1. Timeline of American Literature

2. Puritanism
Narratives that looked inward and expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives
Private letters, diaries, essays, histories, sermons

3. Puritanism
Sought to “purify” the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship and church organization described in the New Testament
Saw religion as a personal, inner experience
Believed in original sin and “elect” who would be saved
Used a plain style of writing

4. Puritanism Historical Events of Importance
First “American” colonies established
Salem Witch Trials

5. Age of Reason / Persuasion
Rise of political/public writing
Mostly comprised of philosophers and scientists
Documents, almanacs, pamphlets, speeches
Valued reason over faith
Assumed people were good, not evil

6. Age of Reason / Persuasion
Focus on persuasive writing
Intended to convince citizens to join revolutionary causes
Most writing was political
Responses to the strained relationship with Great Britain and trying to break free to form a new government

7. Age of Reason / Persuasion
Historical Events of Importance
The Revolutionary War
The Constitution
The Bill of Rights
The Declaration of Independence

8. Romanticism
SHIFTS
From faith in reason to faith in the senses, feelings, and imagination
From interest in urban society to an interest in the rural and natural
From public, impersonal poetry to subjective poetry
From concern with the scientific and mundane to interest in the mysterious and finite

9. Romanticism
Valued feeling, intuition, idealism, the individual, and the imagination
Dark Romantics: Interested in the Medieval past, the supernatural, the mystical, the “gothic,” and the exotic

10. Romanticism Historical Events of Importance Industrialization
War of 1812
California Gold Rush

11. Transcendentalism
Developed as a protest against the general state of spirituality and, in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University
Core beliefs:
Inherent goodness of people
Inherent goodness of nature

12. Transcendentalism
The soul of each individual is identical with the soul of the world and contains what the world contains
Transcendentalists believe that society and its institutions (organized religion, political parties) ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual.

13. Transcendentalism
People are at their best when they are truly self-reliant and independent
Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to tradition
Had their own Club!
The Transcendental Club
Published their own journal
“The Dial”

14. Transcendentalism Historical Events of Importance
The Abolitionist Movement
The Utopian Movement
The Women’s Suffrage Movement

15. Realism/Naturalism 1850-1900 Feelings of disillusionment
Common subjects:
Slums of rapidly growing cities
Factories replacing farmlands
Poor factory workers
Corrupt politicians

16. Realism/Naturalism
Represented the manner and environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible
Regionalism
Sought to explain behavior
Psychologically
Socially

17. Realism/Naturalism Historical Events of Importance The Civil War
Reconstruction

18. Modernism
Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the “American Dream”
The independent, self reliant individual will triumph

19. Modernism
Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form over the traditional
Interest in the inner workings of the human mind
Ex: Stream of Consciousness

20. Modernism Historical Events of Importance World War I
The Great Depression
World War II

21. Harlem Renaissance 1920-1940 AKA: “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20s”
Black Cultural Movement in Harlem, New York

22. Harlem Renaissance Some poetry rhythms based on spirituals and jazz
Lyrics from the blues
Diction from the street talk of the ghettos
Other poetry used conventional lyrics

23. Harlem Renaissance Historical Events of Importance
“The New Negro Movement”
Prohibition

24. Contemporary 1950-present AKA: Post-modernism
Influenced by studies of media, language, and information technology
Sense that little is unique; culture endlessly duplicates and copies itself

25. Contemporary New literary forms and techniques:
Works composed of only dialogue
Combining fiction and non-fiction
Authors experimenting with the physical appearance of their work

26. Contemporary
Historical Events of Importance
Korean War
Vietnam War