Transcript 224916_AMERICAN_LITERATURE.pptx

AMERICAN LITERATURE,
AN OVERVIEW
PRE-HISTORY - PRESENT
TAKING NOTES
 You are to view this presentation and listen as the instructor
speaks. PAY ATTENTION.
 Take notes – write down the important facts and info.
 If the instructor adds information that sounds important or helps
you to connect to the topic, include it.
 If you miss something, either get it from a neighbor at the end of
class, or view this presentation on Mrs. Utley’s website. It can be
found by following the links for English 10 homework at:
http://www.asdk12.org/staff/utley_amy/
ERAS
PREHISTORY
ENLIGHTENMENT
(1607-1800)
Phase One
(1607- 1750)
Age of Faith
Native
American
Mythology
Phase Two
(1750-1800)
Age of
Reason
ROMANTICISM
(1800-1855)
Gothic
Literature
(subgenre)
REALISM
(1865-1915)
MODERNISM
(1915-1945)
Science
Fiction and
Fantasy
Naturalism
(sub-genre)
Transcendentalism
(1840-1855)
CONTEMPORARY
(1945-PRESENT)
Harlem
Renaissance
(1915-1929)
Influx of
female
writers
Increase in multicultural lit
PRE-HISTORY
NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY
• BEFORE EUROPEAN INVASION (pre-1620)
• CHARACTERISTICS:
• CREATION STORIES – “How did __________ come to
be?”
• NATURE as TEACHER/COMPANION
• STYLE/GENRE:
• Oral Tradition – Not recorded until later
ENLIGHTENMENT
CHARACTERISTICS
• INDEPENDENCE
• From Catholic Church
• From aristocracy
• DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCES
TWO PHASES
• AGE OF FAITH
• AGE OF REASON
AGE OF FAITH
(1620-1750)
CHARACTERISTICS:
• PURITANS AND PILGRIMS
• Differed from Catholics – personal relationship
with God. No priest needed.
• Puritan Work Ethic - salvation through work
and religious devotion.
STYLES/GENRES
• SERMONS, DIARIES, LETTERS, POEMS
• RELIGIOUS, STYLE IS DIRECT
AGE OF REASON
(1750-1800)
CHARACTERISTICS
• SCIENCE AND LOGIC TEMPER RELIGION
• IDEALISTIC PHILOSOPHY – POWER OF THE
INIDIVIDUAL
STYLES/GENRES
• PAMPHLETS, SPEECHES, DOCUMENTS
• INSTRUCTIVE, INFORMATIVE, ORNATE
• Declaration of Independence
ROMANTICISM
1800-1855
CHARACTERISTICS:
• ASSERTION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
• INSTINCT AND IMAGINATION OVER FACT
• DEVELOPMENT OF SYMBOLISM
STYLE/GENRE:
• SHORT STORIES/NOVELS
WRITERS:
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Edgar Allan Poe – Father of American Short Story
GOTHIC
(SUB-GENRE OF ROMANTICISM)
 CHARACTERISTICS:
• DARK SIDE OF ROMANTIC LIT
• MAN HAS BOTH GOOD AND EVIL
ATTRIBUTES
• SETTING – DARK, SPOOKY (CATHEDRALS,
CASTLES, RAIN, ISOLATION
• INCORPORATES SUPERNATURAL
TRANSCENDENTALISM
(1840-1855)
CHARACTERISTICS:
• MOVEMENT OF LITERARY ACADEMICS
CENTERED IN NEW ENGLAND (BOSTON
• RALPH EMERSON – FATHER OF MOVEMENT
• TRUTH – TRANSCENDS FACT / TRUST INTUITION
• INDIVIDUALS MUST WORK TO UNDERSTAND
SELF AND THE WORLD AROUND HIM/HER.
KEY WRITERS:
• HENRY DAVID THOREAU, WALT WHITMAN
REALISM
1850-1915
CHARACTERISTICS:
• FOCUS ON THE LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE
• ANTI-MATERIALISM
• OFTEN AIMS TO SOLVE A SOCIAL PROBLEM
STYLE /GENRES:
• USED REGIONAL DIALECTS – the way
people actually spoke
• REFLECTION OF LIFE AS IT IS
 WRITERS:
• MARK TWAIN, FREDRICK DOUGLAS
NATURALISM
(SUB-GENRE OF REALISM)
CHARACTERISTICS:
• DARKER FORM OF REALISM
• FREE WILL IS AN ILLUSION
 STYLE / GENRE:
• THEMES OF SURVIVAL, FATE, NATURE AS
AN INDIFFERENT FORCE
 WRITERS:
• STEPHAN CRANE, JACK LONDON
MODERNISM
(1915-1945)
CHARACTERISTICS:
•
•
•
•
BREAK WITH TRADITION, RISE OF NEW YOUTH
RESPONSE TO WW’s I & II
ALIENATION
“JAZZ AGE”
GENRE /STYLE:
• HIGHLY EXPERIEMENTAL – STREAM OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
• USE OF FRAGMENTS/ALTERNATE
PUNCTUATION
FAMOUS “MODERNISTS”
 ERNEST HEMINGWAY
 F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
 JOHN STEINBECK
 WILLIAM FAULKNER
 E E CUMMINGS
 T.S.ELIOT
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
(1915-1929)
CHARACTERISTICS:
• SURGE OF NEW ART (LITERATURE, MUSIC,
DANCE, THEATRE) BEGUN IN HARLEM, N.Y.
GENRE/STYLE:
• LITERATURE, DANCE, MUSIC HEAVILY
INFLUENCED BY JAZZ
CONTEMPORARY AGE
(1945-PRESENT)
CHARACTERISTICS:
•
•
•
•
INCREASED MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
VALUES ARE NOT PERMANENT
ANTI-HERO
SEEKING SOCIAL CHANGE
GENRE/STYLE:
• EMERGENCE OF SCI-FI/FANTASY AND
HORROR
CONTEMPORARY WRITERS
 JOHN UPDIKE
 TRUMAN CAPOTE
 JOYCE CAROL OATES
 STEPHEN KING
FUTURE
 WHAT NEW FORMS OF LITERATURE MIGHT
EMERGE IN THE FUTURE?
 IN WHAT WAYS HAS THE INTERNET BEGUN TO
AFFECT AMERICAN WRITING?
 IN WHAT WAY(S) DO YOU FORESEE POLITICAL
AND CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION AFFECTING THE
LITERATURE OF TOMORROW?