Download Isms in American Literature

The Isms in American Literature
American Studies Program
 Skeletal Outline Presentation

Puritanism

Puritanism was a way of life
based on the belief that the
Bible was the Word of God.
•Religion should permeate every phase of living.
•Man’s only purpose is to glorify God.
•Every action, including writing, should further this
objective. Hours spent writing were taken away from
important tasks such as plowing fields or praying.
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Puritanism

Writing must serve a
practical purpose.
1. Relate the experiences of the settlers and attract
interest in the colonies, such as John Smith’s General
History.
2. Discuss problems dealing with right and wrong
(aids to worship), such as Samuel Sewall’s diaries
and Edward Taylor’s poetry.
3. Writing should be utilitarian, unless it imitated
English models.
Puritanism

Typical Puritan Writers:
Anne Bradstreet
“To My Dear and
Loving Husband”
“Upon the Burning of
Our House”
Jonathan Edwards
“Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry
God”
Edward Taylor
“Huswifery”
“Upon What Base?”
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Puritanism

Typical Puritan Writers:
William Bradford (Of Plymouth Plantation)
Chapter 9
Of their voyage, and how they passed the sea, and of their safe
arrival at Cape Cod
September 6. These troubles being blown over, and now all being compact
together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which
continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them;
yet according to the usual manner many were afflicted with sea sickness.
And I may not omit here a special work of God's providence. There was a
proud and very profane young man, one of the sea-men, of a lusty, able
body, which made him the more haughty; he would always be condemning
the poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous
execrations, and did not let to tell them, that he hoped to help to cast half of
them overboard before they came to their journey's end, and to make merry
with what they had; and if he were by any gently reproved, he would curse
and swear most bitterly. But it pleased God before they came half seas over,
to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a
desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard.
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is a conscious attempt by
writers to interpret the form and ideals of
ancient works, especially from Greece and
Rome.
 Neoclassical writers stressed logic, order,
correctness, and dignity.

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Neoclassicism
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Neoclassical literature had these
characteristics:
•
•
•
•
Clarity, simplicity, and directness.
Dignity and logic.
Formality--correct form.
Didactic purpose: man can reach perfection if
he learns the laws of nature (natural law).
• Man needs freedom to study natural laws
(hence, emphasis on self-government).
• Often, neoclassical writers were satirists.
Typical Neoclassical
Writers

Benjamin Franklin
• The Autobiography
• Poor Richard’s
Almanac
• Maxims/Aphorisms
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Typical Neoclassical
Writers
Thomas Jefferson
 The Declaration of
Independence
 The Constitution of
the United States

Typical Neoclassical
Writers

Phillis Wheatley
• “To His Excellency
General Washington”

Patrick Henry
• “Speech in the
Virginia Convention”

Thomas Paine
• The Crisis
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Romanticism

Romanticism is both an attitude and a
literary style.
• It represents a reaction against the formality of
neoclassicism.
• Imagination, fancy (in the sense of “fanciful”),
individualism and revolt against tradition are
elements of romanticism.

Chief Characteristic: emphasis on emotion
and imagination.
Romanticism

Characteristics
• 1. Rebellion against the past, rules, orthodoxy,
etc. (not as a subject…the past is often chosen)
• 2. A tendency toward inspiration (vs. classics)
as subject and method.
• 3. A concern with the individual, especially the
author. (hence, emphasis on personal emotion)
• 4. An interest in untamed nature.
• 5. An encouragement of the reader’s
imagination.
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Romanticism
Transcendentalism was one aspect of
romanticism.
 Definition: Transcendentalism is a philosophy

which holds that basic truths can be reached
through intuition rather than reason.
• Basic truths of the universe lie beyond the
knowledge we obtain through our senses.
• People must go beyond or transcend what their
reason and senses tell them.
Romanticism
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Transcendentalists stress:
• Beauty of nature
• Essential divinity of all people
• Primary importance of the human spirit.

Leading American Transcendentalists:
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
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Romanticism
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Typical Romantic Writers
Edgar Allan Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Romanticism
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Typical Romantic Writers
•
•
•
•
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
John Greenleaf Whittier
James Russell Lowell
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Imagination
Fancy
Untamed Nature
Beauty
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Realism
Realism is a general term applied to any
literary work which shows life as it is.
 Realistic writers show both the good and the
bad in life.
 Realism is a reaction against romanticism,
especially its subjects: the past, nature, etc.
 The subject of the realist is the ordinary
person or event.

Realism

The romantic realist presents life as s/he
finds it, but generally seeks out the pleasant
side of life Or tempers the unpleasant by
• his own emotional feelings
• Bret Harte in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat ”
• Or his nostalgic recollections
• Mark Twain in Adventures of
• Huckleberry Finn
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Realism


Some characteristics of realism:
• 1. The focus is on the present.
• 2. The emphasis is on character and motivation
rather than plot.
• 3. The realist emphasizes facts.
• 4. Specific details are important.
The local color movement was part of Realism.
Regionalism is an example of Realism.
Realism

Other Typical Writers:
Willa Cather
Walt Whitman
Anzia Yezierska
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Naturalism

Naturalism is an extreme of Realism
which examines life with more
objectivity than the “life as it is”
technique of Realism.
Naturalism

The subject of naturalism is usually a social
problem or vice.
• 1. Characters are often “type” characters--they
represent the vice or weakness of a group, so
their lives and backgrounds are presented in
great detail.
• 2. Determinism may be a part of naturalism.
(Biological determinism = man’s actions are
determined by heredity and he has little choice
in his own destiny.)
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Naturalism
Characteristics of naturalism include:
 1. Objectivity

• The author does not judge his characters; rather, he places them in
situations where they behave in certain ways.

2. Candor (reaction against Victorianism)
• Man and woman should be studied to discover their deeper instincts.
• According to a naturalist, fear, hunger, and sex are the three strongest
drives.
Naturalism
Characteristics of naturalism include:
 3. Philosophy of Determinism

• A) A complex view that man is a victim, esp. the view that man is an
animal, helpless against fate.
• B) The philosophy may take three forms:
• i. Sociological emphasis (Sinclair’s The Jungle)
• ii. Mechanistic philosophy (Dreiser’s Sister Carrie)
• iii. Fatalism (Crane’s “The Open Boat”
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Naturalism
Characteristics of naturalism include:
 4. A bias toward pessimism in selecting
details (e.g., typical settings are slums, sweatshops,

factories, etc.)
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5. A bias in the selection of characters.
• A) marked physical but small intellectual activity.
• B) excited, neurotic temperament
• C) strong characters whose wills are broken
Naturalism
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D. Naturalism is sometimes (not
always) socialistic or radical in
politics.
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Naturalism
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D. Typical naturalistic writers:
Ernest
Hemingway
Sherwood
Anderson
James
Baldwin
Naturalism
Other Naturalistic Writers:
Jack London
Hamlin Garland
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