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. Most indigenous communities and the tribes to which they belong had no written language. Very rarely were their communications with European settlers and colonists ever recorded. Only in the nineteenth century, with the first explorations of ancient native cultures, did the contemporary indigenous societies gain some critical attention. The interest in regional customs spurred the study of Indian groups in New England and Florida. In spite of sympathetic essays written on behalf of Indian traditions, however, by writers like Benjamin Franklin and Washington Irving, other writers, including James Fenimore Cooper idealized and polarized Indian tribes in New York and New England. Indians were either heroically good or savagely evil. The general Anglo policies of segregation of indigenous populations and finally the wholesale slaughter and annihilation of Indian populations across North America eliminated almost all living connections to indigenous cultures and traditions. Washington Irving transported European folktales to his New York environment and retold them in uniquely American trappings. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" humorously pits the New England Yankee against a more savvy New Yorker, fueling the fires of regionalism. William Cullen Bryant complements in his poetry the celebration of and fascination for the American wilderness, the one unique subject in the "American experience" worth writing about.
"Thanatopsis," pp. 348-349 "The Yellow Violet," p. 350 "To a Waterfowl," p. 351 "The Prairies," pp. 355-357 . Study Guide for Week 4 . Writing Assignment Exercise 2 . Online Resources . previous week / next week 
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