American Literature Timeline

In this document we are going to learn the differents rates that the American Literature developed. Of course, they are the most outstanding of the American Literature. 

The First American Literature: Native Americans

0    Communicated orally

0    Myths and legends

0    Focus on nature; creation stories

ENLIGHTENMENT (1607-1800)

                (TWO phases: Pilgrims/religion & Patriots/politics)

The Age of Faith (1607-1750)

I.  Historical Context

         A. Puritans and Pilgrims

                   1. separated from the Anglican church of England

                   2. religion dominated their lives and writings

         B. Work ethic - belief in hard work and simple, no-frills living

II. Genre/Style

         A. sermons, diaries, personal narratives, slave narratives

         B. instructive

         C. plain style

III. Major writers

         A. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

                   1. first published American poet

2. "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

         B. Edward Taylor (1645-1729)

                   1. Minister; considered the finest Puritan poet

2. "Huswifery"

         C. Jonathan Edwards

                   1. Minister

                   2. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

The Age of Reason (1750-1800)

         I. Historical context

         A. American Revolution; growth of patriotism

         B. Development of American character/democracy

         C. Use of reason as opposed to faith alone

II. Genre/Style

         A. political pamphlets, essays, travel writing, speeches, documents

         B. instructive in values; highly ornate writing style

III. Major writers

         A. Ben Franklin

                   1. Autobiography & Poor Richard's Almanac

                   2. Symbol of success gained by hard work and common sense

         B. Thomas Jefferson

                   1. Declaration of Independence

                   2. Considered the finest writer of the era

         C. Thomas Paine

                   1.  Pamphleteer

                   2. "The American Crisis" helped propel us into war

                   3. Remains a model of effective propaganda

                   4. "These are the times that try men's souls."

ROMANTICISM (1800-1855)

I. Historical context

         A. Expansion of book publishing, magazines, newspapers

         B. Industrial Revolution

         C. Abolitionist movement

II. Genre/Style

         A. Short stories, novels, poetry,

         B.  Imagination over reason; intuition over fact

         C. Focused on the fantastic of human experience

         D. Writing that can be interpreted 2 ways: surface and in depth

E.    Focus on inner feelings

F. Gothic literature (sub-genre of Romanticism)

                   1. Use of the supernatural

                   2. Characters with both evil and good characteristics

                   3. Dark landscapes; depressed characters

III. Major writers

A. Washington Irving (1789-1851)

                   1. first famous American writer; called "father of American Lit"

                   2. wrote short stories, travel books, satires

                   3. Legend of Sleepy Hollow: terrified generations of children

                   4. Rip Van Winkle: created success from failure; the antihero

                   5. "Devil and Tom Walker": an encounter-with-the-devil tale

         B. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

1. wrote about sin and guilt; consequences of pride, selfishness, etc.

                   2. The Scarlet Letter

                   3. Short stories ("The Minister's Black Veil")

         C.  Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)

                   1. lousy childhood; substance abuse problems

                  2. created the modern short story and detective story

         D. Herman Melville (1819-1891)

1. ranked as one of America's top novelists, but recognized by few in his own time

                   2. Moby Dick

a. didn't sell: only his friend NH liked it; not reprinted for 60 yrs.

                            b. now considered America's greatest prose epic

The Transcendentalists (1840-1855)

1. Transcendentalism: stressed individualism, intuition, nature, self-reliance

                   2. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

a. his writings helped establish the philosophy of individualism, an idea deeply embedded in American culture

                            b. "Nature"

                   3. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

a. resisted materialism; chose simplicity, individualism

                            b.  Walden

                                      1. lived on Walden Pond for 2+ years

2. a guidebook for life, showing how to live wisely in a world designed to make wise living impossible

REALISM (1865-1915)

I. Historical context

A. Civil War brings demand for a "truer" type of literature that doesn't idealize people or places

         B. People in society defined by "class"; materialism

C. Reflect ideas of Darwin (survival of the fittest) and Marx (how money and class structure control a nation)

II. Genre/Style

         A. Realism

                   1.  a reaction against romanticism; told it like it was

2.     focus on lives of ordinary people; rejected heroic and adventurous

3.     anti-materialism; rejected the new "class" system

4.     view of nature as a powerful and indifferent force beyond man's control

         B. Naturalism (sub-genre of Realism)

                   1.  like Realism but a darker view of the world

2.  the universe is unpredictable; fate is determined by chance; free will is an illusion

                   3.  characters' lives shaped by forces they can't understand or control

         C. Novels, short stories

         D. Often aims to change a specific social problem

         E. Dominant themes: survival, fate, violence, nature as an indifferent force

III. Major writers

         A. The Civil War (1855-1865)

                   1. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)  

                            a. The most famous woman of her day

                            b.  Uncle Tom's Cabin

(1).  most influential book of the 19th Century; 1st to sell 1 mil. copies

(2). one of the most effective documents of propaganda; helped fuel the Civil War

                   2. Frederick Douglas (1817-1895)

                            a. an escaped slave; one of the most effective orators of his day

                            b. influential newspaper writer; militant abolitionist; diplomat

                            c. autobiography an instant and enduring classic of courage

         B. The Frontier (1865-1915)

                   1. Mark Twain (1835-1910)

                            a. Samuel Langhorne Clemens is widely thought to be the greatest                                             American humorist and one of our greatest novelists

         b. used vernacular, exaggeration, deadpan narrator to create humor

                            c. “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (tall tale)

                            d. Adventures of Tom Sawyer

e. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (one of America's most influential novels)

                            f. Life on the Mississippi (a memoir)

                   2.  Jack London

                            a. pushed Naturalism to its limits

b. Call of the Wild (tame dog forced to revert to his original primitive state)

                            c. “To Build a Fire” (survival of the fittest)

                   3. The Local Colorists (1865-1930)

a. Regional writers tried to capture the essence of a particular area, or its "local color"