Transcript Synopsis of American Literary Periods

American Literary Periods
Characteristics and Historical
Influences
Part One: American Literature
in the Settlement Period
THE NEW
WORLD
The New World
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35,000-8,000 BCMongolian tribes
cross Bering Land
Bridge-migrate into
N & S America
Polynesian tribes
cross Pacific on
rafts-reach S.
America
The Bering Sea
Native Americans
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Native Americans had
diverse and advanced
cultures
Maya, Aztec, Toltec,
Inca—all advanced
cultures in C. and S.
America
Most cultures did not
have written languages
Cultures rich in myth
and oral literature
Native American Oral
Literature
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Oral tradition/oral
literature
Oral Lit-passed
down by mouth
Myths, chants,
prayers, stories,
histories
Entertain, educate,
pass on culture
Myths and Mythology
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Traditional stories
passed down
Explain nature or
human nature
Teach
moral/religious
lessons
Usually have gods
and goddesses
Contain supernatural
Old an modern
Mythology-collected
myths or beliefs
First Contact
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Vikings land in
Newfoundland and
Labrador
Viking deep-sea
fisherman and
explorers
First recorded
contact-Leif
Erikssen-c. 1000 AD
Marco Polo
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An explorer who
followed his father’s
trade route
Route was overland to
China
Brought back silk,
spices, exotic goods
Opened up the West to
the East
Wrote about his travels
Made search for sea
trade route desirable
Christopher Columbus
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Set sail in 1492
Sailed west in hopes of
finding trade route to
China and the East
Indies
Landed on
Hispaniola/Santo
Domingo-1492
Made two other
expeditions-found no
gold
Reasons for Exploration of the
New World
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Far East trade route
Gold
Claim land/subjects for
the king
Adventure
Jobs (ships, fishing)
Fame and favor
Fountain of Youth/cure
for diseases/Paradise
Reasons for Settlement of the
New World
Gold
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Land-to claim for king
and for personal use
Opportunity-work, food,
ownership
Adventure
Money-making
Jobs
Escape from religious
persecution
Escape jail time
Fame
St. Augustine (FL)
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1565
First permanent
settlement in the US
Spanish founded it
Near site of “Fountain
of Youth”
Colony and military
outpost
Protected Spanish gold
shipments fr. C. & S.
America from pirates
Jamestown (VA)
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1607
First permanent English
settlement in US
Founded by the London
Co.
Money-making venture
Captain John
Smith/Pocahantas
Tobacco-cash crop
Plymouth (MA)
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1620
Established by Pilgrims
(Puritans)
Escape religious
persecution & cultural
pollution in Europe &
England
“City on a Hill”
Example to the world
on how to live
Important Dates
1492-Columbus
lands in NW
1565-Spanish est 1585-Roanoke VA
St. Augustine
“Lost Colony
1607-English est 1619-First African 1620-Puritans est
Jamestown VA
slaves to US
Plymouth MA
1630-Mass Bay
Col-”Great
Migration”3
1690-Slavery in
all colonies
1635-First public
school in US in
Boston
1692-Salem
Witch Trials-20
die
1636-Harvard
Univ est in
Boston
1739-1745
“Great
Awakening”
The Puritans
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One of many religious,
Protestant sects
Wanted to “purify”the
Church of England
Was the ruling party in
England after
Reformation
Denounced after
Restoration of
monarchy
Persecuted under
“Bloody Mary”/ James I
Puritan Beliefs
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Plainness
Divine Mission
Bible-based laws
Grace
“Original Sin”
Physical purgation of
sin
Education for all
Puritan Beliefs
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Public confession of
sin
The “Elect”
Puritan Work Ethic
Devil Incarnate
Cleanliness
Democratic
government
Puritan Influence in America
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Writing-Plain Style
Work ethic
Sense of morality
Example to the
world
Plainness-dress and
worship styles
Democracy
The Wilderness
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Major influence on
life in colonies
Forced colonists to
be
inventive/creative
Lived closer to
nature than
Europeans
Room to
grow/resources
Hard to govern-law
and order
Differences Between Northern
and Southern Settlement Styles
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Northern
Poorer soil
Colder climate
Shorter growing season
Largely Puritans
Small land grants/small
farms
Tight communities built
around a “commons”
area
Very interdependent
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Southern
Better soil
Warmer climate
Longer growing seasoncash crops
Largely Church of Eng
Large land grantsplantations-slave labor
Widely dispersed
settlements
Very independent
Puritan Literature
Plain style-simple
words in clear order
(“smooth,clear, short)
 God-centered
 Spiritual
Autobiographies
 Poetry
 No plays or fiction
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William Bradford
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Born in England to a farmer
Became a Puritan at age 12
Went to Holland and then to the New
World with the Pilgrims
Elected governor of Plymouth 30 times
Wrote The History of Plymouth
Plantation about the Pilgrims’
experiences in the colony of Plymouth
Used the Plain Style and had a
providential view of history
Anne Bradstreet
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Known as the “First American Poet” because
she was the first to write in America and the
have them published
Born in England and came over w/ her
husband, Simon Bradstreet, governor of Mas
Bay Colony
Wrote about everyday life in the New World
and her spiritual growth
Wrote “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
Book was The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up
in America
Edward Taylor
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Born in England—immigrated to England in 1668
Graduated from Harvard University
Was a preacher and a physician
Served in Westfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Five of his children died in infancy and his first wife
Thought of his poetry as a form of personal worship
Allowed only two stanzas to be published in his lifetime
One of his descendants donated his library to Yale
University
Taylor’s poems were discovered in the bindings of his
old books by a Yale graduate student
He wrote conceits, using extended metaphors to
explore his faith
Jonathan Edwards
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Puritan preacher who preached during
the “Great Awakening”
Was a “fire and brimstone” preacher
Used emotional appeals in his sermons
Wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God”
Was dismissed from his pulpit because
of his strict religious views.
William Byrd
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Was born in Virginia to a rich plantation
owner
Inherited the plantation Westover and
made it much bigger-owned slaves
Family was from the English aristocracy
(upper class)
Educated in England—very intelligent
Wrote The History of the Dividing Line
that satirized the early colonists in
America
Olaudah Equiano
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Born in Africa
Captured by white slave traders and
taken to the Caribbean Islands
Bought his freedom
Learned to read and write English,
Spanish, and Portuguese
Wrote The Interesting Life of Olaudah
Equiano that told about how the slaves
were treated during the “Middle
Passage”
Other Notes:
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Plain Style—style of writing used by the Puritans that
used short words, direct statements, and references
to everyday life.
Providential view of history—belief that God
controlled all events
Couplet-two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Heroic Couplet-two consecutive lines of poetry that
rhyme and comprise a complete thought
Conceit-a poem that uses an extended metaphor—
typically written during the 16th and 17th centuries
Satire-making fun of people or institutions, usually to
effect change
Inversion—writing that puts sentence parts in reverse
order
Syntax-sentence structure
Pictures
The Age of Reason in America
The Revolutionary Period
Important Event and Dates
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1739-1745—”Great Awakening”—revival of
Puritanism-George Whitefield and Jonathan
Edwards
1754-1763—French and Indian War
1765—Tax to pay for F and I War
1767—Townsend Acts—tax tea, glass, lead,
and paint imported to colonies
1770—Boston Massacre
1773—Boston Tea Party
1774—1st Continental Congress meets
1775—Battle of Lexington and Concord start
the Revolutionary War
Important Events and Dates (continued)
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1775-1781—Revolutionary War
1776—Declaration of Independence signed
1781—Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown; Articles of
Confederation establish our first government
1783—Treaty of Paris
1787—Signing of the Constitution
1789—Washington elected 1st president
1791—Bill of Rights ratified (Madison)
1790—Eli Whitney invents interchangeable parts
1793—Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
1800—Washington, DC
The Enlightenment
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Began in Europe
Challenged the beliefs of the Age of
Faith
Embraced concepts of Rationalism
Rationalism
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Belief that people
could arrive at truth
using their abilities of
reason and logic
Rejected the
previous authority of
the past, religious
faith, or intuition
Faith vs. Rationalism
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Truth through revelation
from God
Universe mysterious and
unpredictable
Men born into sin
After-life more important
than life on earth
God active in universe
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Truth through reason
and logic
Universe governed by
fixed, predictable laws
Men basically good
Life on earth more
important that after-life
God-a divine, indifferent
beneficence
Rationalism in America
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Combined with
Puritan inventiveness
Combined with
physical necessity
Combined with
Puritan need for selfimprovement
Deism
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A philosophy—not a
religion
Belief that God gave
all men at all times
power to discover
universe/truth
Universe orderly &
good
Mankind-good and
perfectible
Like a clock…
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Deists believed that
God created the
universe like a clock
He wound it up and
let it go, with little
need for His
intervention
Given reason and
logic, man would
figure out answers
Important Dates of the Age of
Reason in America
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1739-1745-”Great
Awakening”
1754-1763-French and
Indian War
1765-Stamp Act
1769-Intolerable Acts
1770-Boston Massacre
(Crispus Attucks 1st killed)
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1773-Boston Tea Party
1775-First shots of
American Rev-Battles of
Lex and Concord
July 4, 1776-Dec of
Independence
1775-1783-American
Revolution
1781-Cornwallis surrenders
