1. American Literary Periods and Their Characteristics

2. Puritan/Colonial Writing 1650-1750 Main Ideas / Focus Focus on God A person’s fate is determined by God (predestination) Man is sinful and corrupt Success or failure is a sign of God’s favor or disapproval

3. Puritan/Colonial 1650-1750 Writing Style / Types Sermons, diaries, personal narratives Moralistic and religious writing Written in plain style

4. Puritan/Colonial 1650-1750 Effect/Aspects Instructive Solemn tone Reinforces authority of the Bible and church

5. Puritan/Colonial 1650-1750 Examples Of Plymouth Plantation (Bradford) “A Narrative of the Captivity” (Rowlandson) “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (Edwards) Though not written during Puritan times, The Crucible & The Scarlet Letter depict life during the time when Puritan theocracy prevailed

6. Revolutionary/Age of Reason 1750-1800 Main Idea / Focus Freedom and independence “American” values Rationalism – arrive at truth through reason God created the universe but is “hands-off”

7. Revolutionary/Age of Reason 1750-1800 Writing Style / Types Political pamphlets Speeches Highly ornate style – “big” language Persuasive writing

8. Revolutionary/Age of Reason 1750-1800 Effect/Aspects Patriotism grows National pride Self-examination

9. Revolutionary/Age of Reason 1750-1800 Examples “Common Sense” (T. Paine) “Speech to the Virginia Convention” (P. Henry) “The Declaration of Independence” (T. Jefferson) Autobiography (B. Franklin)

10. Romanticism 1800-1860 Main Ideas / Focus In response to Industrial Revolution and rationalism Abolish slavery Move from corrupt civilization and limited rational thought to nature and freedom of imagination Emphasis on feelings and intuition NATURE

11. Romanticism 1800-1860 Writing Style / Types Slave narratives Poetry Short stories Essays

12. Romanticism 1800-1860 Effects/Aspects Journey into nature Trust personal experience and power of imagination Youthful innocence Sense of adventure into wilderness Distrustful of “progress” Poetry is ultimate expression of imagination

13. Romanticism 1800-1860 Examples “Rip Van Winkle” (W. Irving) “Thanatopsis” (W.C. Bryant) Poems of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman

14. American Ren./Transcendentalism 1840-1860 Main Ideas / Focus Prove that America has great writers Exploring the dark side of human existence / the human mind Nature is a doorway to mystical world containing truths Social improvement –Lyceum mov’t –Public education –Abolish slavery –Women’s rights

15. American Ren./Transcendentalism 1840-1860 Writing Style / Types Poetry Short Stories Novels “Intellectual” Explore conflict between good and evil; psychological effect of guilt and sin (Dark Romantics)

16. American Ren./Transcendentalism 1840-1860 Effect/Aspects Transcendentalists: –Immanuel Kant –True reality is spiritual –Self-reliance and individualism Anti-Transcendentalists: –Importance of symbolism –Sin, pain, & evil exist –Humans have a dark side, too

17. American Ren./Transcendentalism 1840-1860 Examples “Self-Reliance” (Emerson) Walden (Thoreau) Poems and short stories from Edgar Allen Poe Poems and essays of Emerson & Thoreau Moby Dick (Melville)

18. Realism (Civil War & Postwar Period) 1860-1900 Main Ideas / Focus Civil War brings demand for a "truer" type of literature that does not idealize people or places but accurately portrays real life Battlefield photography – reality of life in pictures

19. Realism (Civil War & Postwar Period) 1850-1900 Writing Style / Types Novels and short stories with objective narrators Realistic characters Does not tell reader how to interpret story Focus on social issues – writing about slavery, war, women’s issues, etc.

20. Realism (Civil War & Postwar Period) 1850-1900 Effect/Aspects Social realism: aims to change a specific social problem Aesthetic realism: art that insists on detailing the world as one sees it

21. Realism (Civil War & Postwar Period) 1850-1900 Examples Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Truth) Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe) Little Women (Alcott) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (followed by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) (Twain) The Red Badge of Courage (Crane)

22. The Moderns 1900-1950 Historical Context Charles Darwin (survival of the fittest) Karl Marx (money and class structure control a nation) Technological “progress” Rise of the youth culture WWI and WWII Harlem Renaissance

23. The Moderns 1900-1950 Writing Style / Types Novels / Plays Poetry (a great resurgence after deaths of Whitman & Dickinson) Highly experimental (writers seek a unique style) Generally a plain style Use of interior monologue & stream of consciousness Disillusioned but honorable & courageous hero figures

24. The Moderns 1900-1950 Effect/Aspect Pursue and challenge the promise of the American Dream Faith in progress Confidence in the triumph / success of the individual Optimistic End of innocence Disillusionment with and distrust of tradition

25. The Moderns 1900-1950 Examples The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Chicago Poems (Sandburg) The Waste Land (Eliot) A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway) The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck) Robert Frost publishes his first poetry collection

26. 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

27. 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

28. Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Effect/Aspects Gave birth to "gospel music" Blues and jazz transmitted across American via radio and phonographs African-American artists appreciated and celebrated

29. Harlem Renaissance (parallel to Modernism) 1920s Examples Essays & Poetry of W.E.B. DuBois Poetry of McKay, Cullen, and Hughes Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston)

30. Contemporary (aka Postmodern) 1950-present Main Ideas / Focus Post-World War II prosperity Media culture interprets values Disillusionment Cold War Civil Rights Feeling lost in fast- paced world

31. Contemporary (aka Postmodernism) 1950-present Writing Style / Types Mix of fantasy and nonfiction; blurs lines of reality for reader Non-traditional form Concern with individual in isolation No heroes Usually humorless Narratives Present tense Features cultural diversity Poetry increasingly personal and accessible

32. Contemporary (aka Postmodernism) 1950-present Effect/Aspects Erodes distinctions between classes of people Insists that values are not permanent but only "local" or "historical“ Rapid developments in science and technology increase opportunities for economic growth but lead to feelings of disillusionment and isolation

33. Contemporary (aka Postmodernism) 1950-present Examples The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger) The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Malcolm X) Roots (Haley) The Color Purple (Walker) In Cold Blood (Capote) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Kesey) Beat Poets: Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg Feminist and Social Issue Poets: Plath, Rich, Sexton, Giovanni