Humans always have an overwhelming desire to express themselves through stories and this desire is used in literary tools. American literature was initiated with oral representations of native Indian cultures. Before the arrival of Europeans, there were about 500 native Indian languages and cultures without any written literature. Native American oral literature was full of cultural stories about tribes or hunting or agriculture. Tribes had religions worshipping nature and reflecting this in their oral literature. Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries saw the growth of exploratory literature based on events occurring in new settlements. Each author had a different view on American literature. To understand American literature, one needs to know its multi-ethnicity, variable cultures and heritage.
