The American Standard

infobox Book |
name = The American Standard
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover art by Norman Rockwell, "Freedom From Want", 1943 Oil on Canvas
author = Blane Covert (editor)
cover_artist = Norman Rockwell
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = American literature compilation
publisher = BookMasters, Inc.
release_date = Published in 2004 (not currently released publicly)
media_type = Hardcover (first edition)
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The American Standard" (subtitled "A Collection of Classic American Literature") is a book edited by Blane R. Covert, an American literature teacher at Pulaski Academy. It consists of major American writers' short works, including poems, short stories, and speeches. On the back cover of the book, Covert states the following:

"The American Standard" traces the evolution of American Literature from pre-colonial times through the mid-1900s. Arranged chronologically, the text emphasizes the works of major American writers such as Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, and Kate Chopin.

Background on Mr. Covert

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Blane Covert teaches "Honors American Literature", "Advanced Writing", and "Values & Virtues" at Pulaski Academy, a college preparatory school in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Covert serves as the 10th Grade Team Leader and coaches the varsity tennis teams. His teaching awards include "The 2001-2002 Meyer Endowed Chair for Teaching Excellence", "The 2002 St. Vincent College Excellence in Teaching Award", "The Pulaski Academy Class of 2003 Favorite Teacher Award", and a selection to "Who's Who Among America's Teachers 2004". Covert holds both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.

This text was from the author summary section located at the bottom of the back cover page of the book.

Works Included

The following are the literary works that are included in "The American Standard". They are arranged in chronological order with the corresponding page numbers of the original (and the only current) edition printed on the far right of the entry.

John Smith - from "The General History of Virginia"

William Bradford - from "Of Plymouth Plantation"

Anne Bradstreet - "Upon the Burning of Our House":"To My Dear and Loving Husband"

Jonathan Edwards - from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Patrick Henry - "Speech in the Virginia Convention"

Thomas Paine - "The Crisis, Number 1"

Thomas Jefferson - The Declaration of Independence

Washington Irving - "Rip Van Winkle":"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

Edgar Allan Poe - "The Fall of the House of Usher":"The Tell-Tale Heart":"The Raven":"Annabel Lee"

Ralph Waldo Emerson - from "Nature":from "Self-Reliance"

Henry David Thoreau - from "Walden": from "Civil Disobedience"

Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Minister's Black Veil":"Wakefield"

Herman Melville - "Bartleby the Scrivener"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls":"A Psalm of Life"

Emily Dickinson - "Hope is the Thing with Feathers":"I Never Saw a Moor":"There's a Certain Slant of Light":"Success is Counted Sweetest":"I Heard a Fly Buzz -- When I Died":"Because I Could Not Stop For Death":"Much Madness is Divinest Sense":"How Happy is the Little Stone"

Frederick Douglass - from "My Bondage and My Freedom"

Robert E. Lee - "Letter to His Son"

Abraham Lincoln - "The Gettysburg Address":"Letter to Mrs. Bixby"

Walt Whitman - from "Song of Myself" :"When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer" :"A Noiseless Patient Spider":"O Captain! My Captain!"

Mark Twain - "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

Bret Harte - "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"

Ambrose Bierce - "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" -

Kate Chopin - "The Story of an Hour" :"A Respectable Woman"

Willa Cather - "Paul's Case"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Hamlin Garland - "Under the Lion's Paw"

Jack London - "To Build a Fire"

Stephen Crane - "Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind" :"A Man Said to the Universe":"The Open Boat"

Acknowledgements

The following is the acknowledgements page of the book written by Mr. Covert:

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Many have helped make this anthology possible; I acknowledge their aid with sincere gratitude: Ms. Brenda Holeman, Head of the Pulaski Academy Upper School, for her unending support; the Pulaski Academy English Department... for their friendship and encouragement; Mr. Don Swanson, the Business Manager at Pulaski Academy, for his confidence in the project; Mr. Adam DePriest, Upper School Math Teacher, and Mrs. Beth Shull, Upper School Journalism Teacher, for their formatting expertise; the Pulaski Academy Technology Department... for their technical support; Mr. Stephen M. Bingham, Attorney at Law, for his legal counsel; Ms. Chris Parkison and the entire "Bookmasters" Team, for their guidance and professionalism; Mr. Ryan Feasel, for the cover design; Mr. John Rockwell, for his permission to use Norman Rockwell's "Freedom From Want".

In addition, I would like to thank my family, for everything, and David Kramer, Ph.D., for inspiring me to teach.

Finally, I would like to thank my students; I wish them success and happiness always.

Preface

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When I began teaching at Pulaski Academy in the fall of 2000, I discovered that the American Literature textbook being used had some glaring omissions, including "Rip Van Winkle," "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "Annabel Lee," and "Bartleby the Scrivener," to name just a few. Determined to teach these works, I temporarily solved this problem by photocopying and distributing them to students; however, the cost (not to mention the time spent) to run one hundred copies of each work was considerable.

In the spring of 2003, the English Department began looking for new textbooks to replace the series that the school had been using. As I pored over sample copies, I was both disappointed and frustrated to find that the American anthologies on the market no longer represent the established literary canon. Instead of accepting another average, overpriced textbook from one of the major publishers, I decided to edit and publish my own book--a traditional anthology that, I hope, will help students develop an appreciation for America's rich literary heritage.

Blane R. Covert

Little Rock, Arkansas

References

*Covert, Blane. "The American Standard: A Collection of Classic American Literature."