From the Beginning to the Present

American Literature

The Colonial Period1650-1750

Sermons, diaries, personal narratives

Written in plain styleInstructive Reinforces authority

of Bible and churchPerson’s fate

determined by GodPeople are corrupt

and must be saved by Christ

The Colonial Period1650-1750

William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation

Jonathon Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Anne Bradstreet’s poetryMary Rowlandson’s “A

Narrative of the Captivity”Though not written in

Puritan times, The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter depict Puritan life

The Revolutionary Period1750-1800

Political pamphletsTravel writingHighly ornate stylePersuasive writingaka Age of ReasonPatriotism growsNational mission and

the American character

Tells readers how to interpret and encourage war

Instructive in values

The Revolutionary Period1750-1800

Thomas JeffersonThomas PainePatrick HenryBenjamin Franklin’s

Poor Richard’s Almanac

Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography

The Romantic Period1800-1860

Slave narrativesPoetry and Short StoriesPhilosophyValue feeling and intuition over

reasoningJourney away from corruption of

civilization to the integrity of natureTranscendentalists are idealistsEncourage self-reliance and

individualismDark Romantics use symbolism and

focus on sin, guilt, and evil

The Romantic Period1800-1860

Transcendentalists: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

Emily Dickinson poetryWalt Whitman poetryEdgar Allan Poe’s short

fiction and poetry

The Realistic Period1855-1900

Novels and short storiesObjective narratorDoes not tell reader how to

interpret storyDialogue includes dialectSocial realism—aims to change a

specific social problemAesthetic realism—art that

insists on detailing the world as it really is

Naturalism—the application of scientific determinism to literature

The Realistic Period1855-1900

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

Frederick Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage

The Modern Period1900-1950

Novels, plays, and poetryHighly experimental writingStream of consciousnessLoss of faith in American

dreamCynical point of viewWriters reflect ideas of

Darwin and MarxMajor technological changesRise of the youth cultureWWI and WWII

The Modern Period1900-1950

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath

Poetry of Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, ee cummings, etc.

The Harlem Renaissance1920s

Mass African-American migration to Northern urban centers

Allusions to African-American spirituals

Uses structure of blues songs in poetry

Stereotypes revealed to be complex characters

The Harlem Renaissance1920s

Essays and poetry of W.E.B. DuBois

Poetry of Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen

Poetry and short fiction of Langston Hughes

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

The Postmodern Period1950-present

Mixing of fantasy and nonfiction

No heroesConcern with

individual in isolationSocial issues as

writers align feminist and ethnic groups

Post-WWII prosperityVietnam an d

counter-culture

The Postmodern Period1950-present

J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood

Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Beat poets—Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg

Maya Angelou, Amy Tan, and Alice Walker