Created by Hannah Tomlinson

By Olivia McIlwain. On this episode of the Murmuring Tigers Podcast, Olivia McIlwain addresses the overall question of, “Why Should You Read American Literature Today?” with a focus on the importance of societal changes seen throughout American literature. Olivia will zoom in on the specific changes seen in racism, gender roles, technology, and education through a use of different academic articles and literary works.

Works Cited

Austin, S. (n.d.). The importance of literature in modern society. findcourses.co.uk. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/hobby-fun-leisure-articles/the-importance-of-literature-in-modern-society 17411#:~:text=Literature%20allows%20a%20person%20to,manuscripts%20and%20through%20speech%20itself.

Dewulf, J. (2021). 1619: The Dramatic Performance Traditions of North America’s First Enslaved Africans. Comparative Drama, 55(4), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1353/cdr.2021.0032

The Industrial Revolution. Education. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2023, from

National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). The emancipation proclamation. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation

Thomas, T. (2021). Reclaiming the Long History of the “Irrelevant” Nineteenth Amendment for Gender Equality. Minnesota Law Review, 105(6),

Uncle tom’s cabin - project gutenberg. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.gutenberg.Who invented the automobile? The Library

Winston-Salem/forsyth county schools/ front page. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01001395/Centricity/Domain/7935/Gatsby_PDF_FullText.pdf

Women and children in Colonial America. Education. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/women-and-children-colonial-america/

Women's rights. American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights org/files/203/203-h/203-h.htm

Summary by Izzy Evangelista.

In my podcast, I used My Antonia as the text to introduce my topic of Immigration in the United States, and how immigrants add value to our society. Throughout the podcast, I talk about how immigration is talked about in My Antonia and compare it to my own experience as well as a generalization of how it typically is for immigrants today. I mention what jobs they look for, and how they work hard to provide for themselves and their family. I am more on the positive side of this topic and explain how America is a melting pot of culture. I add my own opinion of immigration aside from the novel to show that I agree with the interpretation of how immigration is shown in My Antonia. Although this novel is about the admiration of someone else, I love that I could talk about a topic like immigration because of the experience that Antonia had, even if the explanation was brief. 

Reference:

Immigrants in the United States. American Immigration Council. (2021, September 21). Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-the-united-states 

From Angelica Mallak: In my podcast “Lets Dive Right In” I will discuss the importance of American Literature in todays educational system. I invite my listeners to ask themselves: Do you guys think that American Literature is important in our educational system? Should the American school system focus more on the reading abilities of students?. Then I will begin to elaborate on why American Literature is important for students in todays world and back up my statements with research. In this podcast I encourage my listeners to read books and explain to them some of the benefits they may receive from this accomplishment.

Bibliography
1. Shockley, Martin Staples. “American Literature in American Education.” College English, vol. 8, no. 1, 1946, pp. 23–30.
2. Clark, Beverly Lyon. “Little Women Acted: Responding to H.t.p.'s Response.” The Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 36, no. 2, 2012, pp. 174–192.
3.“Libguides: American Literature & Culture: American Literature.” American Literature - American Literature & Culture - LibGuides at Miami Dade College Learning Resources, https://libraryguides.mdc.edu/Americanlit.
4. Ludden, Jennifer. “Why Aren't Teens Reading like They Used to?” NPR, NPR, 12 May 2014, https://www.npr.org/2014/05/12/311111701/why-arent-teens-reading-like-they-used-to.
5. American Literature – Department of English. https://english.ufl.edu/programs/undergraduate-programs/american-literature/.

Made by Anna Beringer: this podcast episode explores the concept of reading American literature as a means to educate readers on less represented parts of our nation’s history. Though history textbooks can educate on dates, important figures, and political agendas, literature gives readers more perspective on the nuances and details of life in different eras. Literature can also give readers more empathy and a more emotional response to historical events so that we can learn from them and grow our country into a better place more every day.

Works Cited

Crabtree, Zoe. “THE HISTORY AND CONTEXT OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ‘LITTLE WOMEN.’” University of Texas at Austin, 2 Nov.

Foster, Malcolm. “The Black Crepe Veil: The Significance of Stephen Crane's The Monster.” The International Fiction Review, Concordia University.

McMurray, Price. "Disabling Fictions: Race, History, and Ideology in Crane's "The Monster"." Studies in American Fiction, vol. 26 no. 1, 1998, p. 51-72. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/saf.1998.0009.

Puronaho, Jenni. “Innocent, Yet Ambitious - Childhood in 19th Century America as Depicted in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women Series .” University of Jyvaskyla , 2010. https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/23033/URN%3aNBN%3afi%3ajyu-201003151320.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Sands-O'Connor, Karen. "Anything to Suit Customers: Antislavery and Little Women." Children's Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 26 no. 1, 2001, p. 33-38. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/chq.0.1428.

From creator Esther Adegbola: this podcast project is an analysis of why American literature should be read. I shall explore the cultural aspects and historical features that American literature has.

References

Graff, G. (2007). Why Study American Literature? PMLA, 122(2), 552–556. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2007.122.2.552

Levander, C. F. (2008). Why Read American Literature? American Literary History, 20(4), 734–741. https://doi.org/10.1093/alh/ajn048

Miller, J. (2014). Why Read American Literature? American Studies, 53(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1353/ams.2014.0015

Ellison, R. (1952). Invisible Man. Random House.

Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. Knopf.

Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott & Co.

Gates Jr, H. L. (1997). The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism. Oxford University Press

Kuo, P. C. (2017). Why read literature? Cogent Arts & Humanities, 4(1), 1299731

Nussbaum, M. C. (1990). Love's knowledge: Essays on philosophy and literature. Oxford University Press.

King, S. (2010). On writing: A memoir of the craft. Simon & Schuster.

Melville, H. (1851). Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. Harper & Brothers.

Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons.

Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. Knopf.

In this episode, the question of why we should read American literature today is asked and answered by Sarah Wages. She will use different novels to prove her point, but specifically talking about Willa Cather’s My Ántonia. She will then introduce the Bechdel Test to American Literature, seeing what does and does not pass the test.

Works Cited

Aclanthropy, 2015, https://aclanthology.org/N15-1084.pdf.

Appel, Markus, and Timo Gnambs. “Women in Fiction: Bechdel-Wallace Test Results for the

Bender, Clare. “Gender Stereotyping in Little Women: ‘Let Us Be Elegant or Die!’” Gender Stereotyping in Little Women: “Let Us Be Elegant or Die!,” 2017, https://research.monm.edu/mjur/files/2019/02/MJUR-i08-2017-8-Bender.pdf.

Bloom, Harold. “Willa Cather's My Ántonia.” Google Books, Google, 2008, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dN8omAicUwoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA117&dq=My%2BAntonia%2Bhistory&ots=daMMKSX5s3&sig=EWLzhgd8H_wbPqwpGMnuT2YFBkk#v=onepage&q=My%20Antonia%20history&f=false.

Bohlke, L. “Willa Cather in Person.” Google Books, Google, 1986, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fumUk2RPFtAC&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=Willa%2BCather&ots=qnwwYNhTzz&sig=0fTmHSxlZVSwwwum_KW42P7rYx4#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Cather, Willa. My Ántonia. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918.

Britannica, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/art/American-literature.

Nebraska, History. “Timeline Tuesday: Drought and Depression in 1890s Nebraska.” History Nebraska, 30 Oct. 2022, https://history.nebraska.gov/timeline-tuesday-drought-and-depression-in-1890s-nebraska/

In this edition of the Murmuring Tigers Podcast, Juliana Cifuentes addresses the question of “Why you should read British Literature today?” with the topic of poetry more specifically British poetry calling attention to social issues and bringing about change. In this episode, Juliana will analyze the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” to answer this question as well as provide pros and cons to this type of activism.

Bibliography

Michals, Edited by Debra. “Phillis Wheatley.” National Women's History Museum, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phillis-wheatley.

Mroczek, Eva. Mark of Cain, https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/mark-of-cain.

“Phillis Wheatley.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-wheatley.

By Sarah DeLay.

Bibliography

By Yareli Aguilar.

British Literature is a critical aspect that is very important to the human being and its

Bibliography