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Literary Periods/Movements Puritan/Colonial – (1472-1750) – Most of this is histories, journals, personal poems, sermons, and diaries. Most of this literature is either utilitarian, very personal, or religious. We call it Puritan because the majority of the writers during this period were strongly influenced by Puritan ideals and values. Jonathan Edwards continues to be recognized from this period. Enlightenment/Revolution – (1750-1800) – Called the Enlightenment period due to the influence of science and logic, this period is marked in American literature by political writings like Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.” Genres included political documents, speeches, and letters. Benjamin Franklin is typical of this period. There is a lack of emphasis and dependence on the Bible and more use of common sense (logic) and science. There was not a divorce from the Bible but an adding to or expanding of the truths found there. Romanticism – (1800-1840) - Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement of the nineteenth century that arose in reaction against eighteenth-century Neoclassicism and placed a premium on fancy, imagination, emotion, nature, individuality, and exotica. There’s a movement here from personal and political documents to entertaining ones. Purely American topics were introduced such as frontier life. Romantic elements can be found in the works of American writers as diverse as Cooper, Poe, Thoreau, Emerson, Dickinson, Hawthorne, and Melville. Romanticism is particularly evident in the works of the New England Transcendentalists. The major themes of American Romanticism: * intuition is more valid than reason * experience is more important than universal principles * man is at the center of the universe and God is the center of man * man should seek harmony with nature where the supernatural can be sensed * we should strive for idealism by changing the world into what it should be, rather than what it is * passion, beauty, emotion are revered * return to the "romantic" past, i.e., the Homeric & heroic era Transcendentalism (an extension of Romanticism) – (1840-1855) Transcendentalism was an American literary and philosophical movement of the nineteenth century. The Transcendentalists, who were based in New England, believed that intuition and the individual conscience “transcend” experience and thus are better guides to truth than are the senses and logical reason. Influenced by Romanticism, the Transcendentalists respected the individual spirit and the natural world, believing that divinity was present everywhere, in nature and in each person. The Transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, W.H. Channing, Margaret Fuller, and Elizabeth Peabody. The anti-Transcendentalist (Hawthorne and Melville) rebelled against the philosophy that man is basically good. A third group, the Fireside poets, wrote about more practical aspects of life such as dying and patriotism. Principles of Transcendentalism: * all objects are miniature versions of the universe * intuition and conscience "transcend" experience and reason * man is one with nature * God is everywhere, in nature and in man • extension of Romanticism Realism (c. 1830–1900): A loose term that can refer to any work that aims at honest portrayal over sensationalism, exaggeration, or melodrama. Technically, realism refers to a late-19th-century literary movement— primarily French, English, and American—that aimed at accurate detailed portrayal of ordinary, contemporary life. Many of the 19th century’s greatest novelists are classified as realists, including Henry James. Naturalism can be seen as an intensification of realism. Naturalism (c. 1865–1900): A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. Leading writers in the movement include Émile Zola, Theodore Dreiser, and Stephen Crane. Regionalism: (1865-1895) Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. Influenced by Southwestern and Down East humor, between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century this mode of writing became dominant in American literature. According to the Oxford Companion to American Literature, "In local-color literature one finds the dual influence of romanticism and realism, since the author frequently looks away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description" (439). Modernism – (1915-1946) – An age of disillusionment and confusion—just look at what was happening in history in the US during these dates—this period brought us perhaps our best writers. The authors during this period raised all the great questions of life…but offered no answers. Faulkner, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Frost are all examples. Modernism is marked by a strong and intentional break with tradition. This break includes a strong reaction against established religious, political, and social views. Modernists believe the world is created in the act of perceiving it; that is, the world is what we say it is. Modernists do not subscribe to absolute truth. All things are relative. Modernists feel no connection with history or institutions. Their experience is that of alienation, loss, and despair. Modernists champion the individual and celebrate inner strength. Modernists believe life is unordered. Modernists concern themselves with the sub-conscious.