Modernism, Post-Modernism, American Literature An Overview of The Colonial Period, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, Post-Modernism, and beyond…

Think about what came before… What do you know about the colonial period? (1600s – 1700s) You should be able to define the following terms: PURITANS: Members of a group of English Protestants who believed in strict religious principles and opposed sensual pleasures. THEOCRACY: A system of government in which the Church rules in the name of God.

Romantic Period in American Literature: early 1800s-1865 It was an age of great westward expansion and of heightened debate about slavery. Its “culminating act,” or conclusion, was marked by the Civil War. In literature, it was America's first great creative period. Notable American Romantics were the essayists Emerson and Thoreau, the novelists Hawthorne and Melville; short story writer Poe, and poets Longfellow and Whitman.

Romantics… Celebrated the individual. Believed people are equal at birth, inherently good, and that all people should be encouraged toward self-development.  Emotional, intuitive, and sensual elements of artistic, religious, and intellectual expression were counted in some ways more valid than the products of education and reason.  Romanticism embraced nature as a model for harmony in society and art.  Jean Jacques Rousseau is considered the father of European romanticism. His ideal was the “noble savage” which was a vision of humanity freed from the stifling boundaries of civilization. (The Harper Handbook of Literature)

The Gothic Romantics… Major authors: Edgar Allan Poe & Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Gothic Romantics explored darker elements of our lives (greed, jealousy, murder, etc…). However, Poe & Hawthorne also: focused on the individual used nature as a symbol for human life

The Civil War! And then…

American Realism: 1865-1910 By Patricia Penrose The years following the Civil War symbolized a time of healing and rebuilding. For those engaged in serious literary circles, however, that period was full of upheaval. A literary civil war raged on between the camps of the romantics and the realists.  Through novels, essays, etc, a writer states his or her philosophy about how much control mankind had over his own destiny.  Romantic writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson celebrated the ability of human will to triumph over adversity. American realists, such as Mark Twain, believed that humanity's freedom of choice was limited by the power of outside forces.

Realists… Used Plot and Character Character is more important than action and plot; complex ethical choices are often the subject. Events will usually be plausible.  Realistic novels avoid the sensational, dramatic elements of romances. Used writing to instruct and to entertain.

QUOTES: It is the epitome of life. The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity. - Mark Twain [Realist]

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age - Ralph Waldo Emerson [Romantic]

Your mind is merely a machine, nothing more Your mind is merely a machine, nothing more. You have no command over it, it has no command over itself--it is worked solely from the outside. That is the law of its make; it is the law of all machines. - Mark Twain [Realist]

Now… Consider the characteristics of Huck and Tom – which mentality do you believe each best fits? Support your answer by referring back to your notes on romanticism and realism!

And, a branch of realism… Naturalism

What is naturalism? A branch of realism “Naturalists studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment” (wsu.edu).

“…a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings… “…characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings” (wsu.edu).