Annotated Timeline of American Literature

1. Annotated Timeline of American Literature Miss Gruver

2. Native American Experience • Timeline- 1200 BC- 1600 • Tribes • Sioux • Okanogan • Iroquois • Kiowa • Events • 1200 BC- 1600Native American culture flourishes • 1492Christopher Columbus lands in the Bahamas

3. Native American Experience Historical and Cultural Context • Our American identity as we know it is a product of our past. Our class will focus on literature which reveals how we arrived at our society and culture today. • We study Native American literature out of a respect for the indigenous cultures who were here before the European explorers as well as a respect for their cultural and literary influence throughout the years.

4. Native American Experience Storytelling & Oral Tradition • Long before European explorers came to North America, Native Americans had a rich literary tradition of their own. Their stories, histories, and legends were shared and preserved through oral tradition. The storyteller is one whose spirit is indispensable to the people.

5. Puritan Age/Colonial Period • Timeline- 1600-1750 • Authors • William Bradford • Anne Bradstreet • Edward Taylor • Events • 1607British settlers establish colony in Jamestown, Virginia • 1692Witch trials take place in Salem, Massachussetts

6. Puritan Age Colonial Genre/Style • Sermons, religious tracts, diaries, personal narratives, religious poems. It was written in plain style. Effect/Aspects • Instructive, reinforces authority of the Bible and the church. Very little imaginative literature was produced. • Historical Context Puritan settlers fled England where they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs, and came to New England to have religious freedom.

7. Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason • Timeline- 1750-1800 • Authors • Ben Franklin • Thomas Jefferson • Patrick Henry • Events • 1776American colonies declare independence • 1788U.S. Constitution is ratified

8. Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason • Genre/Style • Political Pamphlets, Travel Writing, and highly ornate persuasive writing. • Effect/Aspects • Patriotism and pride grows, creates unity about issues, and creates American character. • Historical Context • Encouraged Revolutionary War support.

9. Romanticism/American Gothic • Timeline- 1800-1855 • Authors • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Edgar Allen Poe • Events • 1803LA purchase doubles the countries size • 1808United States bans slave trade • 1812War of 1812 spurs on the Industrial Revolution

10. Romanticism/American Gothic • Genre/Style • Character Sketches, Slave Narratives, Poetry, and short stories. • Effect/Aspects • Integrity of nature and freedom of imagination. • Historical Context • Publishing expands and industrial revolution brings new ideas.

11. Transcendentalism • Timeline- 1840-1860 • Authors • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry David Thoreau • Margaret Fuller • Events • 1846Mexican American War begins. • 1848Gold discoveries lead to the first gold rush. • 1857Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision denies slaves basic rights.

12. Transcendentalism • Genre/Style • Poetry, Short Stories, and Novels. • Effect/Aspects • Idealists, individualism, and symbolism. • Historical Context • Economic downturns .During this time of instability, transcendentalism appealed to audiences • A belief in a higher reality than that achieved by human reasoning. Suggests that every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth through intuition

13. Realism • Timeline- 1855-1900 • Authors • Stephen Crane • Ambrose Bierce • Events • 1861-1865 North and South fight in Civil War. • 1865 13th Amendment abolishes slavery. • 1879Thomas Edison invents the light bulb.

14. Realism • Genre/Style • Novels, Short Stories, Objective Narrator, and does not tell reader how to interpret the story. • Effect/Aspects • Social and Aesthetic realism. • Historical Context • Civil War brought demand for a more true type of literature.

15. Regionalism/Naturalism • Timeline- 1870-1910 • Authors • Mark Twain • Willa Cather • Jack London • Events • 1889 Oklahoma is opened foe settlement, triggering a land rush. • 1903 Wright brothers achieve the first airplane flight.

16. Regionalism/Naturalism • Genre/Style • Poetry, Short Stories, and Novels. • Effect/Aspects • Emphasis on development of believable characters. • Written in natural vernacular, or dialect • Historical Context: • The urbanization and industrialization of America; Increasing rates of democracy and literacy; The emerging middle class; Upheaval and social change in the latter half of the 19th century

17. Modernism • Timeline- 1910-1945 • Authors • T.S. Elliot • Ernest Hemingway • Ezra Pound • Events • 1917 United States enters World War I • 1920 19th Amendment is passed, giving the women the right to vote.

18. Modernism • Genre/Style • Novels, Plays, Poetry, experiments in writing styles, interior monologue, and stream of consciousness. • Effect/Aspects • Pursuit of American Dream, Admiration for America, Optimism, and Individual Importance. • Historical Context • Writers reflected the ideas of Darwin and Karl Marx, during WWI and WWII.

19. Harlem Renaissance • Timeline- 1920-1930 • Authors • Langston Hughes • Zora Neale Hurston • Countee Cullen • Events • 1919 Race riots erupt in 25 American cities • 1929 The Wall Street stock market crashes and the Great Depression begins.

20. Harlem Renaissance • Genre/Style • Blues Song in Poetry and African American Spirituals. • Effect/Aspects • Brought about Gospel Music. • Historical Context • Mass African American Migration to Northern Urban Centers. African Americans are given more access to media and publishing.

21. Contemporary Literature • Timeline- 1940- Present • Authors • Kurt Vonnegut Jr. • John Steinbeck • Amy Tan • Events • 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor brings the U.S. into World War II • 1965 U.S. enters Vietnam War. • 2001 Terrorists attack U.S. cities. • 2009 Barack Obama becomes the first African American U.S. president

22. Contemporary Literature • Genre/Style • Narrative, fiction, nonfiction, anti heroes, emotional, irony, storytelling, autobiographical, and essays. • Effect/Aspects • Shift in emphasis from homogeneity to celebrating diversity. • Historical Context • New century, new millennium.