Using This Parallel Text
This collection of American literature classics is especially designed for readers who may not be accustomed to the formal English of America’s early writers. The original text for each selection is found on the left-hand page while a modern English version is located on the right. Matching numbers help you keep track as you move back and forth between the two versions.
If you are having difficulty with the original text, try reading a passage of the modern version first. Then read the same passage in its original form. After a while, you may find that the original text becomes easier to understand, and that you rely on the modern text less and less.
In any case, remember that the modern paraphrase should never be used as a substitute for the original. While you may not plan on becoming a literary scholar, as an educated person, it is important to have some familiarity with early American writers and their ideas. Keep in mind that these authors were not stuffy, dried-up old men and women, they were passionate, powerful users of language who cared deeply about the issues of their day. The fact that you now sit in a classroom in a united, democratic country with liberty and justice for all is largely due to the stirring voices of the Writers represented in this book.