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Americana: The Tale of Ulysses is a modern American epic poem in blank verse, traditionally attributed to a group of high school students attending The Hill School in Pottstown, PA. Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s during the rise of American business monopolies and robber barons, it details the life of Ulysses Mason, a farm boy turned oil tycoon, and Jebediah Sharp, Ulysses' rival and a superior businessman.

Unlike some traditional epic poems, Americana covers an extended period of time and follows the life of Ulysses from beginning to end. Due to an expansive description of many years, as well as providing foreshadowing into the future of American business, Americana essentially tells a complete history of the rise of the industrial age as well as a summary of the progressive and new eras.

Americana is a standalone poem, as the students have not had free time to pen a sequel of any sorts.

Book 1
In 1863, Ulysses Mason is born to a small farming family in north eastern Pennsylvania. His mother, after a difficult pregnancy, dies in childbirth, leaving Ulysses and his father to man the farm. As his father is the only member of Ulysses' family, the two become incredibly close and Ulysses works extremely hard to please him. He offers to take on extra farm duties and cares for him when he falls ill, swearing to continue to be strong physically and emotionally. At the age of 18, in 1881, Ulysses finds his father dead from a disease referred to as “consumption”.

Heartbroken and alone, Ulysses attends the funeral of his father, but refuses to cry, prompting a man to tell Ulysses, "When you finally accept, when you finally understand, when you finally cry for the death of this man, it will either be the day you yourself become a father...or the day of your death." Unimpressed and unfazed, Ulysses questions the strange man as to why he is attending the funeral, only to discover that his father told the man that there was oil on their land. This leads to a discussion during which the two agree to purchase the farm together, and for the man, who has now introduced himself as Eli Comstock, to teach Ulysses the trade.

Over the course of an unspecified amount of time, Comstock attempts to form a fatherly bond with Ulysses as Ulysses becomes extremely knowledgeable in the oil business. Recalling some of Comstock's first words towards him, however, Ulysses finds the patronly approaches appalling and begins to resent Comstock. The book ends when Comstock, in a bout of anger, calls Ulysses' parents a myriad of uncouth things, and Ulysses pushes Comstock down an oil shaft, killing him.

Book 2
Inheriting the farm completely after Comstock's death, Ulysses is quick to build up his oil empire. Morals and emotions already destroyed after the death of his parents and then the murder of Comstock, Ulysses takes no issue with sabotaging other plots of land in order to buy them at much lower costs. In one particular series of verses, he sneaks into a barn and sets it on fire. The next day, he approaches the home of Mr. Twimble, and expresses his regret at the loss of Mr. Twimble's barn, offering to buy the land now that no one else will.

As his empire grows, so, too, does his ruthless, egotistical, manipulative behavior. His sudden massing of land causing a still unknown, but powerful, rival to start taking note. This rival buys Ulysses' old farm, which Ulysses is only all to ready to be rid of, to quell the painful memories it holds.

Book 3
Money, the epic explains, is a surefire way to find a well-to-do wife very quickly, which is exactly what Ulysses does. Beautiful and wealthy, he marries her for the social status, but is clearly distraught when he learns of her death due to childbirth. Seemingly paralleling his own life, he fears that his child will follow in his path, and seems ready to shed tears until he learns that the child is a girl. Ironically naming her Annabelle, meaning joy, he allows her to lead a pleasant but fairly unspectacular life, refusing to get too close to his daughter in fears that he will lose her, too.

Book 4
As Annabelle grows up, Ulysses comes in direct contact with Jebediah Sharp, the mysterious rival foreshadowed two books prior. Sharp, a middle-aged alcoholic, is the best and wealthiest oil man in the business. His company dwarfs Ulysses', who is only too pleased to learn that Sharp is unmarried. In a detailed scene, one of the few portraying a woman in the epic, Annabelle, who is only 16, tries to explain her loathing of the man and lack of desire to marry him. Taking poorly to this, Ulysses slaps his daughter across the face before telling her to finish getting ready for the wedding.

