As a survey of American Literature there are many influential and celebrated authors. Jack Kerouac became a well-known writer whose nontraditional style brought him fame. In Jack Kerouac's writings, he used a stream of consciousness, spoke in a chaotic and casual manner, and used long sentences. In “Big Sur,” Kerouac uses running on sentences that reach about 9 lines in length. In the conservative 1950s, his stream-of-consciousness approach to writing was unheard of. Kerouac's style was revolutionary for its time. Kerouac is “considered a liberator of prose and a champion of American idiom” (Baym 2542). Robert Frost was a well-known Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Frost was known for his realistic style and depiction of rural life. He used life in New England to analyze the complex social and philosophical issues present in the early 20th century. Frost found beauty in nature and used it in his poetry. In the essence of Jack Kerouac, "The Road Not Taken" could be written thus: I came upon two roads diverging in a yellow wood---I regretted that I could not travel both as I was a single traveler; I stood there looking along one path as far as I could go to where it curved into the undergrowth and then I glanced at the other path which looked just as beautiful, being all grassy and worn, but in fact both paths had been worn down the same thing. That morning they both lay equally covered with leaves and I decided to save the former for another day, and knowing how one road leads to another, I doubted whether I would ever decide to return. As I tell this story, I say it with a sigh; somewhere a long long time ago while in the woods, two roads diverged in front of me, I decided to take the one less traveled and the one re...... middle of paper...... for someone, and finding a means to success. These are important lessons to learn, which can be applied in life. Works Cited Baym, Nina, Ed. “Modernism” Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter 7th edition. New York: Norton, 2008. 1260-1262.Baym, Nina, ed. "Emily Dickinson" Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter 7th edition. New York: Norton, 2008. 1197-1200.Baym, Nina, ed. “Jack Kerouac” Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter 7th edition. New York: Norton, 2008. 2542-1543.Baym, Nina, ed. “Robert Frost” Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter 7th edition. New York: Norton, 2008. 1951-1952. Cahan, Abraham. “An Exploiter's Love Story” Baym 1661-1670Dickinson, Emily. "479: Because I could not stop for death" Baym 1214-1215.Frost, Robert. “The road not taken. Baym 1960. Kerouac, Jack. “Big Sur.” Baym 2544.