments shaping the people who inhabit them.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden (1854)
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." This sentence, which appears in the first chapter, "Economy," is perhaps the most famous quotation from Walden. It sums up the prophetic side of Thoreau that many people forget about; he was not just an experimenter living in isolation on Walden Pond, but also a deeply social and morally inspired writer with an ardent message for the masses. His use of the word "desperation" instead of a milder reference to discontentment or unhappiness shows the grimness of his vision of the mainstream American lifestyle. He believes that the monomaniacal pursuit of success and wealth has paradoxically cheapened the lives of those engaged in it, making them unable to appreciate the simpler pleasures enumerated in Walden. But the unpleasantness of American life, according to Thoreau, is more than simply financial or economic, despite the title of his first chapter. "Desperation" is also a word with deep religious connotations, the "lack of hope" that, according to Dante (one of Thoreau's favorite writers), was inscribed on the gates at hell's entrance. The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan's Protestant spiritual classic and a bestseller in the New England of Thoreau's day, features a hero who passes through a bleak lowland called the Slough of Despair on his way to meet God. By asserting that most humans have gotten stuck in despair, Thoreau is implying that they are unable to continue farther on their pilgrimage toward true redemption.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Divinity School Address (1838)
"The soul knows no persons. It invites every man to expand to the full circle of the universe, and will have no preferences but those of spontaneous love." Emerson insists upon the complete equality of every man in regard to the knowledge of God
Melville, Herman. Benito Cereno (1855)
"There is something in the Negro which, in a peculiar way, fits him for avocations about one's person..." Race is perhaps the most significant issue of our time—as it has been throughout American history—and dealing with older texts is always a thorny issue. The above passage from "Benito Cereno" is easily read as being incredibly patronizing toward Black people, and claiming that they as a race are particularly fit to be servants and have a "good humor" that makes them pleasant to be near reeks of common 19th- and early 20th century white American attitudes. It can be argued that Melville having Delano equate Black people with "Newfoundland dogs" was intended to show Delano's exceptionally good opinion of Black people, but the patronizing nature of the comment and the fact that it compares human beings to animals is offensive to modern readers. The question to be asked is whether Melville was using Delano to convey attitudes that he himself held, or if the author's thinking was instead more in line with modern day attitudes and thus mocking Delano (and those who thought like him). If we believe that Melville's thinking here was like that the modern day, the use of such an obviously degrading metaphor as "Newfoundland dogs" was likely intended to be ironic. Melville may be ridiculing those who think that comparing Black people to dogs can in any way be a compliment. As much as a modern reader may want to believe that Melville thought like a modern person and unlike the vast majority in his time period, ultimately the passage is ambiguous—like much of Melville's writing. Without any real insights into Melville's opinion of Black people at this time, Melville's intentions with such a metaphor cannot be determined with certainty.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Self-Reliance (1841)
"To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men — that is genius." Emerson begins his major work on individualism by asserting the importance of thinking for oneself rather than meekly accepting other people's ideas. As in almost all of his work, he promotes individual experience over the knowledge gained from books.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Poet (1843)
"Too feeble fall the impressions of nature on us to make us artists. Every touch should thrill." The best interpreter of nature is the poet, who sees what most of us only dream about. The poet must act as a conduit, exposing nature's hidden secrets to us.
Howells, William Dean. A Hazard of New Fortunes (1889)
"Well, we must trust that look of hers." The Marches encounter Margaret Vance, now dressed in the attire of a sisterhood, symbolizing her commitment to a life of altruism. Despite not engaging in conversation, Margaret's joyful demeanor and the drifting black robe trailing her suggest an inner peace and transformation. The Marches reflect on Margaret's past moral struggles, expressing trust in her choices and the hope that, in her new role, she can now do all the good she desires. The ending resonates with themes of redemption, peace, and the pursuit of a purposeful life, highlighting Margaret's transition to a more spiritually dedicated existence.
Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat (1897)
"When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important...he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the face that there are no bricks and no temples....Thereafter he knows the pathos of his situation." This passage, from the beginning of section VI, serves as a preface to the correspondent's epiphany that the sea is a formless, voiceless phenomenon that lacks the consciousness he requires to validate his own existence. Until this point, the correspondent has thought of the sea, nature, and the universe as parat of a higher power that intelligently governs the cosmos, a higher power against which he cvan define himself and through which find meaning in his own life. Instead, the correspondent finds out that he is nothing to the universe or God, who remains as distant and cryptic as "a high cold star." In the absence of this power, the correspondent loses his identity. Crane creates a sense of irony by having the narrator personify nature. The narrator gives it human actions such as "regard" and "maim," whereas he's actually denying that nature has any humanlike consciousness. The irony inherent in Crane's language in this passage suggests that he believes that man will always go on believe in something that he knows isn't there.
Melville, Herman. Billy Budd (1924)
"With no power to annul the elemental evil in him, though readily enough he could hide it; apprehending the good, but powerless to be it; a nature like Claggart's, surcharged with energy as such natures almost invariably are, what recourse is left to it but to recoil upon itself and, like the scorpion for which the Creator alone is responsible, act out to the end the part allotted it." This quote, from Chapter 12, further describes the nature of Claggart's evil. Here, Melville focuses on the innate quality of Claggart's evil, a quality unusual among literary portrayals of villains. Most villains appear evil either because of events that have corrupted them or because of deliberate, avoidable choices they have made—evil resulting from a painful background or from a conscious decision to betray good. Claggart's evil has no such antecedent. Claggart simply embodies evil. Melville makes this fact clear in this description when he writes that Claggart can understand goodness, but is "powerless" to embrace it, just as he has no power to overcome the "elemental evil" that lies inside of him. Claggart has one option in life: to "act out to the end" the part that he has been assigned, that of the devious villain. Yet, if Claggart is a prisoner of his own evil, and has no choice but to act according to his evil nature, then the question arises as to whether he bears responsibility for his actions.
James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
Henry James emerges as the pioneer in successfully exploring the theme of the American versus the European in his novels. Focusing on the social dynamics of Americans in Europe, James contrasts the active American lifestyle with the more refined European aristocracy. This dichotomy embodies a moral theme, contrasting American moral innocence with European knowledge, experience, and potential for evil. The general contrasts include innocence versus knowledge, utility versus form, spontaneity versus ritual, sincerity versus urbanity, action versus inaction, nature versus art, natural versus artificial, and honesty versus evil. However, James employs these ideas flexibly, acknowledging exceptions within characters. The essay, using The Portrait of a Lady as an example, illustrates the tension between American practicality and European insistence on form and ceremony, highlighting how spontaneity and sincerity characterize Americans, while Europeans are depicted as calculated and artificial. The ultimate opposition lies in the clash between honesty and the prioritization of form and ritual, exemplified by characters like Gilbert Osmond. James suggests that the ideal individual would combine American innocence and honesty with European experience and knowledge, emphasizing characters like Lord Warburton and Isabel Archer as exemplars.
James, Henry. The Art of Fiction (1884)
In Henry James's "The Art of Fiction," the revolutionary nature of his views on literature is highlighted through several key principles. James argues that an artist's choice of subject is unrestricted, with the focus on how the artist executes and transforms the idea. He emphasizes the importance of conscious artistry, organic structure, and the selection of details. Contrary to moral judgments, James asserts that the criterion for evaluating novels should be their artistry, considering them as matters of taste rather than moral choices. Realism and faithfulness to life become paramount, with James stating that the novel's only reason for existence is its attempt to represent life realistically. The expertise of a writer, akin to a painter, depends on an artistic sensibility and openness to impressions. Critics are urged to judge works based on the standards established by the artists themselves. James dispels false distinctions between novels of action and character, asserting that both ultimately address character. He defends the novel as a true art form, rejecting old superstitions about its supposed wickedness. Lastly, he emphasizes the seriousness with which an author should approach their obligation, discouraging any betrayal of the sacred act of storytelling.
