Spoon River Anthology

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Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, known principally for his poems about life in the Midwest. It has been 49 years since he has died and today he is virtually forgotten. His book of poems entitled Spoon River Anthology may spark a small amount of recognition. This book is a work of free verse poems about the secret lives of the inhabitants of Spoon River, a small Midwest town based on Lewistown and Petersburg, Illinois. This book remains a landmark in the literature world of realism and revolt against conventional social standards that flourished in the early 20th century. To really understand Edgar Lee Masters writing’s, one must first understand the imperialist. Imperialists a political party unlike any that are in control over the United Stated now. Imperialist follow the beliefs of imperialism, which is to practiced control or influence over weaker nations of people. Although imperialism is similar to colonialism, the two terms need to be distinguished. Colonialism usually implies formal political control, imperialism refers more or less to economical control. Edgar Lee Master, a native of Garnett, Kansas, was born to Hardin W. Masters and Emma Dexter on August 32, 1896. Edgar spent the majority of this early childhood near a town called Petersburg in Illinois where he grew up on his grandfather’s farm. It was not until he was twelve that his parents finally settled in Lewistown, another small town in Illinois. It was this town, and Petersburg that he would later base his most famous work, Spoon River Anthology. Masters attended Lewistown High School and graduated in 1886 at the young age of 17 (Wrenn, _). Although Masters’ natural interest was poetry and writing, his father forced him into studying law privately after refusing to send him to college for writing. His father’s primary reason for refusing to send Masters to college was
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