Early American Literature Characteristics

Puritan beliefs displayed Example: poetry by Edward Taylor or Anne Bradstreet writer examines relationship with God; OR writer’s ideas reflect Puritan values, like love being more important than wealth; OR work is a sermon or religious tract explaining a belief

Typical early genres sermon, religious poem, religious tract, diaries or journals Example: Taylor’s or Bradstreet’s religious poems; Mather’s sermons; Bradford’s history. By end of 1700s, short fiction also became popular (add this to the options on your worksheet)

Settings firmly grounded in the new world Story is located in America. Place names and other details make this clear.

Focus on issues unique to the new world Revolutionary War & creation of new government Encounters with Native Americans Forming new social norms – people don’t have to behave just like they did in Europe Surviving in a wilder environment etc.

Concerns about Native Americans Settlers’ relationship with Native Americans How should Native Americans be treated? What are Native Americans like?

Concerns about slavery Is it acceptable? What are its consequences?

Developing new social codes and/or a national identity How should people behave, e.g. –romantic relationships –marriage –status –treatment of Native Americans/slaves What should the government be like?

Fictional plots are simple; stories are more like sketches Sketch –prose that describes a scene or character; –not much plot, no conflict, no resolution

Use of realistic dialects Characters sound like regular people, not aristocrats How do we identify “realistic”? –Shortened words show natural pronunciation charg’d, won’t, havin’, whipt –Look for flavoring particles today you use “like” and “ya know” – what might be the equivalent in the stories you read? –Phonetic spelling of accented English de = the; ting = thing