In a word, we want a national literature altogether shaggy and unshorn, that shall shake the earth, like a herd of buffaloes thundering over the prairies! —Kavanagh, 1849, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Which statements reflect the ideas in the passage? Check the two boxes that best apply. Americans should write courageously and powerfully. American literature should be messy, chaotic, and nothing like European poetry. Americans should write only about nature because it is what makes the United States distinctive. American literature should reflect the unique American landscape.