Lihannah Duncan

ENG 3020

19 May 2017

Critical Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction Page 1

Anne Bradstreet Page 1

Nathaniel Hawthorne Pages 2-3

Emerson Pages 3-4

W. E. Du Bois Pages 4-5

Flannery O’ Connor Pages 5-6

Silko Pages 6-7

Conclusion Pages 7-8

Excerpts Pages

Critical RW #1 and #2 Pages

Annotated Bibliography Pages

 American Literary Traditions

When considering the diverse field of American authors, the question

arises: What makes a text truly American? To discover the answer to this, an

individual must look at the common characteristics and large themes that have

emerged consistently - things like individualism or the search for identity. A group

of American authors and their writings have seemingly been shaped by religious

tradition. The texts explored in this critical edition will highlight the role of religion

as essential to the establishment of American identity and the formation of

literature to follow.

The first example in the selected grouping of authors of one such formed

individual would be the young Puritan author Anne Bradstreet. Anne Bradstreet’s

writings clearly display religious influence throughout and initially, an individual

reading her work might think that they see her fully formed faith reflected in her

writing. Upon further reflection, however, it becomes clear that much of her faith

is actually formed ​through​ the literature that she writes. In one particular moment

she is observing nature around her and is trying to write about it when she

realizes that what she sees is God’s glory reflected in creation. She says,
 I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,/ If so much excellence abide

below/ How excellent is He that dwells on high,/ Whose power and beauty

by His works we know?/ Sure He is goodness, wisdom, glory, light, / That

hath this under world so richly dight; More heaven than earth was here, no

winter and no night (Anthology 113.)

In the above quote the reader learns several important things about

Bradstreet. It displays the way that she holds faithful to the religious boundaries

surrounding her at the same time that it is also more deeply defining her beliefs

to both the reader and even to herself the more that she writes. In the end, her

writing does not cause her to question the religious beliefs or the closely tied

societal standards of the time. Instead, her writing seems to reinforce this in her

own mind as truth.

While Bradstreet’s journey was a seemingly smooth one, not all American

authors had a peaceful a relationship with the religious community and tradition

surrounding them. Some of these authors chaffed underneath the repressive

nature of such traditions.A prime example of this struggle could be found in the

piece ​Young Goodman Brown​ by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne writes about

the journey of a man by the name of young goodman Brown. This character is

being courted by the devil under the pretense that he is a good Christian member
of society. We come into the story, however, when the devil has invited him to

come to an evil meeting in the forest. He has wooed young goodman brown to at

least take the trip into the forest to experience what the meeting is and what evil

is like before he has actually decided to follow the devil and to give in to evil. As

the rest of the story unfolds, it seems to be a fantastical way of explaining the

spiritual journey that Hawthorne himself is on. Hawthorne sets up the main

character to reflect himself and deepens this connection by even giving him the

same backstory. He writes,

‘My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father

before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians,

since the days of the martyrs. And I shall be the first of the name Brown,

that ever took this path, and kept-’ Such company, thou wouldst say…I

have been as well acquainted with your family as ever a one among the

Puritans; and that’s no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the

constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the

streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot,

kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip’s

war. They were my good friends, both…’

 This reveals some of Hawthorne’s deepest shame as he willingly exposes

the inherited identity that he is trying to outrun. His father and grandfather both

claimed to be Christians and were well respected leaders in their communities.

Hawthorne, however, viewed their actions as a black stain so large that he

changed his name to escape it. This experience with the negative effects of

religion is his driving force behind even writing ​Young Goodman Brown​ and the

work is heavily influenced by it. The above passage can be viewed almost as his

explanation of his views on the actions of his father and grandfather. This

commentary shows that he believed their actions were evil through and through

and he even attributes them to being the idea of the devil. By the end of the

story, Hawthorne has replaced this fake Christianity and destructive religion, with

a view and a religion that he saw as much more pure.

Following Hawthorne, an American author walks onto the scene of

American literary tradition with an exceptionally unconventional view of the

relationship between identity and religion. Once a Unitarian minister himself,

Ralph Waldo Emerson was no stranger to the inner workings of the religious

community during his time. He was not really present as a writer until he

sustained some personal losses within his life. These losses made it impossible

for him to continue to be a Unitarian minister. Unlike Bradstreet, his beliefs were

redefined completely before he even started writing. In his case, this helped to
give him something to write about and acted as a type of catalyst for his writing.

For Emerson, poetry and writing itself becomes a type of religion and way to

understand the universe. Instead of looking at everything through the lense of

religion, he looks at everything through the lens of poetry. He writes,

For the Universe has three children, born at one time, which reappear

under different names, in every system of thought, whether they be called

cause, operation, and effect; or, more poetically, Jove, Pluto, Neptune, or,

theologically, the Father, the Spirit, and the Sone; but which we will call

here, the Knower, the Doer, and the Sayer. These stand respectively for all

the love of truth, for the love of good, and for the love of beauty. These

three are equal. Each is that which he is essentially, so that he cannot be

surmounted or analyzed, and each of these three has the power of the

others latent in him, and his own patent (Anthology 568.)

This gives us a more clear view into his writing. He wrote to change

perspective and to best honor expression, which he believed to be the highest

and purest form of the universe. Identity and meaning for him was not found

though religious ritual, but instead through expression.

In contrast, the author W. E. B. Du Bois was searching for not only an

individual identity, but a corporate racial identity. He struggled with his sense of

“twoness” being American and a black man in America. He saw traditional

Christianity, particularly that represented in the music of spirituals, as being

particularly formative for African-Americans burdened by a history of slavery. We

see this when he writes on page 1722 in the Anthology,

We the darker ones come even now not altogether empty-handed: there

are to-day no

truer exponents of the pure human spirit of the Declaration of

Independence than the American Negroes; there is no true American

music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy

tales and folklore are Indian and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and

smartness. Will America be poorer if she replace her brutal dyspeptic

blundering with light-hearted but determined Negro humility? Or her coarse

and cruel wi with loving jovial good humor? Or her vulgar music with the

soul of the Sorrow Songs?

The collective pain of the black culture is hard to ignore within this quote. It

is harder still to ignore this many years later and it seems as though very little

progress has been made. He used religion as the inspiration for spirituals. These

he saw as freedom songs and as an anchor that gave hope and identity to him

and his people. He even says that he could not think of anything quite so
American. Though they were being mistreated, and being treated as though they

were less than human (and certainly not American) through this, the reader can

see that they truly have embodied American identity in a way that arguably may

not have happened if not for their view of religion and how it sustained and

defined them.

Flannery O’Connor had a similar perspective of pulling the core of her

identity from religion but noticed a different aspect of religion and the effect it can

have when used to be oppressive rather than a sign of hope or freedom.. She

herself grew up with an extreme dose of Catholicism if there could be such a

thing. She experienced the rigidity of religion which is often based on

performance and good works. The identity of the community surrounding her was

closely tied to Catholicism. Her view was a little bit different (and was once again,

arguably more pure) because she had Lupus. She viewed this tragedy as a sort

of wake up call to what God was really saying. In her view, it enabled her to

shake of unquestioned monotony and also pride in believing that a person could

know it all. Her identity differed from her community and from this her work ​Good

Country People​ was born. In her story, two of the characters who have not truly

experienced tragedy remain static, clinging to their views in an empty way, yet

still not truly believing in God. This point comes up when she writes, ‘‘You’re a

Christian!’ she hissed. ‘You’re a fine Christian! You’re just like them all - say one
thing and do another.’... ‘ And I’ll tell you another thing, Hulga,’ he said… ‘ you

ain’t so smart. I been believing in nothing since I was born!’’ Here lies the lesson

O’Connor is trying to get across. Hulga thought that she knew everything, but it

truly took this absurd tragedy to ‘awaken her’ so to speak. In the end, O’Connor

leaves us without knowing what Hulga’s ultimate response is, giving us the

opportunity to decide what we will ultimately decide to do in response as well.

She leaves us with the thought that God often tries to reach us through a wake

up call. In her stories it is often shown through the bizarre or the grotesque, and it

is left up to us (at least in this particular instance) to reflect on our own

motivations and how our beliefs motivate and truly shape us deep down.

