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Timeline of American Literature

Timeline of American Literature. Puritanism. 1600-1800 Narratives that looked inward and expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives Private letters, diaries, essays, histories, sermons. Puritanism.

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Timeline of American Literature

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  1. Timeline of American Literature

  2. Puritanism • 1600-1800 • Narratives that looked inward and expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives • Private letters, diaries, essays, histories, sermons

  3. Puritanism • Sought to “purify” the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship and church organization described in the New Testament • Saw religion as a personal, inner experience • Believed in original sin and “elect” who would be saved • Used a plain style of writing

  4. Puritanism • Historical Events of Importance • First “American” colonies established • Salem Witch Trials

  5. Age of Reason / Persuasion • 1750-1800 • Rise of political/public writing • Mostly comprised of philosophers and scientists • Documents, almanacs, pamphlets, speeches • Valued reason over faith • Assumed people were good, not evil

  6. Age of Reason / Persuasion • Focus on persuasive writing • Intended to convince citizens to join revolutionary causes • Most writing was political • Responses to the strained relationship with Great Britain and trying to break free to form a new government

  7. Age of Reason / Persuasion • Historical Events of Importance • The Revolutionary War • The Constitution • The Bill of Rights • The Declaration of Independence

  8. Romanticism • 1800-1860 • SHIFTS • From faith in reason to faith in the senses, feelings, and imagination • From interest in urban society to an interest in the rural and natural • From public, impersonal poetry to subjective poetry • Fromconcern with the scientific and mundane to interest in the mysterious and finite

  9. Romanticism • Valued feeling, intuition, idealism, the individual, and the imagination • Dark Romantics: Interested in the Medieval past, the supernatural, the mystical, the “gothic,” and the exotic

  10. Romanticism • Historical Events of Importance • Industrialization • War of 1812 • California Gold Rush

  11. Transcendentalism • 1840-1860 • Developed as a protest against the general state of spirituality and, in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University • Core beliefs: • Inherent goodness of people • Inherent goodness of nature

  12. Transcendentalism • The soul of each individual is identical with the soul of the world and contains what the world contains • Transcendentalists believe that society and its institutions (organized religion, political parties) ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual.

  13. Transcendentalism • People are at their best when they are truly self-reliant and independent • Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to tradition • Had their own Club! • The Transcendental Club • Published their own journal • “The Dial”

  14. Transcendentalism • Historical Events of Importance • The Abolitionist Movement • The Utopian Movement • The Women’s Suffrage Movement

  15. Realism/Naturalism • 1850-1900 • Feelings of disillusionment • Common subjects: • Slums of rapidly growing cities • Factories replacing farmlands • Poor factory workers • Corrupt politicians

  16. Realism/Naturalism • Represented the manner and environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible • Regionalism • Sought to explain behavior • Psychologically • Socially

  17. Realism/Naturalism • Historical Events of Importance • The Civil War • Reconstruction

  18. Modernism • 1900-1950 • Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the “American Dream” • The independent, self reliant individual will triumph

  19. Modernism • Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form over the traditional • Interest in the inner workings of the human mind • Ex: Stream of Consciousness

  20. Modernism • Historical Events of Importance • World War I • The Great Depression • World War II

  21. Harlem Renaissance • 1920-1940 • AKA: “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20s” • Black Cultural Movement in Harlem, New York

  22. Harlem Renaissance • Some poetry rhythms based on spirituals and jazz • Lyrics from the blues • Diction from the street talk of the ghettos • Other poetry used conventional lyrics

  23. Harlem Renaissance • Historical Events of Importance • “The New Negro Movement” • Prohibition

  24. Contemporary • 1950-present • AKA: Post-modernism • Influenced by studies of media, language, and information technology • Sense that little is unique; culture endlessly duplicates and copies itself

  25. Contemporary • New literary forms and techniques: • Works composed of only dialogue • Combining fiction and non-fiction • Authors experimenting with the physical appearance of their work

  26. Contemporary • Historical Events of Importance • Korean War • Vietnam War

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