WhatchamacalLIT by Devon

WhatchamacalLIT by Devon - August 2018 Scholarship Essay

While I am a lover of all encompassed by the term “humanities,” American literature holds a dear place in my heart. I was admiring my newly filled bookcase and running my fingertips over the soft and worn and hard and creased and new novels when I noticed all of the books I loved were American. Of course, some of my favourites are European but the vast majority are American classics, American novels, American literature. From then on, I decided I want to learn more about my regional publications and began collecting textbooks. The more I read, the more I continue to be amazed by how much art such a young country has produced and how many movements of literature were affected by it.
If I was the host of a popular podcast, I would share my love of literature with my listeners. I would focus on one book, fiction or nonfiction, from any period in American history per episode. Every book’s plot would be revealed in a humorous, sometimes sarcastic way, so that my listeners could understand and be entertained. Then I would go on to explain historical context, what makes the book “important,” if it is considered such, and what meanings are usually gleaned from its pages. My goal would be to make the books usually considered boring sound interesting, or at least not as dull as previously thought; there’s only so much one can do with Melville, even if Moby Dick is a metaphor.
Because I cannot possibly only read Poe, Hawthorne, and Steinbeck forever, I would not limit myself to only a textbook appreciation for tomes published eighty years ago. I would air episodes on childhood classics, modern novels that moved me, or books that are simply good. All of them would be American, however, because even though there are many beautiful foreign publications I would stick to a theme.
In this way, I would build a fanbase for a literature podcast with a quirky narrator and many, many books.