1919: "Tradition and the Individual Talent" to The American Language

Chronology of World, British and American Literature.

T.S. Eliot. American/British. 1919. Essay. “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” Poet can’t write significant poetry without being steeped in the tradition. Avoid romantic, autobiographical writing. Concentrate on technique and impersonal, detached poetry.

Sherwood Anderson. American. 1919. Novel/Stories. Winesburg, Ohio. Twenty-three thematically related sketches and stories. Simple, realistic language. Tales of sterility and thwarted creativity. Narrative united by character of George Willard. A Bildungsroman about Willard’s developing “wholeness.”

H.L. Mencken. American. 1919/48. Nonfiction. The American Language. Differences between British, American languages in vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation.