Timeline through American Literature

Puritanism – The Colonial Period Colonialism – 1750 Historical Context Religion dominates A person’s fate is determined by God (predestination) All people are corrupt and must be saved by Christ (Original Sin) Covenant of Grace and Covenant of Works debate

Puritanism – The Colonial Period Genre/Style Sermons, diaries, personal narratives Written in plain style

Puritanism – The Colonial Period Effect/Aspects Instructive Reinforces authority of the Bible and church

Puritanism – The Colonial Period Examples Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation Rowlandson's "A Narrative of the Captivity” Edward's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Though not written during Puritan times, The Crucible & The Scarlet Letter depict life during the time when Puritan theocracy prevailed.

Rationalism – The Age of Reason 1750-1800 Historical Context Intellect dominates Tells readers how to interpret what they are reading Meant to encourage Revolutionary War support Instructive in values

Rationalism – The Age of Reason Genre/Style Political pamphlets Travel writing Persuasive writing Highly ornate style

Rationalism – The Age of Reason Effect/Aspects Patriotism grows, Instills pride Creates common agreement about issues National mission and the American character

Rationalism – The Age of Reason Examples Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine- “Common Sense” Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac and "The Autobiography"

Romanticism – The Period of Idealism 1800-1850 Historical Context Emotion dominates Expansion of magazines, newspapers, and book publishing Slavery debates Industrial revolution brings ideas that the "old ways" of doing things are now irrelevant

Romanticism – The Period of Idealism Genre/Style Character sketches Frontier exploits Slave narratives Poetry Short stories

Romanticism – The Period of Idealism Effects/Aspects Value feeling and intuition over reasoning Journeys away from corruption of civilization and limits of rational thought toward the integrity of nature and freedom of the imagination Helped instill proper gender behavior for men and women Allowed people to re- imagine the American past

Romanticism – The Period of Idealism Examples Washington Irving's ”The Devil and Tom Walker” Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" Edgar Allen Poe Emily Dickinson

Transcendentalism – A New Spiritualism 1850-1865 Historical Context Intuition Dominates True reality is spiritual *Comes from18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant Idealists Self-reliance & individualism Seeking true beauty and understanding in life and in nature

Transcendentalism – A New Spiritualism Genre/Style Poetry Short Stories Novels *Hold readers’ attention through dread of a series of terrible possibilities *Feature landscapes of dark forests, extreme vegetation, concealed ruins with horrific rooms, depressed characters

Transcendentalism – A New Spiritualism Examples Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and “Civil Disobedience”

The New England Renaissance – Anti-transcendentalism 1840 - 1855 Historical Context Known as the Dark Side of Individualism Gothic Potential for evil in all people Examples: Walt Whitman Edgar Allen Poe Poems of Emily Dickinson

Realism – Age of the Average Man Civil War (1861-1865) 1865-1890 Historical Context Accuracy dominates Civil War brings demand for a "truer" type of literature that does not idealize people or places Battlefield Photography

Realism – Age of the Average Man Genre/Style Novels Short stories Objective narrator Does not tell reader how to interpret story Dialogue includes voices from around the country

Realism – Age of the Average Man Effect/Aspects Social realism: aims to change a specific social problem Aesthetic realism: art that insists on detailing the world as one sees it

Realism – Age of the Average Man Examples Lincoln speeches Writings of Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (some say 1st modern novel) Regional works like: The Awakening. Ethan Frome, and My Antonia (some say modern)

Naturalism – A Period of Pessimism 1890 – 1915 Historical Context Struggle dominates Shows more unpleasant, ugly, shocking aspects of life No free will, no place for moral judgment Pessimism Disillusionment with the dream of success; collapse of the predominantly agrarian myth Struggle of an individual to adapt to the environment – characters controlled by environment

Naturalism – A Period of Pessimism 1890 – 1915 Examples Mark Twain Jack London Stephen Crane John Steinbeck

Modernism – The Psychological Factor 1915-1945 Historical Context Scrutiny Dominates Writers reflect the ideas of Darwin (survival of the fittest), Karl Marx (how money and class structure control a nation), and Sigmund Freud (the power of the subconscious) Overwhelming technological changes of the 20th Century Rise of the youth culture WWI and WWII

Modernism – The Psychological Factor Genre/Style Novels Plays Poetry (a great resurgence after deaths of Whitman & Dickinson) Highly experimental as writers seek a unique style Use of interior monologue & stream of consciousness

Modernism – The Psychological Factor Effect/Aspect In Pursuit of the American Dream— Admiration for America as land of Eden Optimism Importance of the Individual

Modernism – The Psychological Factor Examples Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby Poetry of Jeffers, Williams, Cummings, Frost, Eliot, Sandburg, Pound, Robinson, Stevens Rand's Anthem Short stories and novels of Steinbeck, Hemingway, Thurber, Welty, and Faulkner Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun & Wright's Native Son (an outgrowth of Harlem Renaissance-- see below) Miller's The Death of a Salesman (some consider Postmodern) Modernism – The Psychological Factor Examples

Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Historical Context Mass African-American migration to Northern urban centers African-Americans have more access to media and publishing outlets after they move north

Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Genre/Style Allusions to African-American spirituals Uses structure of blues songs in poetry (repetition) Superficial stereotypes revealed to be complex characters

Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Effect/Aspects Gave birth to "gospel music" Blues and jazz transmitted across American via radio and phonographs

Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Examples Essays & Poetry of W.E.B. DuBois Poetry of McKay, Toomer, Cullen Poetry, short stories and novels of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes Their Eyes Were Watching God

Postmodernism – A Cultural Diversity 1945-present Context Controversy dominates Post-World War II prosperity Media culture interprets values Disillusionment Resistance to easily recognizable themes or morals in a story Insists that values are not permanent but only "local" or "historical"

Postmodernism – A Cultural Diversity Genre/Style Mixing of fantasy with nonfiction; blurs lines of reality for reader NO heroes Concern with individual in isolation Social issues as writers align with feminist & ethnic groups Usually humorless Narratives Metafiction Present tense Magic realism

Postmodernism – A Cultural Diversity Examples Feminist & Social Issue poets: Plath, Rich, Sexton, Levertov, Baraka, Cleaver, Morrison, Walker & Giovanni Miller's The Death of a Salesman Capote's In Cold Blood Stories & novels of Vonnegut Salinger's Catcher in the Rye Beat Poets: Kerouac, Burroughs, & Ginsberg Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest