Highlights
An Array of Genres and Voices
A rich gathering of private and public documents–including diary entries, letters, wills, biographies, interrogations, histories, satires, newspaper articles, crime narratives, dispositions, and public addresses–bring to life the experience of ordinary Americans and provide material for discussion of some of the most provocative questions at the center of historical and literary scholarship. Questions of authenticity, personal and national identity, historical accuracy, textual representation, inclusion and exclusion, the role of memory, and, ultimately, whose history becomes history and why–all abound in this collection that is both a social documentary and a teaching reader.
Content in Context
- A general introduction explores the fascinating questions of why individuals committed their experience to writing and discusses the scope and uses of the book.
- Introductions to thematic groupings provide important contexts and pose interesting cultural questions as a preparation for reading.
- Headnotes to individual selections address specific aspects of the writer's life and include useful composition and publication histories.
A Thematic Approach
Thoughtful thematic groupings of texts highlight the range and intensity of response, conversation, debate, and conflict surrounding key historical moments. Revolutionary War narratives place Loyalists and Rebels in opposition; multiple accounts of the abduction and revenge of Hannah Dustan show the myth-making process at work in early American Indian captivity narratives; successive journal entries show evolving perceptions of the Civil War; and letters home speak of promise and hardship met by immigrants. American Voices, American Lives illuminates nation-making and its impact on individual lives.
Copyright © 2005, W. W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.
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