In order to make a piece of literature significant enough to be actually reflected as a piece of American literature worth of being preserved and studied inside of an American literary canon, it should have at least two qualities: The spirit of freedom, and a catalyst or some hand in shaping what w:st=”on “America is at present. Both of these qualities are clearly elucidated by Tomas Paine in his work, Common Sense. A discussion of what should be a canon of American literature has been revealed in this paper.
American literature is defined as the work of literature created in the area of the w:st=”on “United States and Colonial America, while a literary canon is considered as a body of legendary works or art that is prominent and influential in shaping a culture. The works of Paine conveys vast amounts of the quality of the spirit of freedom, especially in his work ‘Common Sense’. Paine’s works in ‘Common Sense’ vividly explains the rights of man to be free from tyranny and oppression. This perception of freedom set w:st=”on”America apart from the rest of the world at the time it was written.
Even though many people in the world who desire freedom from oppression, it took authors like Thomas Paine to make the world take in that America was a land of unconquerable freedom, beginning with w:st=”on”America’s declaration of such to the British. In the works of ‘Common Sense’, Paine got Americans to become conscious that they had the power to achieve their quest for freedom and break the bonds of colonial dominion. The spirit of freedom in the works of ‘Common Sense’ asserted that one should love mankind and oppose tyranny so as to stand forth.
The rest of the world; Asia, Africa and even Europe has turned a way from the old world that had overrun with oppression. Jonathan Brody Kramnick explained the idea of this freedom in allusion to ‘Common Sense’ to be included in the American literary canon (Kramnick 1087-1101). It is a work that is well thought-out for American canon and as a result preserved and studied to radiate American ideal. Conceivably, as a catalyst for change in w:st=”on”America is excessively tall for much of literature. However, the building of the American canon builds a set of individual and social values in the course of the evolution of American literature.
In his work, Paine clarifies that there is a dire need to alter how w:st=”on”America is to be explained. He wrote that tyranny and oppression were widespread, and that it was time to make certain that America had no place for tyranny, rather w:st=”on”America ought to be a place for the renegade that is freedom. Charles Altieri argued in his work “Idea and Ideal” that the past canons preserve is appreciated as an eternal theater assisting Americans shape and judge personal and social values (Altieri 37-60).
From this, American canonical literature spreads a set of challenges of a need for an evolution of thought and the expansion of a god given right to freedom, with the model of w:st=”on”America. When deciding whether something is American or not, the Ideology of Canon-Formation: T. S. Eliot and Cleanth Brooks and an inclusion into some sort of American literary canon are considered (Guillory 173-98). Paul Lauter writes in “History and the Canon” that putting black oral tradition and the earliest black creative writings together emerging contradictory ideas on literature functions outlined by Melville, Hawthorne and Twain are evident.
Conclusions This paper shows that it is unattainable to rate works as being the best or the worst in regards to an American literary canon. This attributed to divergence of ideas in each group of people about the constituents of American literature, but not in every respect. Since nearly all American literature has served to discover American literature, it is unproblematic to find American canon literature that has shaped the future. However, with regard to “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, it was not only written for one group of people, but also for the entire Americans.
Hence, there is a dire need that “Common Sense” has to be preserved and studied as long as w:st=”on”America is a supporter of freedom.
Works Cited
Altieri, Charles. “An Idea and Ideal of a Literary Canon. ” Critical Inquiry 10. 1 (September 1983): 37-60. Guillory, John. “The Ideology of Canon-Formation: T. S. Eliot and w:st=”on”Cleanth Brooks. ” Critical Inquiry 10. 1 (September 1983): 173-98. Kramnick, Jonathan Brody. “The Making of the English Canon. ” PMLA 112. 5 (October 1997): 1087-1101.