Literatura Norte Americana

 

LITERATURA NORTE-AMERICANA

autor

HÉLCIO DE PÁDUA LANZONI

1ª edição SESES rio de janeiro

2016

 

Conselho editorial

hélcio de pádua lanzoni

Autor do original Projeto editorial

luis claudio dallier, roberto paes e paola gil de almeida

roberto paes

Coordenação de produção

paola gil de almeida, paula r. de a. machado e aline

karina rabello paulo vitor bastos

Projeto gráfico Diagramação

bfs media

Revisão linguística

marianna la vega

Revisão de conteúdo Imagem de capa

cláudia freitas

morenovel | shutterstock.com

Todos os direitos reservados. Nenhuma parte desta obra pode ser reproduzida ou transmitida por quaisquer meios (eletrônico ou mecânico, incluindo fotocópia e gravação) ou arquivada em qualquer sistema ou banco de dados sem permissão escrita da Editora. Copyright seses, 2016. Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip) L297l Lanzoni, Hélcio de Pádua Pádua

 

Literatura norte-americana / Hélcio de Pádua Lanzoni.

 

Rio de Janeiro: SESE SESES, S, 2016.

 

104 p: il.

 

isbn: 978-85-5548-360-8

 

1. Literatura norte americana. I. SESES. II. Estácio. cdd 810.72

Diretoria de Ensino — Fábrica de Conhecimento Rua do Bispo, 83, bloco F, Campus João Uchôa Rio Comprido — Rio de Janeiro — rj — cep 20261-063

 

Sumário Prefácio

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1. O despertar de uma literatura

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1.1 The beginning of the American literature 1.2 Settlement in America 1.2.1 The Puritans 1.2.2 The Puritanism and Capitalism 1.2.3 John Smith (1580 – 1631) 1.2.4 Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672) 1.3 Enlightenment 1.3.1 Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758) 1.3.2 Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) 1.3.3 Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)

2. O Romantismo 2.1 The romantic movement 2.1.1 Romanticism in North American Literature 2.2 Transcendentalism 2.2.1 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) 2.2.3 Walt Whitman (1819-1892) 2.2.5 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) 2.3 Gothic literature 2.3.1 Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

3. Do Romantismo ao Realismo 3.1 Other american romantic authors 3.1.1 Herman Melville (1819-1891)

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25 27 28 29 30 32 34 36 37

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3.1.2 Emily Dickinson 3.2 The rise of realism 3.2.1 Mark Twain (1835-1910) 3.2.2 Stephen Crane (1871 – 1900) 3.2.3 Ambrose Bierce (1843-1913/1914) 3.2.4 Jack London (1876 – 1916) 3.2.5 Brooker T. Washington (1856-1915)

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4. Modernismo e experimentaç experimentação ão

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4.1 The rise of modernism 4.1.1 Robert Frost (1874-1963) 4.1.2 F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 – 1940) 4.1.3 William Faulkner (1897-1962) 4.1.4 John Steinbeck (1902-1968) 4.1.5 Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

5. Pós-modernismo e literat literatura ura contemporân contemporânea ea 5.1 Post-war literature 5.1.1 Shirley Hardie Jackson (1916 - 1965) 5.1.2 J. D. Salinger (1919 - 2010) 5.1.3 Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) 5.1.4 Arthur Miller (1915-2005) 5.2 Beat generation 5.2.1 Jack Kerouac (1922 - 1969) 5.2.2 Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997) 5.3 Contemporary writers 5.3.1 Anne Rice (1941) 5.3.2 Stephen King (1947) 5.3.4 Khaled Hosseini (1965)

67 68 70 72 74 77

83 85 85 86 88 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 99

 