Finally, we move to take a look at Leslie Silko and excerpts from

Ceremony​. Silko and her writing was heavily influenced by religion though not in

the way that most people might think of it. Often in America, when the average

person thinks about religion, their initial thought is some type of Christian based

faith. One thing that is both interesting to think about, and that is crucial for us to

understand, is that American literary traditions were being formed, shaped, and

molded by religion long before any Christian beliefs were communicated or

forced upon people.

It is hard to find a more perfect example of someone who could be

considered truly American than a Native of the land. Yet, this aspect of American
culture is not only usually, forgotten, left out, or ignored. In some cases,

American government has (and still does) actively try to kill this culture and these

traditions. Before there were the written traditions that most readers are

accustomed to think about immediately, there were oral traditions and stories

passed down and built upon for generations. They were often creation stories or

stories about religion, that were hungrily passed down and continually shaped

the culture.

Though, the white man has not always been (and is not always still) the

most welcoming

of this culture, religion, and tradition, it has been hard to kill altogether and is still

shaping culture today. This is at least a portion of what Silko explores as she

writes her text. The main character, Tayo embodies the struggle and strife that so

many Americans have experienced because of being clearly mix raced. His life

shows a unique perspective where, being mix-race, he is not truly accepted into

the community of either culture. White culture basically tells Native American

culture that they are somehow less American and are inferior (although they

have one of the truest claims to being American both land-wise and by

characteristics and values of any race.)

When Silko wrote this novel, she did a fantastic job bridging the gap

between Native American literary traditions and what is often thought of as

Western white literary traditions. Tayo has a shattered identity on multiple levels,

giving him a deep sense of lostness that many in America have and currently still

do experience. He cannot distinguish between time period in his life and he

cannot join either one of the opposing cultures that are a part of his heritage. He

lives most of his life in isolation and shame as an outsider. This is probably why

his PTSD is so bad when he returns. He didn’t feel welcome enough or rooted in

either of his heritages and it caused a further fracturing in his identity. His journey

is confusing, painful, and intriguing all at once​.

Throughout the book, she weaves in true native stories of religion and

creation. A good example of this would be when she writes, “They couldn’t simply

grab the child/ They couldn’t just simply take him back because he would be in

between forever/ and he would probably die” (Silko 120.)

This story reflects the struggle Tayo goes through and both stories are

resolved through the use of native religion. Each author took a different stance

on whether religion was good or bad or what it was or was not useful for. In the

end though, we see that regardless of whether or not it was a positive effect,

religion has influenced American literary traditions in a true and deep sense. This

is one of the things that truly makes forms the American identity. Not just being

written in America, but being shaped by these religious ideals. Our culture has

been truly enriched by all different types of culture and the religious tradition that
comes with that.

Critical R/W #1

Young Goodman Brown and the Illusion of Community

Goodman Brown seems to be a lost soul with a craving both for trouble as well

as a true sense of community. As we follow his story we see an interesting version of

the role of community that deviates from that in most writings of that time. This paper

will show that Goodman Brown’s sense of community is distorted and demolished

when, after going on this journey, his Puritan community is not only discovered to be a

massive lie, but also pales in comparison to the community that is built and shared by

those seeking evil purposes. This is not only surprising to the reader of today, but it

would have been almost scandalous during the time that it was written.

One of the first hints at this that we come across is found on page 621 when the

“one of the serpent” responds to goodman Brown saying of himself that he would be

ashamed to be the first in his family to be so evil by saying, “ I have been as well

acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that’s no trifle to

say. I helped your grandfather, the constable...and it was I that brought your father a

pitch-pine knot...they were my good friends, both and I would fain be friends with you,

for their sake.” and again later on pages 621 going to 622 “ We are a people of prayer,

and good works, to boot, and abide no such wickedness.’” ‘Wickedness or not,’ said the

traveler with the twisted staff, ‘I have a very general acquaintance here in New-England.
The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen

of divers towns, make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court

are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I , too…’” These two quotes clearly

show right off the bat that the community that Goodman Brown has grown up with, that

he trusts, and that he looks to for spiritual guidance is not what he thought. We see that

the “one of the serpent” seems to bring various groups of people together, and has

good connections specifically in Young Goodman Brown’s community.