at Yorktown
More Important Dates
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1781-1788-Articles of
Confederation
1789-George
Washington is 1st
president
1789-US Constitution
ratified
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1790-Eli Whitney invents
interchangeable parts
1792-NY Stock Exchange
organized
1793-Whitney invents
cotton gin
1800-DC named capitolLib of Congress
Basic Tenets of the Age of
Reason
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People arrive at truth using their own powers of thought
and reason.
God created and loves the universe, but does not interfere
a lot with its workings.
God created laws of nature that we can discover using
observation and logic.
People are good and perfectible
People worship God best by doing good for others.
Human history moves naturally toward perfection.
The “New American”
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Immigrant or child of
immigrant
Leaves behind old
prejudices and
manners
Reinvents himself
“Melting Pot” of
races
Literature of the
Enlightenment
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More non-fiction than fiction or poetry
Expository or persuasive in a nature
Most had a definitive viewpoint
High use of language and logic
Importance of documents indicated by
language and form
Emphasis on clarity, reason, logic, and
evidence for assumptions
Benjamin Franklin: “The First American
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A model for a man of the Enlightenment
Lived the American Dream—rags to riches
Born in Boston—made his fortune in Philadelphia, PA
Printer, writer, scientist, statesman, humorist,
philanthropist, inventor
First Post Master General
Founded Univ of Penn
Invented bifocals and Franklin Stove
Helped write Dec of Ind and Constitution
Studied electricity, ocean currents, weather, etc.
Improved sewage and street lighting
First public library in America
Types of Literature Common
during the Enlightenment
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Formal Documents
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Pamphlets
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Common Sense
Speeches
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The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution
“The Speech in the Virginia Convention”
Essays
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The Crisis # 1
A Heritage of Explanation,
Logic and Persuasion
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Found in writers since that time
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Thoreau
Emerson
Kennedy
King, Jr.
Roosevelt
Reagan
American Romanticism
The Awakening of a Nation
Important Dates
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1803-Louisiana Purchase
1804-1806-Lewis and Clark Expedition
1808-Importation of slaves prohibited
1812-1814-War of 1812
1819-Spain cedes FL to US
1820-Missouri Compromise
1823-Monroe Doctrine
1825-Erie Canal opened
1828-B & O Railroad
1830-Indian Removal Act
1836-Texas wins independence from Mexico
Important Dates
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1840s-first mass migration to the
American West
1844-Telegraph
1846-1848-Mexican-American War
1848-1st Women’s Rights Convention
1848-Gold discovered in CA
1849-California Gold Rush
1857-Dred Scot decision
The Romantic Movement
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What was the Romantic movement?
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A literary and artistic change in thought
and style
A reaction against the order and tradition
of Neo-Classicism
An opportunity for new American writers
and artists to develop the new American
style
The Seeds of Romantic Thought
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Began in Europe and then spread to
America
Took ideas from Rationalist beliefs in
freedom and the rights of the individual
Important people in Romantic
movement: Kant, Goethe, Schlagel,
Rosseau, Wordsworth, Coleridge
The Influence of Romantic Thought
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How long did this movement last?
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Roughly 100 years
Began in the late eighteenth century
Lasted throughout most of the nineteenth
century
Influences on Romantic
Thought
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Nature
 The untamed wildernesses of the world
 The beauty of the natural world
The Past
 The Classical past-ancient Greece and Rome
 The Medieval past
The Imagination
 Emotions
 Intuition
 Creativity
Imagination: Romantic Escapism
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Rejected the rigors of reality
Fascinated with the supernatural world
Disliked realistic portrayals
Loved folklore and fantasy
Rejected the manmade
Embraced the natural world
Romanticism in America:
INSPIRED BY…
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Discovery of the unspoiled beauty of
the Western Frontier
“Noble savages”—the Indians
American beliefs in individual rights and
democracy
Reform needs in America—women’s
rights, slavery, and education
Causes of the Romantic Movement in
America
 Nationalism
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Discovery and Exploration
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
War of 1812
Napoleon Bonaparte
The New World
Natural Rights
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“God-given rights”
Slavery
The French Revolution
Nationalism
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Romantic theory spawned in America by
intense feelings of nationalism among
some of the populace
NATIONALISM IS AN INTENSE
INTEREST IN ONE’S COUNTRY AND/OR
HERITAGE
American nationalism resulted largely
from
