For courses in American Literature that use a concise American Literature Anthology.

Message:  For nearly three decades, students and instructors have complemented their introductory American Literature studies with Anthology of American Literature, in both its two-volume and concise editions.  Carefully selected works introduce readers to America's literary heritage, from the colonial times of William Bradford and Anne Bradstreet to the contemporary era of Saul Bellow and Toni Morrison. It provides a wealth of additional contextual information surrounding the readings as well as the authors themselves. An expanded chronological chart and interactive time line help readers associate literary works with historical, political, technological, and cultural developments. Other coverage includes a continued emphasis on cultural plurality, including the contributions to the American literary canon made by women and minority authors, and a reflection of the changing nature of the canon of American Literature.

 Story:  This anthology, first published in 1974, has been successful based on five major principles:  choosing selections primarily for their literary value, including as many complete works as possible, providing the very best available scholarly texts and annotating them fully, keeping headnotes and period introductions informative but short, and avoiding literary fads.  While making these judgments, the editors recognized that anthologies must always adapt, meet the changing needs and interests of teachers and students. 

The decisions were not based solely on the editors' tastes, and they never have been.  In preparing the first edition George McMichael gathered class syllabuses from over one hundred American literature teachers around the country, to see what was being taught.  From that information he drew up a proposed table of contents and submitted it to the advisory editors and to the editor, who also discussed it with field representatives.  That first TOC was dominated, as the results from the syllabuses suggested it should be, by authors whose works constitute the canon of American literature, Franklin, Jefferson, Emerson, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson, and so on. 

The same process has been followed in subsequent editions, with additional information gained from surveys sent largely, but not solely, to those who use the anthology.  So, the TOCs for the various editions have been a collective effort.  They are not the product of the editors' prejudices or those of any other single person.

That collective effort has produced an anthology that is not radical but centrist, as it was intended to be.