John D. Fenimore Cooper was a very well-known writer in the US from 1789 until his death in 1851. (Trninic, Marina, and Reynolds, 4). Due to his romantic tales of adventure, Cooper enjoyed a great deal of fame both domestically and internationally.
Cooper's time at the college was unsuccessful, so he subsequently joined the Navy where, as a lieutenant, he was given a lot of ship command. Most of his works were inspired by the frontier or the sea, as he expressed most of his knowledge through his creations. Cooper wrote about the ocean or the frontier in many novels or stories (Trninic et al., 18). Therefore, one can plausibly state that his military background contributed heavily in his writing career. Despite this fact, cooper held little knowledge about the American frontier, however, most of his works tried to define it (Cooper, 21).
The second aspect that influenced his writing career was his romantic relationship with his wife. Cooper begun writing when he was a young married man and most of his novels or stories involves highly romanticized or sentimental settings, plots. Many of the characters that he developed or created became extremely widespread with the ever-growing number of audiences not only in the United States but also around the globe. Therefore, after a prominent realistic understanding about relationships, Cooper was influenced to write romantic tales of adventure (Trninic et al., 31)
. Cooper's Contributions to the American Canon
The first of Cooper's renowned works such as The Pioneers and Leatherstocking of 1923 had adhered and followed the successful formula of The Spy (Cooper, 28). These works were able to reproduce its rudimentary thematic conflicts in addition to utilizing family traditions. For instance, in The Pioneers, most traditions that are illustrated by Cooper were of William Cooper of Cooperstown. In this context, William is illustrated as Judge Temple of Templeton including many other disguised inhabitants of the boyhood village of James (Cooper, 32). This was an excellent literary style of writing as there are no known prototypes that are existing, nevertheless, the principle character of the novel, who was the former wilderness scout named as Natty Bumppo is dubbed as leatherstocking.
Cooper was able to introduce the readers of United States to their own frontier through his works (Trninic et al., 54). As a result of his literary career, he was able to enjoy great fame although many critics argued that it was because the subject matter was highly entertaining rather than socially conscious or instructive. Cooper made contributions to the writing style of romanticism, whereby, he was enamored with great tales of outdoors as well as encounters with bizarre and most frequently hostile forces or people (Trninic et al., 55). Readers received this material well and due to its literacy success, Cooper continued to produce great large of body of literary work throughout his life.
Due to his literary success, Cooper founded the Bread and Cheese Club in the city of New York (Trninic et al., 58). This was a great contribution to literary works as it was regarded as a literary society, which he steered to develop. Cooper founded this club as soon as the "Last of the Mohicans' contributed ideas on set, consequently, making Cooper to be a national figure despite condescension from New England. This new development brought literary prestige and a great deal of success as well as money (Trninic et al., 59). The Bread and Cheese club succeeded in New York as writers both emerging early realists and romantics begun been developed in the literary world. Despite having something politically to provide to his readers through literary works, Cooper made sure that he gave them a chance to consider the landscape of America.
Reasons why cooper's works were included in American Literature Classes
Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans including other famous books that featured Natty Bummpo were chosen for publishing during his time because they excellently explored important themes such as the new population of frontier, the wide open country, living by one's wits as well as the battle at the sea (Cooper, 54). In addition, these works were chosen for American literature classes as such themes were powerfully popular with the general American public. This in turn gained Cooper notoriety in addition to other contemporary authors Trninic et al., 66).
Most of Cooper's novels and stories were tales of adventures and many still remain in the literary canon to this date. A few of his works have been chosen or included in the American classes due to their complex portrayal of the Native American and the white interactions (Trninic et al., 70). These are a great part of the American history and some contains elements of tales that would be at least in current times, rather they may be considered to be politically incorrect. However, some of his popular works have provided the readers with a realistic form of understanding regarding such relationships, making them ideal for American literary classes.
Conclusion
Most of his works have become subject to many literature reviews, most of that large body production dealing with romanticized tales of the sea or the frontier. In spite of his extensive works, his popular work; tales of Leatherstocking and 'The last of the Mohicans' still remain as his most vivid in the literary canon.
Works Cited
Cooper, James F. The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea. 2015.
Cooper, James F, and James P. Elliott. The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground. 2016.
Trninic, Marina, and Larry J. Reynolds. Blackening Character, Imagining Race, and Mapping Morality: Tarring and Feathering in Nineteenth Century American Literature. 2013.
