AMERICAN LITERARY MOVEMENT REVIEW

NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

NATIVE AMERICANS Created the first American literature Literature was primarily oral; it was passed around from person to person and generation to generation through storytelling and performances Because it is oral, it changes over time. Repetitive and simplistic to make it easier to remember Beliefs are that humans are a part of nature and do not have dominion over it Literature expresses harmony within the natural world Types of Native American oral literature are: –Creation Myths: how the world or humans came to be –Trickster Tales: tricksters who transformed the world into its present state –Ritual songs and chants that are a part of ceremonies

Puritan Literature/ Colonialism (1620 to 1800)

Puritans Used Puritan Plain Style of writing –Simple writing that used words common to 17 th century conversation –Focuses on historical events, daily life, moral attitudes –Poetry followed a very strict pattern of rhyme scheme, meter, and form to reflect the strict lifestyle and religious beliefs. Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. An iamb is a pair of unstressed and stressed syllables. Most is lyric, expressing the thoughts/feelings of a single person Religious beliefs included: –God is in control of EVERYTHING! –The concepts of grace and salvation: only a belief in the one true God/Jesus Christ will enable you to go to heaven—God is the only one who can save your soul. –Predestination: God “elected,” or decided beforehand, who would go to heaven. –Theocratic government

RATIONALISM AND DEISM (1750 to early1800s)

DEISTS AND RATIONALISTS DEISTS –Like the Puritans, they did believe that God created the universe, but unlike the Puritans, they believed that he walked away and left us in control of our own decisions and destinies. –God does NOT interfere with the running of the universe. RATIONALISTS –Naturally, the universe is orderly and good. –The universe works like a clock, managing and running itself. –Reason and rational thought is valued over imagination, intuition, and religious faith. **Literature is still primarily nonfiction because there is not much leisure time for writing. Political documents, essays, pamphlets, & speeches dominated literature because of the American Revolution.

Romanticism (1800 to 1855)

Romantic Beliefs 5 Is –Imagination –Intuition –Individualism –Inspiration –Idealism Backlash against Rationalism –All of these ideals are valued over reason and rationality. –We begin to see a strong acknowledgement of and connection to nature and the “supernatural.” –Looked to the past and nature for inspiration **Remember that Dark Romantics are the opposite. Their works examined the psychology of the human mind in stressful situations. Works included evil villains, gloomy atmospheres, and crimes.

Romantic Literature WASHINGTON IRVING –“The Devil and Tom Walker” –Story about a man who sells his soul to the devil for Earthly treasures –Traveled to Europe and brought the Faust Legend back from Germany WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT –“Thanatopsis”: A view of death –Death is nothing to fear; it is natural –Considered the father of American poetry EDGAR ALLAN POE –“The Raven” –Isolation leads to madness –A dark Romantic who often explored death and gothic elements NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE –The Scarlet Letter –Shameful of ancestors; deeply explored sin in the human race, especially the Puritan society –Dark Romantic

Transcendentalism And American renaissance ( )

TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS The individual is highly valued and is no longer seen as “inferior” or less powerful than God. People should not conform to society simply because society tells them to do so. NONCONFORMITY! Find truth in nature and human experience, but rely on your own intuition of what you know to be true. Everything in the world, God, nature, and the Over Soul, are all equally connected. Your mind is the most important tool to learning the truth. Believe that life should be simplified so we have more time to focus on what’s important—seeking “truth.” Practiced civil disobedience (peaceful protest) against social injustices

REALISM/NATURALISM (1850 TO 1914)

MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS America changing from mostly agricultural nation to the modern industrial nation we know today Frontier ceasing to exist with westward expansion “The Gilded Age”—country is really in major discontent CIVIL WAR REALISM The enormous cost of human lives during the war shattered the nation’s idealism Rejected Romanticism Reflected harsh realities of everyday life as accurately as possible –Regionalism: local color, dialect NATURALISM Portrayed lives of ordinary people but suggested that environment, fate, heredity, chance (forces beyond people’s control) determined people’s fate

MODERNISM ( )

MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS Jazz Age/Roaring 20s Imagism & Harlem Renaissance Great Depression World War I MAJOR BELIEFS Loss of faith in the American Dream! Feelings of uncertainty and disillusionment Abandoning of traditional form and meter Constructing works out of fragments Experimenting with new techniques (stream of consciousness) Seeking to capture the essence of modern life in both form and content

POSTMODERNISM (1946 to present)

MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS/BELIEFS Boom in technology, making life very impersonal and commercial World War II The process is just as important as the final product Blending of fiction and nonfiction