1)    Literature and Culture in the USA
Right at the beginning, it’s sensible to admit that among the American society classical literature isn’t as popular as it is in Russia. Interestingly, In America there is not a single street named in honor of a writer or a poet. Thus, American attitude to the literature has its own peculiarities and is totally different from the ours. Obviously, there must be some reasons for such non-anxious beliefs about classic literature. The first comes from the 17th century, from Puritan times. Actually, Puritans were English Protestants who wished to purify the Church of England from Catholicism.  They didn’t accept everything connected with imagination and that’s why only religious genres of literature were recognized. In Puritan opinion, literature should be based on facts, so only diaries, biographies, historical chronicles, etc. were allowed to write. They never accept any poetry but religious as they didn’t trust imagination. Even contemporary American can say, “I don’t read fiction because it isn’t true”. Even now, they are fond of reading historical literature.  However, what makes American literature different from any in the world? It’s combination of facts and symbols – Authors can use a real true facts and make the symbols from them. Now I’d like to say a few words about American perception of Culture. According to American view, the major meanings of the word “culture” are customs and forms of social life. So cultural studies in America are mainly based on fashion, food, Mass Media, youth studies and so on, and so forth.
2)    Literary Criticism and cultural studies.
     According to American view, the major meanings of the word “culture” are customs and forms of social life. So cultural studies in America are mainly based on fashion, food, Mass Media, youth studies and so on, and so forth.
3)    The idea of the West in the American literature
From the course of the American history, we know that the Western part of the territory was called “The Great American desert” because it was unexplored. Plenty of legends and stories were made up about the West and this part always signifies for the people something unknown, and thus extremely attractive.  In contrast to the East (which was quite traditional and European), West, being wild and indeterminate, symbolized the idea Freedom and Hope. There wasn’t any control neither from society, nor from the Government. For those who wanted to change their life and turn over a new leaf this alluring part was the best salvation to all the problems. West was like Utopia and a kind of dream or myth. The However, There was more than meets the eye as such long trip required great health and efforts and thus was very dangerous. In order to live there people had to work hard. Nevertheless, having hope in their hearts, they didn’t stop and nothing could stand on their ways.
4)     Puritan Paradox. “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”: Predestination and Imagination. Puritan poetry: Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor. 
Puritans didn’t accept everything connected with imagination and that’s why only religious genres of literature were recognized. In Puritan opinion, literature should be based on facts, so only diaries, biographies, historical chronicles, etc. were allowed to write. They never accept any poetry but religious as they didn’t trust imagination. Even contemporary American can say, “I don’t read fiction because it isn’t true”. However, Puritans’ perception of the world was different. They saw the whole life as a message from God. They explained every particular fact and process as a God wish. This was called predetermination and was developed by Calvin. So Puritans’ lives were quite symbolic, they imagined and fancied it. Interestingly, it can be said that their life was a literature. Thus, the Puritan world-view together with anti-imaginational concept makes up a kind of Paradox – they didn’t accept imagination and literature but imaged their own life, which actually was a literature for them. Nevertheless, Puritan Poetry existed and Ann Bradstreet and Edward Taylor were the best evidence of it. Bradstreet's education allowed her to write with authority about politics, history, medicine, and theology. Much of Bradstreet's poetry is based on observation of the world around her, focusing heavily on domestic and religious themes. She is considered to be a writer of enduring verse, particularly for her sequence of religious poems. She was a free thinker and some consider her an early feminist. One of the most interesting aspects of her work is the context in which she wrote: an atmosphere in which women were relegated to traditional roles. Yet we cannot help but feel the love and intense devotion she had for both God and her husband, as well as for her family. Despite the traditional attitude toward women of the time, she was a free thinker and some consider her an early feminist. One of her most famous poems is "To My Dear and Loving Husband". Edward Taylor was a colonial American poet, physician, and pastor. Taylor is the only known American poet who wrote in the metaphysical style. His best-known work is the conceit titled "Huswifery," a direct comparison between weaving and God's salvation through divine grace.
