Degree Year

1972

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

English

Advisor(s)

Laurence Buell

Keywords

Autobiography, Sherwood Anderson, Genre, Art, America

Abstract

This paper will consider autobiography from these various perspectives in search of a means of evaluation of autobiography in terms of the restrictions and potentials of the genre. The intention, the truth, the theme, or the formal value--alone-- are insufficient for a valid conception of the genre. Their interaction is what makes some autobiographies more than historical curiosities--what make them successful and enduring works of art. This study of American autobiography will focus on Sherwood Anderson's autobiography and autobiographical novel, A Storyteller's Story and Tar. Anderson deals with the familiar themes of American literature and American autobiography : the individual self and the American experience, freedom and determination, growth and success.

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