Goodman Brown is surprised as time and again members of his community let

him down. More specifically he is at a loss when he discovers that some of the worst

offenders are members of his own family, those who rule in power and make

judgements, and finally even the most ‘devout’ seeming preacher. There is an internal

cognitive dissonance within him that we get to be an audience to. While he struggles

through this dissonance it is more and more important to him that his wife remains pure.

Each of the role-models and people he looked up to are one by one falling into this

temptations and keeping it concealed from the rest of the public.

This idea is reinforced throughout the poem with each new member of the

community that he sees has been drawn into evil. This all boils over and eventually

proves to be too much for Young Goodman Brown. The story ends in his extreme

criticism and response to what he views as a fake and deceitful community when on

page 628 Young Goodman Brown is described. It says, “ A stern, a sad, a darkly

meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become., from the night of that

fearful dream. On the Sabbath-day when the congregation were singing a holy psalm,
he could not listen, because the anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear, and drowned

out the blessed strain.”

That night he had seen a better, truer, stronger sense of community between all

of the people at the evil meeting than anywhere else he looked within his town. In the

end we can say with finality that the evil community he stumbled upon was overall a

better community than the false one he seemed to face during the day.

*Annotated Bibliography

Critical RW #2

The America of Apess

It is immediately clear when reading Apess that he feels very strongly that

America lies both about its ethics and the religion that it clings to to justify and

encourage their actions which are anything but just. He passionately makes his case,

appealing to the reader to essentially wake up. He seems to talk about his ideal version

of America. In his view it is a place where there is no longer mistreatment of any race

(although he addresses African-American injustice and puts a special emphasis on the

mistreatment of the American Indians). He boldly speaks out against racism but does

not just leave us with the idea that things need to change, but he hints at some steps

Americans should take as individuals and as a society. This paper will show that his

ideal route in changing the way there is segregation will come through both education
and legislature. In all the years since he has written this, that still today seems like it is

the place to start in bringing about any change.

Some of the first evidence we see of this is on page 502. Here his focus (though

mainly just in passing) is set more upon the responsibilities of teachers and education.

He says, “ What is love, or its effects? Now if they who teach are not essentially affected

with pure love, the love of God, how can they teach as they ought? Again the holy

teachers of old said, ‘ Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his’

(Romans 8:9). Now, my brethren in the ministry, let me ask you a few sincere questions.

Did you ever hear or read of Christ teaching his disciples that they ought to despise one

another because His skin was different from theirs.” Here Apess seems to put specific

pressure on teachers, both teachers within the church, as well as in schools, and even

of parents in the home. Any place where it was found for there to be a teacher of any

sort, their was his target audience. For he knew and seemed to be trying to get the point

across that so much of racism and injustice was modeled most commonly and even

most severely by those to whom the community looked as a moral guide and example.

It had been ingrained in their minds over and over both as children and as adults.

The next snippet of evidence to focus on is found on the bottom of page 503

where he says,

“And I could point to some in the famous city of Boston and elsewhere. You may

look now at the disgraceful act in the statute law passed by the legislature of

Massachusetts, and behold the fifty-pound fine levied upon any clergyman or

justice of the peace that dare to encourage the laws of God and nature by a
 legitimate union in holy wedlock between the Indians and the whites. I would ask

how this looks to your lawmakers. I would ask if this corresponds with your

sayings - that you think as much of the Indians as you do of the whites. I do not

wonder that you blush, many of you, while you read; for many have broken the

ill-fated laws made by man to hedge up the laws of God and nature. I would ask

if they who have made the law have not broken it - but there is no other state in

New England that has this law but Massachusetts; and I think, as many of you do

not, that you have done yourselves no credit.”

Here he is saying that the current legislation of the time was working against colored

people and denying them rights. It is his opinion that the laws that had been set up,

went against the very ‘laws of God and nature.’

Apess was nothing if he was not passionate. It can be a little much to read what

he said; however, his ideas remain profound and are still ideas that are prevalent today.