6)    Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almonach: autobiography and private journals in America (schedules, self-control)
Puritans wrote many diaries and this fact is a very important peculiarity of both American culture and nation. In fact, by writing a diary, they continued the history of their family and made a kind of admonition for their future children. Thus, these huge number of diverse diaries show to us how vital was life and self-control for American’s.  Oddly enough, if a person wrote a diary he was respected and vice versa. Consequently, Americans get used to speak about their lives and personalities, that’s why it’s quite easy for them to describe their positions and beliefs or to speak about themselves. The most famous diary ever wrote in USA was written by Benjamin Franklin. Every page was divided into 13 commandments and on 7 days. He drew a dot on the day when he broke one of the commandments. Franklin’s diary turned out to be the instruction to     the whole nation.  Americans are fond of writing diaries and speaking about their personalities, even nowadays there are many internet projects, like live journals or blogs, which are actually the demonstration of this old writing-diary habit. 
7)     Literature of Sensibility: W. Irving and F. Cooper.
This concept emerged in eighteenth-century America, and was closely associated with studies of sense perception as the means through which knowledge is gathered. It also became associated with sentimental moral philosophy and of course with classical literature. W. Irving and F. Cooper were two great sentimentalists and it was they who first established such way of writing in America. W. Irving believed that the power of love and friendship is the most vital in the life; these feelings are so tough that they can help people to overcome diverse life obstacles and difficulties. Actually, his literature makes us forget about the problems we face with, about misfortune and pain.  W. Irving wanted to please and entertain his readers, so there aren’t too many sad moments in his stories. One of his most well known stories: “Rip Van Winkle” is a good example of literature of sensibility, as it represents the idea of kindness, patience, and love for both people and nature. The main hero of the story is self-going and quite natural.  As for the F. Cooper , he  is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical romances known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. These books are a lucid and insightful study of the encounter between the two cultures, from the point of view of a man who manages to straddle the divide between them. Natty Bomppo and his brave, noble Indian friends lead a way of life full of freedom and close to nature. In conclusion it can be seen that both W. irving and F. Cooper wrote about significance of pure human feeling, freedom and love to nature.
8)    The leatherstocking Tales: the main character’s names and their symbolic meaning.
The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fennimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," "La Longue Carabine," and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Pathfinder," "Deerslayer," and "Hawkeye". These books are a lucid and insightful study of the encounter between the two cultures, from the point of view of a man who manages to straddle the divide between them. Natty Bomppo and his brave, noble Indian friends lead a way of life full of freedom and close to nature.

9) Rip van winkle: biographical, mythological, political interpretations
The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years immediately before (the early to mid-1770s) and after the American Revolutionary War (the early to mid-1790s). Rip Van Winkle, a villager of Dutch descent, lives in a nice village at the foot of New York's Catskill Mountains. An amiable man whose home and farm suffer from his lazy neglect, he is loved by all but his wife. One autumn day he escapes his nagging wife by wandering up the mountains. After encountering strangely dressed men, rumored to be the ghosts of Henry Hudson's crew, who are playing nine-pins, and after drinking some of their liquor, he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. He wakes up twenty years later and returns to his village. He finds out that his wife is dead and his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails himself a loyal subject of King George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place. An old local recognizes him, however, and Rip's now grown daughter eventually puts him up. As Rip resumes his habit of idleness in the village, and his tale is solemnly believed by the old Dutch settlers, certain hen-pecked husbands especially wish they shared Rip's luck.
·    Rip Van Winkle(подкаблучник своей жены) - a henpecked husband who loathes 'profitable labour'.
·    Dame Van Winkle - Rip Van Winkle's oppressive wife.
·    Rip - Rip Van Winkle's son.
·    Judith Gardenier - Rip Van Winkle's daughter.
·    Derrick Van Bummel - the local schoolmaster and later a member of Congress.
·    Nicholas Vedder - landlord of the local inn.
·    Mr Doolittle - a hotel owner.
Like Ivan the Fool: does nothing at home, but helps people
Mythological- rip van winkle
Rip- rest in piece (на могилах пишут) спал 20 лет  минисмертью
Political- American revolution
Talk about political parties freedom, feminism is mentioned
Его жена-dame van winkle это Америка символ прагматики
Его сон= путешествию irving по европе