A Literary History of America

The Puritan Period: 1620-1699

The Puritan Period: 1620-1699 a religious sect hoping to purify the Church of England, a branch of Calvinism 2 separate groups God Man Big space

The Puritan Period: 1620-1699 The concept of the Elect: preordained at birth, nothing can be done to change this. Later philosophy according to Cotton Mather and Anne Hutchinson: you can know if you are an Elect through direct communication with God.

Puritan Literature Prose pieces in the form of sermons Philosophical or historical treatises Journals Diary entries

End of Puritan Period As a new generation came, they had more money and more industries were established. Two options: People could adapt - the church could clamp to teachings down harder Which prevailed?

The Deist Movement and the Revolutionary Spirit: 1700-1800 New order was needed after the Puritans Deism – a religion and way of looking at the world, most confined to the educated class, generally the lawmakers Man must rely on science, reason, and logic to solve his problems Church and state begin to separate God man Less space

Literature of Deism and the Revolutionary Spirit: 1700-1800 Logical treatises Arguments Persuasive papers

The Romantic Period: 1790-1890 Romantics believed that there was something else to the world They interpreted life as an artist would have: the world how they wanted it to be rather than how it was Rooted in lots of description and the common man Rejected institutions and anything that told you that you have to tow the line nature God man

The Romantic Period: 1790-1890 American Gothic: an off-shoot of Romanticism

The Romantic Period: 1790-1890 Morally didactic: the good are rewarded and the evil are punished Anti-science (watch out for Roger Chillingworth) Idealization of women (Hester Pyrnne as a madona figure)

Literature of the Romantic Period: 1790-1890 Poetry Philosophical treatises Reform pieces Folk tales Fables Novels Plays The world as he sees it/wishes it, not how it is

The American Renaissance and Transcendentalism: 1829-1861 American Renaissance: burst of energy for America – a growing population, westward expansion, optimism for the future, and industry. Reform movements like Women’s Rights, education, abolitionism develop. Transcendentalism: a philosophical movement confined mostly to Massachusetts, rooted in the belief that something existed within man that transcends the human experience. Man can rely on the divinity within himself. You | | God Concept of oversoul

Nathanial Hawthorne: 1804-1864

Nathanial Hawthorne: 1804-1864 Has Puritan roots, born in Salem, MA His grandfather was a hanging judge for the Salem witch trials Early in his life he goes to the Brook Farm Experiment, near Boston

Nathanial Hawthorne: 1804-1864 Anti-Puritan, Anti-Transcendentalist Romantic writer The characters in The Scarlet Letter are reminiscent of Hawthorne’s ideology (above)

Local Color, Realism, and Naturalism: 1880-1920 Realism: the faithful portrayal of people, scenes, and events as they are, not how the writer would like them to be Naturalism: off-shoot of realism – a literary theory that emphasizes the role of heredity and environment in human life and character development Local color: literature in which the writer tires to realistically capture a geographic place employing accuracy in speech, dress, mannerisms, and customs

Literature of Local Color, Realism, and Naturalism: 1880-1920 Stark, not much imagery Depicts less elegant aspects of life Objective writing styles Happy endings Redemption The triumph of good over evil Natural world in tune with man and things of the past Later literary trends: Modernism, Post-modernism, Magical Realism

What am I? A – Transcendentalist B – Puritan C – Deist D – Romantic