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The History of American Literature Literary Period Historical Influences Native American Period Prior to 1492 1492 – Columbus Settlement/Colonial Period 1620-1750 Exploration and Settlement of New World 1st Slaves Arrived in America (1619) Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) 1st Puritan Settlement Revolutionary Period and Nationalism 1750-1800 The Great Awakening – (1740s) a religious revival that urged a return to Puritan values Age of Reason/Age of Enlightenment a philosophical movement that valued reason, science, and logic Characteristics of the Period Celebrates the natural and spiritual world Was an oral tradition Told in the form of myths Settlement narratives written to establish an historical record, glorify one’s accomplishments, and impress one’s benefactors. Slave narratives written for purpose of abolition Focuses on historical events, daily life, strict moral and religious attitudes (Puritanism), 1776 – Declaration of Independence Romanticism and Transcendentalism 1800-1860 Establishment of a national identity for the new nation A glorious time in American history where the nation was relatively free from conflict. Writers finally had the opportunity to write about emotions and beauty Major Writers/Movement Christopher Columbus John Smith William Bradford Olaudah Equiano Jonathan Edwards Justifies the American Revolution Celebrates nationalism and patriotism and examines what it means to be an American Celebrates individualism, nature, imagination, and emotions Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Wm Cullen Bryant The Fireside Poets poets whose sentimental, Romantic verse was commercially poet and read aloud at the fireside. (Ex: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) Literary Period Realism 1860-1900 Historical Influences The Civil War (1861-65) Characteristics of the Movement Naturalism 1860-1900 The Civil War (1861-86) Industrialism Modernism 1900-1950 World War I (1914-18) The Jazz Age (1920s) The Great Depression (1930s) World War II (1941-45) McCarthyism (1950s) Examines realities of life, human frailty, and regional culture (local color) Portrays man accurately Like Realism in that it realistically portrays accurately. However, Naturalism shows man at the mercy of forces he cannot control but endures with dignity Features themes of alienation and disillusionment Experiments with new writing techniques (like stream of consciousness) to emphasize the fact that there is nothing that is whole. Everything is in pieces. Uses lots of irony and understatement Major Writers Mark Twain Harriet Beecher Stowe Regionalists/Local Colorists: Writers who portrayed the characteristics and culture of a particular region. Examples Bret Hart (Old West), Twain (Mississippi River), Jack London (Yukon Territory) Stephen Crane Muckrakers Journalists who focused on ills of society (particularly Industrialism) – The Jungle/Upton Sinclair Hemingway Fitzgerald TS Eliot The Harlem Renaissance – refers African American writers who celebrated their culture. Examples include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston. This is perhaps the only bright spot in Modern Literature The Lost Generation – refers to both WWI soldiers (literally a lost generation) and a group of American writers living in France who wrote about feelings of hopelessness left in the wake of a brutal war. Literary Period Postmodernism 1950-present Historical Influences Civil Rights (1960s) 9/11/2001 Characteristics of the Movement Represents cultural diversity of America Features nontraditional topics and structures Embraces the changing reality Skepticism about absolutes. No one description can characterize all Americans. Major Writers Regional Regionalism – features variety of narrative techniques to tell the stories of distinctive characters/ regions (Maya Angelou, Eudora Welty, Garrison Keiler, Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor) Pulp Fiction – serial (continuing) fiction told in magazine form – commercially popular (Famous Characters: Tarzan, Zorro, Flash Gordon) Southern Agrarians – celebrated the beauty working the land in the rural south (Robert Penn Warren) American Drama – quality plays that refuted previous idea that American drama was mediocre. (Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams) Beat Generation – antiestablishment writers (“Howl” by Alan Ginsberg) Metafiction – a combination of fiction and non-fiction (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe) Cyber Punk – describes life in a technological world (The Matrix Trilogy) Confessional Poets – wrote honest portrayals of their own emotional turmoil (Sylvia Plath, Robertt Lowell)