The Innovators of American Literature From their critical assessments on how to improve themselves and to the American public that they influenced by their writings, Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin illustrate American themes in their personal narratives that quintessentially make part of American Literature. Although they lived in different times during the early development of the United States of America and wrote for different purposes, they share common themes. Their influence by their environment, individualism, …showed first 75 words of 1322 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1322 total…self-improvement, publication of their personal narratives, and their acknowledgement of a need to bind society together, they represent American Literature. Bibliography Mckenzie 6 Works Cited Brumm, Ursula. "Jonathan Edwards and Typology." Early American Literature: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael T. Gilmore. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1980. Lauter, Paul., ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Leary, Lewis. Soundings: Some Early American Writers. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1975.