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The Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark Expedition
War of 1812
Elements of Romanticism
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intuition, imagination, and emotion better than
logic and reason
Creativity (poetry, art, etc.) superior to science
Study of the natural world yields Truth and
Wisdom
Distrust of civilization and industry
Valued the past and the supernatural
Nobility of the savage
Freedom and individual rights
The Journey
“Quest” form taken from Medieval
Romances of Europe
 Movement away from civilization
 Physical and emotional journey
 “Escape” and encounters with the
supernatural
JOURNEY STRUCTURE WAS A FRAMEWORK
FOR THE ROMANTIC EXPERIENCE.
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Romantic “Journeys”
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Into the past, the supernatural, and to
exotic places
Into the contemplation of nature’s
beauty and mystery
ALL ROADS LED TO THE DISCOVERY
OF HIGHER TRUTH AND ULTIMATE
BEAUTY
The Dark Side of Romanticism:
Gothic Romance
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Roots in French and German lit
Took place in exotic and isolated locales
Involved the supernatural
Dark and disturbing toneS and moodS
Source of the early psychological stories
Best Gothic Romance writer:
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Edgar Allan Poe
The American Novel
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Began …
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during the Romantic period
As imitations of European novels
andauthors
Using American settings, but European
plots, characters, and style
Broke away to use uniquely American
settings, characters, and plots
James Fennimore Cooper
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Created the first, truly “American” novel
Invented the “American Hero” type
Chronicled life in a “geography of the
imagination”—the American Western
Frontier
Was the first novelist to define the
American writing style
The American Hero
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Is young, or possesses youthful qualities
Innocent and pure of purpose
Inner sense of honor based on higher
principles
Has knowledge of people and life based on
deep intuition and understanding
Loves nature—hates towns and cities
Resists domestication
Quests for a higher truth in the natural world
American Romantic Poetry
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Used established, traditional poetic
forms
Mimicked European forms
Used American settings and stories
“Family” poetry very popular
“Fireside Poets” wrote family poetry for
fireside reading
First uniquely American poetry yet to be
created
Transcendentalism
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Outgrowth of Romanticism
Proposed by Ralph Waldo Emerson AND
Henry David Thoreau
Based on Christian and Hindu religions
and Romantic theory
Philosophy that
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ONE MUST GO BEYOND (OR
TRANSCEND) THE FIVE SENSES TO
FIND
REALITY
Transcendentalists Believed
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In God, the Oversoul, the “Universal
Being”
Everywhere, everything, all knowledge
No evil—just perspective
That God could be seen most easily and
purely in nature
EMERSON AND THOREAU
Anti-transcendentalists
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Believed in the existence of evil
Believed in original sin
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
AND
HERMAN MELVILLE
American Romantic Authors
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Washington Irving
William Cullen Bryant
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Edgar Allan Poe
Herman Melville
REFORM MOVEMENTS OF THE
ROMANTIC PERIOD
Reform Movements: Education
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Education
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Needed to educate immigrants to vote
Needed teachers in the West
Salaries too low for men
Women took these jobs
English promoted as the national language
Small towns on the Frontier could build
schools and hire teachers from the East
Women’s Rights
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Women became teachers—were better
educated
More colleges for women opened
First Women’s Rights Conference in
Saratoga, NY in 1848
Sought suffrage and rights to own
property
Did not get vote in US until 1920
Some states did allow women to vote
before then
Some educated women became staunch
abolitionists/Harriet Beecher Stowe
Reform Movements: Slavery
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Eli Whitney/cotton gin/
Slave economy in the South
1808/Importation of slaves prohibited
Abolitionists sought the eradication of slavery
immediately and completely
South saw this as an infringement on States’
Rights
N. needed S.’s raw goods for factories
S. sought to sell goods overseas
1859/ John Brown/Harper’s Ferry
Important Dates
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1803-Louisiana Purchase
1804-1806-Lewis and Clark Expedition
1808-Importation of slaves prohibited
1812-1814-War of 1812
1819-Spain cedes FL to US
1820-Missouri Compromise
1823-Monroe Doctrine
1825-Erie Canal opened
1828-B & O Railroad
1830-Indian Removal Act
1836-Texas wins independence from Mexico
Important Dates
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1840s-first mass migration to the
American West
1844-Telegraph
1846-1848-Mexican-American War
1848-1st Women’s Rights Convention
1848-Gold discovered in CA
1849-California Gold Rush
1857-Dred Scot decision
American Realism
1860-1914
Definition of Realism
A movement in
art and
literature that
attempts/ed to
portray life as it
really is/was.
Historical Background

