Question

ANALYZE CRAFT AND STRUCTURE —from The Spirit of American Literature, John Macy
In the following passage, John Macy critiques American literature in general. He then explores the influence of one English writer, Charles Dickens, on the American writer Bret Harte and the Anglo-Indian writer Rudyard Kipling. Read the passage. Then, answer the question(s).

(1) . . . The literary mind is strengthened and nurtured, is influenced and mastered, by the accumulated riches of literature. In the last century the strongest thinkers in our language were Englishmen, and not only the traditional but the contemporary influences on our thinkers and artists were British. This may account for one negative characteristic of American literature—its lack of American quality. True, our records must reflect our life. Our poets, enamored of nightingales and Persian gardens, have not altogether forgotten the mocking-bird and the woods of Maine. Fiction, written by inhabitants of New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts, does tell us something of the ways of life in those mighty commonwealths, just as English fiction written by Lancashire men about Lancashire people is saturated with the dialect, the local habits and scenery of that county. But wherever an English-speaking man of imagination may dwell, in Dorset or Calcutta or Indianapolis, he is subject to the strong arm of the empire of English literature; he cannot escape it; it tears him out of his obscure bed and makes a happy slave of him. He is assigned to the department of the service for which his gifts qualify him, and his special education is undertaken by drill-masters and captains who hail from provinces far from his birthplace.

(2) Dickens, 1who writes of London, influences Bret Harte, 2who writes of California, and Bret Harte influences Kipling, 3who writes of India. Each is intensely local in subject matter. The affinity between them is a matter of temperament, manifested, for example, in the swagger and exaggeration characteristic of all three. California did not ―produce‖ Bret Harte; the power of Dickens was greater than that of the Sierras and the Golden Gate. Bret Harte created a California that never existed, and Indian gentlemen . . . tell us that Kipling invented an army and an empire unknown to geographers and war-offices.

____________

1.Charles Dickens (1812–1870) English novelist, famous for his colorful characters and depictions of London life.

2.Bret Harte (1836–1902) American short-story writer, famous for his depictions of gold rush– era California.

3.Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) Anglo-Indian short-story writer, famous for his depictions of British soldiers in India.

Multiple Choice Question
Which technique of essay writing is Macy most clearly using in the passage?
A.
Macy is setting the scene for a detailed discussion about Bret Harte.
B.
Macy is re-envisioning something ordinary, the landscape of America, which he views as a native ground for literature.
C.
Macy is finding limits within his ideas about American and British writers.
D.
Macy is redefining a term, American quality, which he extends to include a writer’s style, not just his or her subject matter.

Answer 1

C

Macy is showing limits in his view of American vs. British writers — arguing that English literary influence constrains American “quality” (Dickens → Harte → Kipling), so he’s delineating how that influence bounds American literary originality.