Prefácio Prezados(as) alunos(as),

Pode ser chamada de Literatura Americana toda literatura escrita ou produzida em território americano ou em suas antigas colônias. Durante os primórdios de sua história, a “América” era uma série de colônias britânicas na costa leste do que hoje são os Estados Unidos. Portanto, sua tradição literária tem início com forte influência da literatura inglesa. No entanto, com o tempo, as características particulares da América e os temas de sua produção literária levaram à consolidação de um estilo diferenciado e específico. Os textos escritos em território americano tiveram início com aventureiros e colonos ingleses que vieram ao Novo Mundo, e os primeiros textos tinham o ob jetivo explícito de agradar os compa compatriotas triotas que fica ficaram ram na Ingla Inglaterra. terra. O primeiro livro publicado nas colônias formadas pelos Puritanos foi Bay Psalm Book, de 1640, e tinha o objetivo de divulgar e promover um Estado religioso por meio de histórias passionais que enfatizavam o destino grandioso daquele povo. O período após a Independência e já com a aproximação da Revolução Americana – a Guerra da Secessão – foi uma época de grande atividade intelectual e mudança social. Entre os homens que estavam à frente do novo país havia  vários escritores, como Thomas Thomas Jefferson. Assim, as cres crescentes centes tensões eentre ntre o Norte e o Sul que culminaram na Guerra Civil refletiram na literatura regional. Enquanto a Guerra Civil tomava seu inexorável curso, a proposta de reunificação foi colocada à frente fr ente pelo presidente Abraham Lincoln no texto mais puro e exato dos ideais políticos americanos, o Gettysburg Address. Após o término do conflito, a literatura gradualmente voltou a ganhar uma identidade nacional, expandindo sua popularidade – como os textos dos autores regionais, que passaram a encontrar grande audiência. Este livro fornece, assim, uma introdução geral à literatura americana, desde suas origens até os dias de hoje. É necessário enfatizar, no entanto, que a literatura de um país é influenciada pelos acontecimentos históricos, pelas condições políticas e econômicas, pelo contexto cultural, pelas expectativas e temores de seu povo. Deste modo, conhecer a trajetória da história do país é parte fundamental do estudo de sua literatura. Bons estudos!

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1 O despertar de uma literatura

 

1. O despertar de uma literatura  A história da literatura americana começa muito antes da existência de um país chamado Estados Unidos da América. Além da literatura liter atura oral dos povos nativos americanos, os primeiros escritores foram exploradores, como o capitão John Smith (1580 – 1631), que escreveu sobre suas experiências no Novo Mundo. Os primeiros colonos permanentes, os Puritanos, eram muito interessados em educação e cultura, que eram a raiz do seu projeto de dar início a uma sociedade teocrática. A Universidade de Harvard foi fundada em 1636, e a primeira gráfica começou a operar em 1638. Portanto, o Novo Mundo viu emergir uma literatura que era, em sua maioria, composta de sermões, histórias, autobiografias e poemas – todos escritos com finalidades religiosas. O estudo da fase inicial da literatura americana examina, portanto, as literaturas que surgiram desde o período colonial, passa pela independência do país e pelo amadurecimento da nova nação.

OBJETIVOS A leitura deste capítulo tem como objetivo fornecer conhecimento sobre a formação do novo país e os temas centrais de sua história inicial. É importante conhecer as questões históricas do período de colonização e formação dos primeiros assentamentos permanentes, que levaram à formação de uma identidade local própria, que gradativamente foi se diferenciando da literatura de origem inglesa.

1.1 The beginning beginning of the American American literature The American Literature begins with the oral transmission of myths, legends, tales and song lyrics from Indian cultures. The oral tradition of the American Indian is quite diversified. The Indian stories make a brilliant reference to nature as a spiritual as well as physical mother. For them, nature is alive and in possession of spiritual forces. Their main characters could be animals or plants, or even a totem.

  

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The American Indian’s contribution to the United States culture is greater than most people think. think. Hundreds of Indian words are used every day in the  American English. Among these words we can mention “canoe”, “tobacco”, “potato”, “moccasin”, “moose”, “persimmon”, “raccoon”, “tomahawk” and “totem”.    G    R    O  .    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W      ©

Figura 1.1 – Colonists arrive in the New World. World. There is also an extensive contemporary literary production, which contains very beautiful texts. Nevertheless, the first European register about the exploration of America was originally written in a Scandinavian dialect. The book focus on the adventurous Leif Eriksson and a bunch of stray Norwegians settled for a brief period on the Northeast coast of the American continent – probably in today’s New Scotia, in Canada, in the first decade of the 11th Century.

1.2 Settlement in America The first known and certified contact between the Americans and the rest of the world began with the famous voyage of an Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus, funded by the queen of Spain, Isabel. The Columbus diary, printed in 1493, tells the details of his journey to the unknown.

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The first attempts of the English to colonize the New World were disastrous. The first colony was founded in 1585 in Roanoke, in today’s today ’s North Carolina coast.  All of its settlers disappeared. disappeared. The second settlement settlement lasted longer: longer: Jamestown, Jamestown, founded in 1607. It resisted hunger, brutality and precarious governments. Nevertheless, the literature of this period paints America in bright colors, as a land of plenty and opportunity. Stories about the settlers became famous worldwide. In the 17th century, pirates, explorers and all sorts of people looking for adventure formed a second wave of permanent settlers, who brought along their  wives, children, tools and agricultural experience. The first literary productions of the time consisted of diaries, letters, travel logs and reports to those who funded the explorers. Once the North American colonies were England’s possessions, colonial literature was heavily influenced by English literature.

1.2.1 The Puritans In the world history, there has probably never been other settlers as intellectualized as the Puritans, most of whom of English and Dutch origin. Between 1630 and 1690, there were as many scholars in the northeast region of the United States (New England) as in England. The Puritans always prevailed due to their own efforts, and viewed education as a means to realize God’s wish and found their colonies throughout New England.    G    R    O  .    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W    ©

Figura 1.2 – 19th-century painting depicting Puritan pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620.

  

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The literary style of the Puritans was varied – ranging from complex metaphysical poetry to domestic diaries, dia ries, including religious history with strong notes of pedantism. Regardless of the style, certain themes were a commonplace. Life was seen as a test: failure leads to eternal damnation and to the fire of hell. On the other hand, success leads to eternal happiness. This world was an arena in which God and the Devil (a terrible enemy with many disguises) were always struggling.

1.2.2 The Puritanism and Capitalism Scholars have frequently emphasized the link between Puritanism and Capitalism: both are based on ambition, hard work and continuous struggle towards success. In strictly theological terms, once the Puritans believed that they had their access to Heaven guaranteed, they viewed earthly success as a sign that they were the chosen ones. They sought wealth and status not only for themselves, but as an always  welcome guarantee of spiritual health and promises of eternal life. Besides, their administrative concepts stimulated success. The Puritans believed that, as they increased their profits and the well-being of their communities, they  were also promoting God’s plans. The greatest model of literature, faith and behavior was the Bible, in an authorized English version. The great antiquity of the Bible assured its authority, in the Puritan way of seeing the world. In the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th, the religious dogmatism diminished gradually, despite the great sporadic efforts of the Puritans in halting the wave of tolerance. The spirit of tolerance and religious freedom that grew little by little in the American colonies was initially planted in Rhode Island and in Pennsylvania, land of the Quakers. The human very tolerant Quakers (or “friends”, “f riends”, as they were known) believed in the sacred character of individual consciousness as the origin of social order and morality. The fundamental belief of the Quakers in universal love and fraternity made them extremely democratic and contrary to dogmatic religious authority. Expelled from the rigid state of Massachusetts, which feared their influence, the Quakers settled a very successful colony in Pennsylvania, under the leadership of William Penn, in 1681.

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1.2.3 John Smith (1580 – 1631)    G    R    O  .    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W      ©

Figura 1.3 –  According to the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Americas were supposed to be shared between Portugal and Spain, but Queen Elizabeth I, of England, ignored the treaty and sent expeditions to colonize the Northern section of America.  John Smith arrived in the new world in 1607, in Jamestown, located in today’s state of Virginia. During his stay, he met Pocahontas (1595 – 1617), the daughter of an Indian chief. He allegedly lived a love story with her. Nevertheless, the story could never be proved. The texts that he wrote, True Relation of Virginia (1608) and Descriptions of New England (1616) had the intention of persuading people from England to come to the colony.

  

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Figura 1.4 – Pocahontas throws herself over Smith to rescue him - 1870 depiction. In 1609, he had to return to England and soon after Pocahontas was also taken to England, with a delegation of eleven other members of her tribe as a “proof” that Indians could be “domesticated”. Once the English Court refused to meet Pocahontas with the due respect, John Smith wrote a letter to Queen  Anna telling how Pocahontas had saved him in Jamestown. Pocahontas got sick and died in England when she was about to return to America.