Clearly Apess believed that if there were to be any change in the circumstances that

surrounded him, it would have to come through education (in which the church played a

huge role) as well as through legislature.

Annotated Bibliography

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. ​The Norton Anthology of American Literature​. New

York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Bryanna Article
Swan, Edith. “Healing via the Sunwise Cycle in Silko's ‘Ceremony.’” ​American Indian
 Quarterly​, vol. 12, no. 4, 1988, pp. 313–328., www.jstor.org/stable/1184404.
The argument for this article concerns the accuracy of Silko’s narrative when the
actual Native American traditional culture, and especially that of witchery and
cosmology, is considered. Swan argues that Tayo’s path follows that of the Native
American figure the Spider Woman and her sunwise cycle. During this cycle, Tayo
undergoes his transition, his becoming, and eventually achieves balance as he creates
a place for himself in the “Spider Woman’s metaphysics,” her cycle (Swan 326). The
underlying argument beyond that concerning the sun wise cycle is that all the stories
that Silko intertwines into the narrative are accurate in accordance to Native American
oral and cultural tradition.
Our lesson will consist of teaching about the importance of the two stories in
Ceremony​ and why the Native American culture that is integrated throughout both of
them is so imperative to the reading. This article is awesome because it helps the
reader understand the true relationship, or a suggested true relationship, between the
two narratives. It also clarifies the geographical journey along with the ceremonial
journey that Tayo goes through, and goes so far to relate this all back to the accuracy of
the culture depicted and the Native American narrative in the book.
Natalie Article
Karen, Piper. “Police Zones: Territory and Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony.”
American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3. 1997
Summary of the narrative is: While the Euro-American tradition generally
associates the rise of the author with the rise of the individual, Silko's work radically
dissociates from this tradition. Her narrative is one of accretion, building upon the
narratives of her community, and thus presenting the apocalyptic vision that the Jackpile
Mine brought to Laguna and incorporating it into their myths.
The article introduces​ ​territory and identity. This article influences my reading
because it showed me a different view from the book. I’d like to teach the different views
that have learned in my article.
Lihannah Article
Herzog, Kristin. "Thinking Woman and Feeling Man: Gender in Silko's Ceremony."
Melus​ 12.1 (1985): 25. Web.
Herzog’s article discusses gender roles in the Silko’s ​Ceremony​. The argument is
twofold; first, that gender in the Native American culture is different from than of the
western/American culture and secondly, that there is a distinction in the style of the
writing itself that allows for the differences between the female and male gender
portrayals in the narrative. The article goes on to attribute this distinction to the
connectedness of the Native American culture with the spirit and natural world. Finally,
Tayo becomes a key figure in the argument as the article argues that because Tayo is
forced to leave his culture and enter the White culture and the war he loses touch with
his connectedness with his culture and nature, and only can he be saved when he
returns home and is taught the culture again by men like his Uncle who are important
cultural figures.
This article is a good contribution the the argument that the duality of the novel,
that being the narrative of Tayo and the Native American narrative of the Spider Woman
and the spirit world, are accurate and correctly in relationship with each other. The
duality of the novel and the importance of the Indian culture will be the key lesson that
we wish to share with the class, and this article touches on gender and culture which is
a hugely overt theme in the novel. Along with this, it discusses the race factor in part,
such as the distinction in gender roles between races, and this is also something that
falls under the theme or culture that changes how one views the text.
● Summary of the narrative, helpful because it presented it in a clear way
● Argument of gender roles in the narrative and how they’re defined differently by
White culture and the Native American culture
● Looked even closer at typical gender roles for Native American culture and how
different it is compared to White Culture
● There is a distinction between a more feminine and more masculine style of
writing: silko balances both and this is good
● Gender roles are still present but spirits and connectedness allows for more
fluidity
● When they go off to the war they are forced to be emptied of the spirit so they are
capable of killing
● When they come back this is why they’re different
● Uncle and other Native men remind him of the other feminine things and the
Native culture, nurturing spirit that they see in everything
● The difference between a culture of abrahamic faith where men are more
dominant and women are more submissive, where in Laguna culture specifically
creation stems from female spirits
*look back and read for intervention

Silko, Leslie Marmon. ​Ceremony​. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.