A survey of American literature from its 16th-century origins to its flourishing present, this sixth edition offers the work of 242 writers - 30 newly included - representing the extraordinary wealth and diversity of American literature. Among the many works included in their entirety are Hawthorne`s "The Scarlet Letter", Thoreau`s "Walden", Douglass`s "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave", Clemens`s "Huckleberry Finn", Chopin`s "The Awakening", Faulkner`s "As I Lay Dying", "Williams`s "A Streetcar Named Desire", Larsen`s "Quicksand", Ginsberg`s "Howl", Mamet`s "Glengarry, Glen Ross" and Parks`s "The America Play". Informative introductions, headnotes, footnotes and bibliographies accompany the text.