1.2.4 Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672) The poet Anne Dudley was born in Northampton, England, but she is considered an American author. Her father had participated in the Reformation movement and, therefore, became unpopular due to his religious convictions. The family  was put under the supervision of the son of a Puritan priest, Simon Bradstreet, assistant of the new-founded Massachusetts Bay Company, with whom Anne got married at the age of sixteen, changing her name to Anne Bradstreet. In 1630, she migrated with her family to the New World, aboard the Arbella, the legendary ship that was one of the first to serve the Puritan exodus. They arrived in New England after a journey that lasted three months, and Anne’s

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father was nominated Boston’s vice-governor. Her husband became the Principal Administrator of the city.    G    R    O  .    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W      ©

Figura 1.5 – Anne Bradstreet. Nevertheless, Anne did not have the same luck to settle in the new city. Besides the extremely harsh boat journey, she did not adapt well to the climate and living conditions. Then, after other minor diseases, she acquired a progressive paralysis that affected her articulations, which was not an obstacle to bear eight children. Restricted to the household and domestic chores, she tried to alleviate the long and frequent absences of her husband, who was always dealing with State affairs and settlement of newcomers, by reading and writing verses. In 1649, one of his brothers took with him a manuscript containing her poems, which he published under the title The Tenth Muse . The book would be reedited the following year as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up  in  in America (1650), this time in Boston. Based on the everyday lives of British colonists in  America, the texts of Bradstreet were forgotten due to its abundance of commonplaces and Puritan aesthetics, which was considered an imitation of the poetry of her days. Nevertheless, she was rediscovered by the 20th century feminists,  who claimed to have found in her poems significant artistic qualities. Her already weak health conditions got worse when she contracted tuberculosis, which caused her death on September 16, 1672, in Andover, Massachusetts.

  

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1.3 Enlightenment Enlightenment is a period in Western Europe that stretches from the 1650s until the 1780s, affecting intellectual and cultural forces. The American Enlightenment stretched from 1714 until 1818. The Enlightenment was mainly promoted by philosophers and local thinkers that met in places like the urban coffee houses, salons, and places alike. By the end of the 18th century, the French Revolution not only triggered a transformation in the political structures of the nation, but also emphasized the ideals that were the basis of the struggle against the old regimen. The political, social and cultural agenda in Europe would never be the same. Under such circumstances, the Enlightenment should be understood as the most important set of ideas to be employed on these unprecedented requests. Not limited to Europe, Enlightenment ideals spread by the French Revolution reached the American continent, where the fights for autonomy breached the chains of colonial pacts. Although the search for equality and freedom were a common expectation, we cannot simplistically assume that the American population was basically copying a foreign set of ideals. Above all, the political and social agents in America were quite different from those in Europe.

CONNECTION History is full of details that are not commonly mentioned, but that are worth checking. Access the link below to know 10 very interesting facts concerning the Enlightenment: .

In the Americas, a type of contradiction becomes very visible, once the creation of a privileged elite and the exploration of labor are typical features of the colonial mindset. In fact, the members of elite were the ones that first embraced the political emancipation movements in America, defending the ideals of freedom of the Enlightenment, but the main focus was the reinforcement of their economic bonds with the capitalist powers.

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Figura 1.6 – The Declaration of (American) Independence – John Trumbull. Trumbull. The Enlightenment was paramount to the American independence, once it brought innovative ideals to the New World and its leaders. First, the common man did not question – he would simply keep going with his simple life. After the Enlightenment, many concepts changed. In the British colonies that would become The United States of America, the Enlightenment ideals were first brought from the metropolis, but were redefined with more radical political and religious contours. Enlightenment ideals exerted a great influence on the thoughts and political practices of the founding fathers of the new nation.

1.3.1 Jonathan Edwards Edwards (1703 – 1758) Considered one of the greatest  American philosophers, John Edwards  was

a

congregational

preacher,

Calvinist theologian, and American Indian missionary. Edwards’ theological work is quite broad, including his defense of the reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Edwards played a

Figura 1.7 –

  

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central role in the formation of the

 

First Great Awakening and his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God  is  is considered a classic of the early American literature. Edwards is well-known for his many books, among them Concerning the End for which God Created the World; The Religious Affections; Freedom of the Will . His books inspired thousands of missionaries throughout the 19th

century and they are read until the present days.  Jonathan Edwards died due to a smallpox inoculation, soon after the beginning of his term as a president of New Jersey College, which later would become Princeton University.

