American Literature / Unit 14 AML 1331 short lesson, about 20 seconds
*Paterson* and the American Local
Captions available
The idea
Williams's long poem takes a New Jersey city as a man and as a subject, mixing verse with letters, newspaper extracts and historical documents. It is his answer to The Waste Land: a long modernist poem built from one American place rather than from European tradition.
In practice
A city, written as a man.
Where people slip
The book is a rival to Eliot's long poem.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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