1. American Literary periods and primary authors

2. Colonial Puritan Period

3. Colonial / Puritan
Newly arrived colonists were settling and establishing new governments.
The literature of the period reflects the religious influence of the Puritans.
Writing focuses on historical events, daily life, moral attitudes, political unrest.

4. Colonial / Puritan primary authors
William Bradford
Anne Bradstreet
Jonathan Edwards
Ben Franklin

5. Revolutionary 1750-1815 British rule caused rebellion in the states.
Persuasive and political writing ruled the day.
After the Revolution, American patriotism and nationalism became the focus.

6. Revolutionary Primary Authors
Thomas Paine
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Patrick Henry

7. Romanticism & Transcendentalism 1800-1855
Both philosophical movements
Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions.

8. Elements of Romanticism and Primary Authors
Use of the imagination
Filled with emotion
Revels in nature
Primary authors:
Washington Irving
Edgar Allan Poe (dark)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (dark)
Herman Melville (dark)

9. Elements of Transcendentalism & Primary Authors
Stressed respect for the individual
Intuition
Connection of the human spirit with
Self Governed versus Big Government
Primary authors
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Walt Whitman

10. Realism
This period includes the Civil War, significant industrial invention, and westward expansion.
Realism articulated tensions and complex events of the time (reality)
Characters reflected real people with flaws struggling to overcome the difficulties of war, family , natural disasters and human frailties

11. Realism 1850-1900 Primary authors: Ambrose Bierce Stephen Crane
Willa Cather
Emily Dickinson
Mark Twain

12. Naturalism 1880-1940 Overlaps with realism
Writers focused on grim reality
Focused on natural laws that govern human lives.
Characters are often helpless victims of nature, the environment , and heritage.
Primary authors: Theodore Dreiser, James T. Farrell, Jack London, Frank Norris

13. Modern Period
The first half of the twentieth century in the U.S. was marked by wars, economic prosperity, depression, commercialism, and increased population.
Writers explored themes of alienation and change and confronted people’s fears and disillusionments.

14. Characteristics of the Modern period:
Other writing groups included those of the Harlem Renaissance and The Jazz Age.
Characteristics of the Modern period:
Use of symbolism, irony.
Writers experimented with new techniques, trying to right the social wrongs of the day.
Primary authors:
T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

15. Post-Modern Period 1950-Present
Period includes prosperity, the Civil Rights movement, and the women’s rights movement
Characteristics of the movement:
Blurring the lines of reality creating non-traditional works
No traditional structure
Writings were cynical and ironic
Focused on absurdity of daily life

16. Postmodern Period 1950-present
Addresses social issues related to gender and race.
Primary authors:
James Thurber
Alice Walker
Kurt Vonnegut
J.K. Rowling