Quando jovem, Jonathan Edwards não conseguia aceitar o conceito calvinista de soberania de Deus. Certa vez, ele escreveu: "Desde a minha infância, minha mente tem se mantido cheia de objeções contra a doutrina de soberania de Deus... Para mim, esta era uma doutrina terrível." No entanto, em 1721, ele estava lendo a Bíblia e meditando quando lhe ocorreu o seguinte pensamento: “Conforme eu lia as palavras, entrou na minha alma, como se fosse algo difuso, um sentimento de glorificação do Ser divino; uma nova sensação, muito diferente de tudo o que eu já havia experimentado anteriormente (...).” Daquele ponto em diante, Edwards aceitou a soberania de Deus e, posteriormente, reconheceu esta experiência como sua conversão para Cristo.

1.3.2 Benjamin Franklin Franklin (1706 - 1790)    G    R    O  .    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W      ©

 A man of several talents, Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston and in his long life he was journalist, editor, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, public servant, scientist, diplomat and inventor, especially in his experiments  with electricity. He was also one of the leaders of the American Revolution.

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Franklin was a very religious man, Calvinist, and, at the same time, a representative figure of the Enlightenment. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a wax candle merchant and married twice. Franklin was the fifteenth child of twenty, from both marriages. He left his formal education at the age of ten and at twelve started working as an apprentice with his brother, a printer that published a journal called New England Courant . He started contributing with this publication and, for

some time, was its editor. The brothers had an argument and Benjamin fled to Philadelphia in October 1723. He worked in several typographies, moving from city to city until a merchant called Thomas Denham made him return to Philadelphia, giving him a job in his business. In 1732, he started to publish the famous Poor Richard’s Almanac , from  which he gained most of his popularity in the US. Some proverbs that first appeared in his almanac are very popular until today, like “Never leave for tomorrow what you can do today”. Franklin and several other members of the Philosophic Association gathered their resources in 1731 and opened the first public library in Philadelphia. The success of this initiative encouraged the creation of many other libraries in different American cities. In 1758, he printed the sermon Father Abraham , considered today the most famous literary text produced in colonial times.

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In a time span of few years, he made discoveries about electricity that brought him international reputation. Franklin identified the positive and negative charges and demonstrated that lightning is a phenomenon of electrical nature. He turned this theory unforgettable because of the extremely dangerous experiment in which he flew a kite during a lightning storm in October 1752. In his appointments, Franklin demonstrated that he was aware of the dangers and the alternative  ways to demonstrate that thunder was Figura 1.9 – Benjamin an electrical phenomenon.

  

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Electricity from the Sky..

Franklin

Drawing

 

His many inventions include the lightning rod, the Franklin stove (a wood heater that became very popular), and the bifocal lenses. Nevertheless, Benjamin Franklin was getting more and more concerned  with public matters. He founded New York University and the American Philosophical Society, which had the purpose of fomenting the divulgation of new findings among men of science.  After several trips throughout England and Europe, he came back to Philadelphia in 1785, where he was greeted as a hero and elected the President of Pennsylvania. He was one of the delegates of the convention that wrote the  American Constitution and tried, in vain, vain, to abolish slavery. He wrote numerous essays, articles and pamphlets, but his most famous book was  Autobiography , published posthumously (1791). He died in Philadelphia and he was honored  with his face printed in the one-hundred-dollar bill.

CONNECTION Have you ever heard of “The electrical Ben Franklin”? Well, this is a tender nickname nickna me Benjamin Frankin got from his fans. As you read, he invented several seve ral items that are common until ttoday. oday. Click on the link below and find ou more about in amazing man. .

1.3.3 Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809) Thomas Paine was a British thinker that participated in the immense transformations the world went through during his lifetime. After trying to make a living in different professions prof essions in England and an unsuccessful marriage, Paine decided to go to the United States in search of new opportunities. On his arrival in the prosperous region of the Thirteen Thirtee n Colonies, he started to advocate for the independence of the United States.

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Figura 1.10 – Thomas Paine. In the New World, he started writing a text called Common Sense , in which he directed attacks towards the British control of the colonies. The book was an immediate success and sold 100,000 copies in the year of 1776. Not satisfied with the power of his own words, Thomas Paine participated in the Independence  War, side by side with George Washington and La Fayette. In the end of 1789, Paine went to Paris for the purpose of patenting one of his inventions. Nevertheless, the French capital was facing a tremendous turmoil due to the crisis of the monarchic power. The fascination of that moment of political transformation that led to the French Revolution motivated him to  write The Rights of Man . Once again, he was not content enough with his own  words and participated on the creation of the French Republic Constitution. Before his return to the US, he published a short book which title was  Agrarian Justice . In this book he establishes an idea in which, like in political

rights, the right of property should be universalized to men. According to him, the process of land exclusion should be corrected through a tributary system called “natural right”. According to this kind of taxation, every farmer should provide a certain amount of money, which would be equally transferred to all citizens. Every person older than 21 should receive a monthly income of 15 pounds from the government as a compensation for his right to the land. la nd. The economic thoughts of Paine had a singular meaning by proposing a kind of social policy that moved away from the revolution or a miraculous solution. This theory, known as “universal dividends”, still inspires left wing groups and present-day ultraliberals. Even though his economic principles