Brown, William Wells. Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (1853)
In Mr. Peck's kitchen, the slaves discuss how a beautiful slave named Dorcas Simpson is engaged to a slave on a neighboring plantation. Though he works in the fields, he is ultimately seen as an acceptable choice for Dorcas because "[h]e's nearly white" (107). Sam, described by Brown as "one of the blackest men living" (107), states that the man's whiteness is an "exchuse for her" (107) and that he disapproves of "dis malgemation of blacks and mulattoes" (107). Brown writes that even among the slaves, "[t]here is [...] a great amount of prejudice against colour" (105). Sam, to compensate for the darkness of his skin, insists his mother was white and that his hair's ability to grow long is evidence "that he was part an Anglo-Saxon" (107). Biracial slaves are seen as untrustworthy by slaves and slave owners alike. Brown notes that slaveholders' wives often see a biracial slave as "a rival" for their husbands' attention (121). For this reason, Clotel is forced to cut off her long hair so she will look more like "any of the full-blooded Negroes in the dwelling" (121). Darker-skinned slaves also reject her, saying "[s]he tinks she white, when she come here did that long har of hers" (121).
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
"...a narrative, let me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be found to include incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I shall tell..." This quote exemplifies the problem of the narrator in the text. Pym begins his tale by explaining that he did not believe anyone would accept his fantastical tale as true, and only felt comfortable publishing it when it was under the guise of fiction. Here he is describing Dirk Peters in Augustus's story of what happened aboveboard while Pym was languishing in the hold. He realizes that the story he is relating is outlandish and perhaps improbable and offers this disclaimer. It is also a warning to readers that the events which are to come - cannibalism, shipwreck, bloodthirsty savages, a trip to the South Pole - are even more unbelievable but they actually happened to him. What makes this quote so interesting is its hint at the larger problem of the novel. While some readers actually thought Pym's tale was real, other reviewers found it ridiculous and over-the-top. Many critics have deemed it a parody of exploration literature and view its stringing together of crazy incidents as a way to poke fun at the actual texts from the genre. Poe himself viewed Pym as a silly book, and it is not surprising to have his main character heed this fact.
Davis, Rebecca Harding. Life in the Iron Mills (1861)
"A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?" The unnamed narrator directly addresses the reader as a way of taking the reader into confidence. The narrator sets up the story with a question and then promptly goes on to answer it. A cloudy day is a constant in the stifling atmosphere of an industrialized town. The narrator shows how unpleasant it is by offering an array of sights, sounds, and smells.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)
"A striking similitude between the brother and the sister now first arrested my attention." In "The Fall of the House of Usher," the narrator makes this observation about Roderick and Madeline Usher when he helps to bury Madeline after her apparent death. This quotation makes explicit the motif of the doppelganger, or character double, that characterizes the relationship between Roderick and Madeline. Poe philosophically experiments with a split between mind and body by associating Roderick exclusively with the former and Madeline exclusively with the latter. The doppelganger motif undermines the separation between mind and body. Poe represents this intimate connectivity between mind and body by making Roderick and Madeline biological twins. When sickness afflicts one sibling, for example, it contagiously spreads to the other. The mode of contagion implies an early version of ESP, or extrasensory perception. Poe insinuates that these mysterious sympathies, which move beyond biological definition, also possess the capacity to transmit physical illness. It is also possible to view these sympathies as Poe's avant-garde imagining of genetic transmission between siblings. Poe suggests that the twin relationship involves not only physical similitude but also psychological or supernatural communication. The power of the intimate relationship between the twins pervades the incestuous framework of the Usher line, since the mansion contains all surviving branches of the family. The revelation of this intimacy also reaffirms the narrator's status as an outsider. The narrator realizes that Roderick and Madeline are twins only after she is nearly dead, and this ignorance embodies the fact that the walls of the Usher mansion have protected the family from outsiders up to the point of the narrator's arrival.
Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince (1831)
"All slaves want to be free-to be free is very sweet." Prince positions herself as a voice for enslaved people. By describing freedom as "sweet," she offers a metaphorical opposite to her experience of slavery as "salty," conveyed through her grueling labor in the salt ponds of Turk's Island, her salty tears over the years, and the many saltwater seas that carried her in ships and boats from one experience of enslavement to the next. Likewise, the sweetness of freedom contrasts with the emotional bitterness of familial separation that she has to endure.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature (1836)
"All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and can do." Each man is capable of using the natural world to achieve spiritual understanding. Just as men in the past explored universal relations for themselves, so may each of us, great and small, in the present.
Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820)
"As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadow lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchards burthened with ruddy fruit, which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, and his imagination expanded with the idea, how they might be readily turned into cash..." During the rising action of the story, the narrator details Ichabod's greed and gluttony to explain his reasoning for perusing Katrina. Ichabod is more drawn to the edible abundance and the wealth of the Van Tassel farm than he is to Katrina herself. The ways in which his greed corrupts him are further underscored by his fantastical intention to sell the farm rather than live on it with his hypothetical future wife.
Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1844)
"As the friend of the Negro assumes that one man cannot by right hold another in bondage, so should the friend of Woman assume that Man cannot by right lay even well meant restrictions on Woman. If the Negro be a soul, if the woman be a soul, apparelled in flesh, to one Master only are they accountable." In this quote from Margaret Fuller's Woman in the Nineteenth Century, she articulates a powerful argument for the acknowledgment of inward and outward freedom for women, insisting that it should be recognized as a fundamental right rather than granted as a concession. The quote draws a parallel between the struggle for women's rights and the fight against slavery, asserting that just as one person cannot rightfully hold another in bondage, similarly, well-intentioned restrictions imposed by men on women should not be considered just. The comparison between the rights of women and the rights of African Americans during the time of slavery underscores Fuller's belief in the universality of human rights. She argues that both women and African Americans are souls, accountable to only one master, and should be subject to a single law. This implies a call for equality and a rejection of the idea that certain restrictions or limitations can be justified based on gender. Moreover, Fuller introduces a spiritual dimension to her argument by suggesting that any interpretation of this universal law should come from a figure not merely as a man or son of man but as a son of God. This can be interpreted as a plea for a higher, more enlightened perspective—one that transcends societal norms and prejudices rooted in human fallibility.
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851)
"Aye, I widowed that poor girl when I married her, Starbuck; and then, the madness, the frenzy, the boiling blood and the smoking brow, with which, for a thousand lowerings old Ahab has furiously, foamingly chased his prey—more a demon than a man!—aye, aye! what a forty years' fool—fool—old fool, has old Ahab been!" In this poignant monologue from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab reflects on the toll of his obsessive pursuit of the white whale, Moby Dick. Ahab's intense introspection reveals a deep sense of regret and the heavy burden of a life consumed by the relentless quest for vengeance. The reference to the mild wind and sky juxtaposed with the harsh reality of his forty years at sea creates a stark contrast, symbolizing the inner turmoil within Ahab. The metaphor of being widowed while having a living wife underscores the emotional distance he has maintained from his family. Ahab's physical ailments and weariness reflect the cost of his fanatical pursuit, and his question about looking old suggests the toll on his spirit. The plea to Starbuck to stand close and the acknowledgment of the "magic glass" in a human eye reveal Ahab's desperate search for human connection amid his isolation. The monologue encapsulates themes of obsession, regret, and the human cost of unrestrained ambition.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening (1899)
"Despondency had come upon her in the wakeful night, and had never lifted. There was no one thing in the world that she desired." In this quote from the book's final chapter, the narrator reveals that Edna finally suvvumbs and gives up her struggle to carve out a place for herself as an independent being. Over a period of several months, she had attempted to realize her own essential self despite the shavkles put on her behavior by her environment. Now, however, her experienve with Robert shows her that neither Robert nor society will ever accept an awakened woman. Knowing no future exists for her, Edna gives up and commits suicide. ****
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women (1868)
"Don't try and make me grow up before my time, Meg; it's hard enough to have you change all of a sudden; let me be a little girl as long as I can." Most of the ways the characters in Little Women are expected to conform to gender conventions are about being men and women rather than boys and girls. Although Mr. March calls the girls his "little women" from the first chapter, clearly they are children in the process of learning children's lessons. When Mr. Brooke begins to express interest in Meg, Jo witnesses the jarring transition from childhood into womanhood and is reluctant to give up her freedom. Growing up naturally requires Laurie as well as the girls to shoulder more responsibilities and hold themselves to higher expectations. However, as Laurie grows up, he receives more power of choice and independence, whereas Meg's transition into adulthood leads her immediately into homebound duties as a wife.
