American Literary Studies: A Methodological Reader gathers together leading scholars of American literature to uniquely engage the strategies and methods prominent in literary scholarship today. Each has chosen an essay that he or she considers to be a classic in the field, which he or she then introduces, explaining why it is both exemplary in its approach and central to the issues that most engage American literary scholarship today. This volume serves as a starting point for teachers and students to explore the fundamental questions of American literary scholarship: What does method mean in literary studies? Which texts should it study? What makes literary study unique? What should literary scholarship do? American Literary Studies answers these questions by clearly articulating problems of methodology in American literary studies.