  

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 were very simplistic, the theory of universal dividends is still able to inspire contemporary economists. The acclaimed Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize in economy ec onomy in 1972, defended the creation of a “negative tax”, which was supposed to end the social security programs and complement the income of those who had low salaries. After  World War II, the Welfare State tried to institute ways wa ys through which citizens  would have a minimal wage guaranteed by the State. Paine’s theory was, to a certain extent, able to please both liberals and socialists, once it was able to sustain a dialogue between principles that  valued simultaneously equality and individuality. This way, Thomas Paine sought rationally a simplified way to socially protect the individuals without putting freedom and personal interests as obstacles for the construction of a fairer society.

ATIVIDADE O Puritanismo foi um movimento em prol da reforma completa da Igreja da Inglaterra que teve início no reinado de Elizabete I (1558) e continuou por mais de um século como uma grande força religiosa na Inglaterra e também nos Estados Unidos. “Uma versão militante da fé reformada” (Dewey D. Wallace, Jr.). Pesquise sobre o assunto e descubra o sentido real do termo “Puritano”.

REFLEXÃO A literatura americana começa com mitos, lendas e contos transmitidos oralmente pelas culturas indígenas. Não há literatura escrita nas mais de 500 diferentes línguas indígenas que existiam na América do Norte antes da chegada dos primeiros europeus. Os primeiros textos americanos surgiram com os relatos de aventureiros e colonos ingleses no Novo Mundo, para informação dos leitores na Inglaterra. Inglat erra. Alguns destes trabalhos iniciais chegaram a alcançar a denominação de literatura, como por exemplo, o relato detalhado de suas aventuras feito pelo Capitão John Smith. No início, no entanto, a literatura da Nova Inglaterra Inglate rra era também direcionada à edificação e instrução dos próprios colonos, com o objetivo de encaminhá-los na direção de Deus. Os textos da era colonial americana têm tanta importância como história quanto como literatura. Afinal, os primeiros colonos ficaram cara a cara com o estranho, o selvagem, os

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índios, animais e plantas diferentes. Tudo isso encontrava na Europa leitores ávidos pelas fantásticas narrativas dos bravos colonos daquela terra selvagem. Assim, da mesma forma como ocorre com o surgimento de literaturas nacionais, a literatura americana foi moldada pela história do país que a produziu. Por quase um século e meio, a América era apenas um grupo de colônias espalhadas pela costa leste do continente norte-americano. Apenas depois de uma rebelião contra a Inglaterra uma nova nação emergiu.

LEITURA Conhecer a vida de Benjamin Franklin é um mergulho na formação dos Estados Unidos e no espírito empreendedor americano. O livro “Benjamin Franklin - Uma Vida Americana” (Walter Isaacson - Companhia Das Letras) mostra este importante personagem da história americana. Veja esta definição do livro: “Um dos chamados Pais Fu Fundadores ndadores dos Estados Unidos, Benjamin Franklin está entre as figuras mais influentes de sua época, cujas descobertas científicas e ideias filosóficas e de negócios reverberam mundo afora. É também um homem de carne e osso que foi fundamental no desenvolvimento desenvolvimento do que é hoje a nação mais poderosa do mundo. Nessas páginas, Walter Isaacson — autor do best-seller Steve Jobs: A biografia — narra a tumultuada trajetória deste escritor, cientista, inventor, diplomata e jornalista. Isaacson mostra como essa vida inacreditável ultrapassa o seu próprio tempo e como a colaboração de Franklin em documentos como a Declaração de Independência Americana ajudou a moldar o mundo moderno.” Disponível em: .

REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS AL ALVES, VES, Julia Falivene. A Invasão cultural Norte-American Norte-Americana. a. Brasil: Editora Moderna, 2004.