the “isms” of american literature. puritanism key dates: 1620 – 1720 founded by the puritans...
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The “Isms” of American Literature
Puritanism
Key Dates: 1620 – 1720
Founded by the Puritans who immigrated to American from England to escape religious persecution.
Puritan Subject Matter
• Preoccupied with sin and salvation.
• Emphasis on Religion• “Didactic” or
teaching through lecturing.
Puritan Beliefs
• People born from Original Sin.
• Hard Work and Discipline lead to salvation.
• Emphasis on conforming to God’s will and the will of the group.
Puritan Key Texts
1. “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” – Jonathan Edwards
2. “Huswifery” – Edward Taylor
3. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Rationalism(1720 – 1820)
• The period leading up to the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States of America.
Rationalism Subject Matter
• Nature of Government
-Monarchy vs. Democratic
• Politics and Public Discussion
• Based upon Science
Rationalist Beliefs
• Support Personal Freedoms
• “Deism”
-Religion based upon reason vs. Didactic lecturing.
• Universe Explored through Discovery
Realist Key Texts
1. “Declaration of Independence” – Thomas Jefferson
2. “Speech in the Virginia Convention”- Patrick Henry
3. Various Modern Speeches
Romanticism (1820 – 1865)
• Influenced by the European Enlightenment.
• Valued individual rights, beauty in nature, and philosophy.
Romantic Subject Matter
• Quest for Beauty• Interest in the Strange
and Abnormal• Social and Political
Injustice
Romantic Beliefs
• Creativity• Symbolism• Love of Nature and
Rural Life
Romantic Key Texts
1. ““Thanatopsis” – William Cullen Bryant
2. “The First Snowfall” – James Russell
3. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Transcendentalism(1820 – 1865)
Influenced by Romanticism, but explores further connection between God and nature.
Transcendental Subject Matter
• Appreciation of Nature
• Emphasis on Mysteries of the Universe
• Nature is where humans find God.
Transcendental Beliefs
• Self Reliance: Depend on yourself for making good choices.
• God found through the individual
• Anti-Materialism: Build things yourself
Transcendental Texts
• “Nature” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Self-Reliance” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Walden” – Henry David Thoreau
Realism(1860 – 1900)
• The period leading up to, during, and after the Civil War where America debated about the ethics of the Institution of Slavery.
Realism Subject Matter
• The Abolition of Slavery
• Human Rights vs. Rights of Ownership
• Regionalism: emphasis on dialect on customs of the South.
Realist Beliefs
• Destiny controlled by Environment
• Debate:
-North: slavery was a cruel/inhuman institution.
-South: a necessity for their economy.
Realist Key Texts
• “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” – Olaudah Equiano
• “Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl” – Harriet Jacobs
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Modernism(1900 – 1945)
• The period between the turn-of-the century to the beginning of WWII.
• America’s change from a rural/Agrarian Society to a urban/cosmopolitan society.
Modernist Subject Matter
• Bold Experimentation• Disillusionment:
frustration with the society and the world.
• Rejection of traditional styles and beliefs
Modernist Beliefs
• American Dream belief that anyone can be successful.
• Individual over society by attacking the social order.
• Class warfare: low-class/rural life vs. high class/city life.
Modernist Key Texts
• “Chicago” – Carl Sandburg
• 4 poems by Langston Hughes
• The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald