1. American Literature

2. Colonial Anne Bradstreet The Iroquois Constitution

3. Colonial 1600s-1700s Explorers, colonists, and Puritans wrote of their experiences and philosophy/theology.

4. Colonial Although not acknowledged by the European settlers, the Native Americans also recorded their experiences in poem, story and song. 1600s-1700s

5. Neoclassical Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Phillis Wheatley

6. Neoclassical LATE 1700s Literature of this time period reflects a change in the social structure from one which was largely influenced by Protestant theology to one which is centered on a respect for the common man and a move toward democracy.

7. Romanticism Herman Melville Nathaniel Hawthorne Emily Dickinson Edgar Allan Poe Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau

8. Romanticism These writers infused their writing with “…fancy, imagination, emotion, nature, individuality and exotica” (The American Experience). Mid 1800s

9. Romanticism Transcendentalism and Anti- Transcendentalism are hallmarks of this era as many of these writers explored man’s relationship to nature and his desire to reach a higher consciousness outside traditional theology. Mid 1800s

10. Realism Mark Twain Walt Whitman Kate Chopin

11. Realism 1850s-1900s Influenced by the events preceding and following the Civil War, literature from this period is less philosophical in nature than the Romantic period and more cynical and questioning.

12. Realism 1850s-1900s This period reflects a concern for the everyday experiences of the common man.

13. Naturalism Willa Cather Carl Sandburg Jack London

14. Naturalism LATE 1800s Writers in this literary period tended to see humans as the “…hapless victims of immutable natural laws (The American Experience). They were also influenced by the Industrial Revolution.

15. Modernism Ernest Hemingway John Steinbeck F. Scott Fitzgerald

16. Modernism 1900 - 1950 The reader and the reader’s response to a text is the focus of this time period. Writers began to experiment with form and structure in order to evoke a particular response from readers.

17. Contemporary Lorraine Hansberry Arthur Miller Homer Hickam Karen Hesse Kaye Gibbons Bernard Malamud Walter Dean Myers

18. Contemporary 1950 - PRESENT Literature of this period reflects the social activism and social change characteristic of the times.

19. Contemporary 1950 - PRESENT In the latter half of this period, the influence of the digital age is reflected in new and emerging forms of writing and literacy.

20. American Literature

21. Works Cited Photo Credits Music Credits *Red Lit Book *Literary Periods – Bar Chart *source web addresses *The American Collection – Masterpiece Theater Theme – Yo Yo Ma, John Williams Still Under Construction