Essay Topic - What is an Anglo-American Literature

Essay Topic - What is an Anglo-American Literature?The essay question, 'What is an Anglo-American literature?' has been asked of English and American authors for many decades. It can be an important and challenging assignment because the English literary canon is so diverse, and the Anglo-American canon is so well established.The essay should address the subject matter in four parts. First, it should set out the historical context. Then, it should be organized and structured to establish the author's general style. Thirdly, it should set out the particular characteristics of the author.The historical context of the essay will not be so easily defined. It must address a single period of English history (or American history, for that matter) as a starting point. However, if the essay is organized around the Oxford English Dictionary, or some other source of primary sources, the question of what is an Anglo-American literature may be easily answered.One of the features of this question is that it does not necessarily deal with the period when the work was written. There is no fixed 'canon'titles' for English and American literature. To give a simple example, you might find one set of authors called the 'Great Novelists' and another set of authors called the 'Fifth Estate.' Such a 'system' would be entirely arbitrary, and no systematic arrangement of 'greatness' could ever be established.The other aspect of the question which is quite common is that it raises the question of what it is about a particular work that sets it apart from other works. Such an essay question can be a challenge, but it is important to approach it with an open mind. If we do this, then we can work with what we have, and with the full range of possibilities that have come to light in the last few hundred years.A related aspect of the essay is that it is often addressed to a group of students who are examining a single title or to one topic. Since many of these students would like to be compa ring works in order to provide a scorecard, they may find the essay somewhat limiting. The essay must focus on the author, but it should not be limited to looking at just one element. Each author's style, however, must be examined.Even new historians who have uncovered a wealth of materials on all these topics will find a different challenge in order to compare the author's style. Thus, they need to establish that he/she has a clear understanding of the style of the author. However, they must still seek evidence of a significant amount of variation in the style of the author from one book to the next.For example, it might be impossible to argue that Robert Burns is one of the greatest poets ever created, while also arguing that John Milton is one of the greatest authors. That is the reality of the task, and that is the context in which one must write the question. This way, an essay question will give readers a unique perspective, but one which is still consistent with the tradition al canon.