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
"He saw his vivid error, and he was afraid that it would stand before him all his life. He took no share in the chatter of his comrades, nor did he look at them or know them, save when he felt sudden suspicion that they were seeing his thoughts and scrutinizing each detail of the scene with the tattered soldier. Yet gradually he mustered force to put the sin at a distance. And at last his eyes seemed to open to some new ways. He found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly. He was gleeful when he discovered that he now despised them. With the conviction came a store of assurance. He felt a quiet manhood, nonassertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He knew that he would no more quail before his guides wherever they should point. He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. He was a man." The novel ends with a declaration of Henry's development into a man of honor and courage—qualities that Henry now sees quite differently from when he was an inexperienced soldier. He now acknowledges that they do not require him to return home "on his shield." He no longer feels the need for "a red badge of courage" to mark his prowess in battle. Ultimately, Henry's courage is linked to his ability to reflect on his life honestly. No longer willing to let the mistakes he has made reside in the dark, remote places of his consciousness, he considers them and their impact on his character. By coming to terms with his wrongs, Henry, like Wilson before him, realizes the importance of integrity.
Ridge, John Rollin. The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta: The Celebrated California Bandit (1854)
"His soul swelled beyond its former boundaries, and the barriers of honor, rocked into atoms by the strong passion which shook his heart like an earthquake, crumbled around him."
Chesnutt, Charles. Po' Sandy (1899)
"I can't eben keep a wife: my yuther ole 'oman wuz sol' away widout my gittin' a chance fer to tell her good-by; en now I got ter go off en leab you, Tenie, en I dunno whe'r I'm eber gwine ter see you ag'in er no." This quote provides evidence that the reason Sandy is willing to be turned into a tree is that he had already lost one wife without being able to say goodbye and he does not want that to happen again. He would rather not be a human at all than live under slavery.
Apess, William. A Son of the Forest: The Experience of William Apess, A Native of the Forest, Comprising a Notice of the Pequot Tribe of Indians, Written by Himself (1829)
"I felt convinced that Christ died for all mankind, that age, sect, color, country, or situation made no difference. I felt an assurance that I was included in the plan of redemption with all my brethren. No one can conceive with what joy I hailed this new doctrine." Echoing the antislavery voices of his day, Apess used what he took to be the central message of Christianity--"Christ died for all mankind"--to establish a moral yardstick against which he could measure the behavior of his fellow Americans. His conversion armed him with a moral language he used to position himself as a Native American in a world ruled by outsiders. Cut off from his own tribal traditions and engulfed by an indifferent white community, Apess shared many of the conditions facing the Senecas or Shawnees. But he did not take the nativist path of Handsome Lake or Tenskwatawa. Rather than dismiss whites as inscrutable devils, he condemned them in their own tongue: They were sinners, people who did not live up to their ideals. "How much better it would be if the whites would act like civilized people," he declared.
