american literature

In this I 'm going to discuss Gertrude Stein 's and Robert Frost 's reaction to modernism . First of all , let 's define the basic characteristics of modernism as a trend in the American literature Modernism in American literature had a number of distinctive features One of them was associated with stylistic experiments resulting from the disruption of conventional syntax and form . Challenges tradition was the most characteristic feature of the time . From one hand , this period witnessed the emergence of feminist and urban literature from another hand , pastoral or rural tradition

as well as regionalism and local color were continued

Some researchers argue that Frost and Stein might have been as well the disciples of Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman . Dickinson and Whitman were the icons of the Romantic period - a approach , as it may seem . However , the basis for comparison here is not Frost and Stein being too old-fashioned ' yet Dickinson and Whitman being extremely modern and innovative . While staying the typical representatives of Romanticism , both Whitman and Dickinson pioneered some features typical for later modernist developments . Whitman experimented with style , syntax and form , while Dickinson addressed the themes of self-awareness and used such innovative approaches as paradox and unusual imagery

Therefore , my thesis is as follows : both Frost and Stein can be regarded as modernists and the connection of their style to the style of Whitman and Dickinson should be attributed to the modernity ' of the latter Frost and Stein adequately responded to the literary innovation of their time however , in their writings they based upon the most successful experiments of their all-famous predecessors

Robert Frost is often cited as anti-modernist . Actually , the debate about Frost 's style has been an enduring , and I 'm going to step in with my analysis of his works . Frost seems to be a poet that didn 't step away from the so-called classical poetry . However , the modernity ' of Frost should be seen in hi skilful combinations of allusion and to-date intellectual issues with easy-to-read style . By the way , his interest to the regionalism and rural life were also typical for modernism : Whose woods these are I think I know

His house is in the village , though

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow (From "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

While the majority of Frost 's verses are written in standard metric tradition , sometime he rost wrote in the standard meter of blank verse yet made sentences several lines longer in to make it sound like natural speech

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees

I like to think some boy 's been swinging them

But swinging doesn 't bend them down to stay (From Birches

As for Gertrude Stein , in "The Making of Americans " she violates standard grammatical rules with lengthy run-on sentences and continuous statements . Indeed , this was typical for the modernists but done by Whitman long before...