Rise of American Literature During the 20th Century

I'll give you some advice" (Rogers).

America at the beginning of the 20th century was like that jaded, road-weary gambler. The country had fought hard for its independence in its youth. More recently, it had been through the bitter internal battle of the Civil War. It had focused its initial attention on surviving, and it had become an experienced veteran, seasoned enough to give newer nations advice on how

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It was at least a decade ahead of its time: Peter Conn writes, "It has often been said that it took America's taste about a generation to catch up with Dreiser" (316). The book was remarkable because it resembled initially the kind of good-girl-gone-bad potboiler that had been a staple of popular fiction in the late 1800s, the cautionary tale about the perils of the big city and its effects on tradition and morality. Yet Dreiser's heroine does not suffer the fate of her fictional predecessors. For one thing, she is still alive at the end of the novel. Like the gambler, she is jaded, battle-scarred, and weathered, but she has also made a living from her experience. Both Carrie and the gambler are quintessentially America figures: loners who have survived through their own grit and determination. As Bode writes, "The rewards for energy were greater here than in any other country in the western world. America was a favored nation; no wonder its vigor was manifest" (246). Carrie and the gambler may not have ideal lives, but they have lives they were able to claim through their own efforts and ingenuity. "You gotta know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1396
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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