The first thematic series published for American literature, THE WADSWORTH THEMES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE SERIES is currently comprised of 21 themes spanning the time period normally covered in the two-semester American literature survey course--1492 to the present. Each carefully edited booklet centers on a core issue of the period with attention given to the development of key themes. Each thematic booklet offers an introductory contextual essay, a variety of literary perspectives, headnotes and footnotes, along with a variety of visual elements. Martha J. Cutter--a scholar of considerable range and achievement who now teaches at the University of Connecticut--edits the sequence of booklets dealing with the modern era, 1910-1945, a period of pivotal importance in American history and culture. The American empire came into its own in this era, recognized its muscles, and began to flex them--in ways productive and (at times) destructive. Cutter charts the struggle between the sexes in a compelling range of texts. The subject of class and its impact on how people viewed themselves is explored in a selection of works that deal with issues of class, money, and power. The so-called New Negro Renaissance occurred during this period, a revival and consolidation of writing in a variety of genres by African Americans. And, as they must, literary selections from both world wars occupy a central place in one thematic booklet.