Select the correct answer. How are American literature and the American identity interrelated? A. American literature often portrays aspects of the American identity. B. The American identity is usually determined by American literature. C. American literature is part of the system by which the federal government creates an American identity. D. American literature is the inspiration through which people build an American identity.

American literature refers to any literary work including poems, novels, stories, plays that have been created in the U.S that covers multiple centuries from the arrival of the first colonizers and creation of the first literary works during the 17th century to nowadays.

Additionally, this type of literature has been widely influenced by the American identify that includes values, customs, celebrations, norms, history and geographical features that change over time. For example, during and after the Civil War most literary works were related to slavery and the different positions related to it and over time literary works have been influenced by the mixture of cultures in the U.S. Therefore, the statement that describes the link between American identity and literature is "American literature often portrays aspects of the American identity".