Afterwards, he soliloquizes about his relationship with Annabelle and discusses, internally, how he plans to use the marriage for his own benefits. He realizes that although the wedding is beneficial towards his plans, it will require turning Sharp's shareholders against him in order for Ulysses to fully take over Sharp's company.

Book 5
As Ulysses works tirelessly to turn Sharp's shareholder's against him, he becomes increasingly distraught and harried as he realizes his plans are failing. What he is unaware of is the fact that the same shareholders he is trying to persuade to his side are telling Sharp of Ulysses' betrayal. Upon realizing his mistake, as he watches his company fall apart as Sharp undermines him in more ways that Ulysses knew to be possibly, Ulysses is quick to make one last attempt for success. Barging into the church Sharp attends, he launches into another soliloquy before demanding an answer from Sharp, who stands up an begins to leave the building. Ulysses seizes this opportunity to mock Sharp, asking the church-going folk if Sharp is really the kind of person they would want to lead them. This proves to be the breaking point for Sharp, and he calmly explains to the disgruntled Ulysses that he will, "Make [him] bleed."

Book 6
As time passes, Ulysses begins to lose everything he had built up, and realizes he has nothing left to love. Sharp uses every ploy that Ulysses used to gain power against Ulysses, during a series of events Ulysses laments, "The greatest of all mockeries." His land is destroyed, his relationships are ruined, and Annabelle dies suddenly, leaving him with nothing. Torn apart internally, Ulysses returns to the graveyard of his parents and throws himself on the ground. Having lost everything, he weeps at his parent's graves before being startled by the voice of Sharp telling him to get off of his (Sharp's land). Confused and forlorn, Ulysses refuses to go and recalls Comstock's first words to him as Sharp levels a shotgun at his head.

Ulysses Mason
Growing up, Ulysses is displayed as a good-natured and caring boy, which makes his decent into anger and eventual despair more powerful, some analysts argue. His father's death launches him into a downward spiral until he becomes a power-hungry man unwilling and too scared to love. Some readers argue that Ulysses' only true love in the book is shown towards his father and that his daughter, Annabelle, is merely a way for Ulysses to display his true emotions.

Ulysses is known to have not attended school, but to have been trained by his father and then by Eli Comstock as he ages to maturity. His character, though in the first half of book one a hero, quickly turns into that of the villain as he murders to achieve what he wants. It is his own eventual murder that leads some to believe he is the hero as, at the last moment, he undergoes a moral reconciliation with himself and the family he has lost.

Jebediah Sharp
A middle aged man, Annabelle describes Sharp as having breath that smells of liquor and of having been divorced prior. However, Sharp is also one of the wealthiest men in the world, compared by some to Andrew Carnegie in terms of importance and social status. He is renowned for keeping a calm demeanor under all circumstances, and takes pride in his religion. However, he is not afraid to use his power to get what he wants, whether it be more land, money, or a new relationship. Shown in the last scene killing Ulysses, Sharp is known to be able to hold a grudge and to not have any inhibition in acting however he sees fit.

Eli Comstock
A conniving, rude man with greying hair, Eli Comstock is quick to approach Ulysses shortly after the death of his (Ulysses') father. In what he plays off to be a fair deal, he offers to put forth $4,000 for the family farm if Ulysses puts forth the remaining $6,000. In this way, many readers are quick to assume that Comstock is in it to get rich quick. It is this behavior that initially sets Ulysses against Comstock and eventually leads to Comstock's murder when he calls Ulysses' mother a whore and his father an alcoholic. It is unknown if Comstock had any family.

Annabelle Mason / Annabelle Sharp
Portrayed as an innocent, sweet, and completely average girl in every other way, Annabelle is the daughter of Ulysses Mason. The only female given speaking lines in the epic, she is firm in what she believes in, but has a hard time accepting everything her father wishes for her to do. She is married at the age of 16 to Jebediah Sharp.

Mr. Twimble
One of Ulysses' first sabotage cases, Mr. Twimble is an unassuming man who quickly falls for Ulysses' plans. His farm is destroyed when Ulysses burns it down.