The Civil War:
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1860-1865
Also called:
 The War Between the States
 The Southern Rebellion
 The War of Northern Aggression
The violence and carnage of the War
brought an end to the idealistic
optimism that characterized the earlier
part of the century.
The Rise of Realism
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Realism -“very minute fidelity
(truthfulness)” to common and ordinary
lives of people
Realism-firmly entrenched in Europe
before popular in US
Regionalism
Regionalism is
literature based a
limited
geographical
location -tried to
reproduce
accurately the
speech, mores
and manners of
that region.

Writers began to
write about the
places they knew.
This became
known as Local
Color.
Regionalism
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Regionalist writers
tried to be realistic
in their depictions of
an area’s speech
patterns, mores,
and manners.
However, regionalist
writers were often
quite unrealistic and
sentimental about
their characters.
Local Color



Regionalist writers used LOCAL COLOR
to create their works
LOCAL COLOR -description of places,
people, speech, or manners unique to a
particular place and time.
DIALECT-a way of speaking that is
characteristic of a certain social group
or inhabitants of a particular area
Magic Realism

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
Was the beginning of Realism as a
movement
Mixed the fantastic with the very
realistic
Had psychological elements
People loved it-blended the two styles
together
Still popular today
Impressionism


An outgrowth of realism was
Impressionism, a movement in art and
literature of the late 1900s that advocated
artists and writers’ recording personal
experiences or impressions of the world,
rather than simply an extremely realistic
view.
Impressionists saw their views of the world
more real than the standard realists because
their views saw into the minds of artists and
writers.
Psychological Fiction





The fiction of the mind
Began a movement that became
“stream of consciousness” writing
Still highly used today in writing
Began in this period, but was perfected
later
Began with “magic realism”
Inventions of the 19th Century

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1800-Volta invents the battery/ Jacquard loom
1804 Gas lighting and steam powered engine
1810-tin can
1814-first photograph and steam locomotive
1819-soda fountain and stethoscope
1824-first toy balloon/ cement/ electromagnet
1827-matches and microphone
1829-typewriter and braille
1830-sewing machine
1831-steam turbine and a crop reaper
1834-refrigerator
1835-calculator
More Inventions of the 1900s

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
1836-first revolver (Colt)
1837-telegraph and Morse Code/ postage
stamp
1839-vulcanized rubber/daguerreotype
photography/bicycle/platform scales/H-fuel
cell
1840-1845-rubber tire/new sewing
machine/grain elevator/stapler
1846-1849-dental
chair/anesthesia/antiseptic/safety pin
1850-1855-airship/glider/Singer sewing
Historical Influences
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Civil War-1860-1865-Union forces won
Emancipation Proclamation-1862-Freed the slaves in the South
Southern Reconstruction-1865-1880-Presidential and
Congressional
Westward Expansion/Manifest Destiny-1840s—1914
Alaska purchased from Russia-1867
Edison and electric light-1876
A. G. Bell and telephone-1879
Alaskan Gold Rush-1896
Spanish-American War-1898-US gained the Philippines, Cuba,
Puerto Rico, and Guam from Spain
Panama Canal-1906
Henry Ford’s Model T-1915
Sinking of the Titanic, April 1912
World War I-1914-1918 (US entered in 1917):
 US, Britain, France, Russia VS. Germany, Austria-Hungary,
American Authors of the Realist
Period

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Mark Twain
Frederick Douglas
Stephen Crane
Jack London
Willa Cather
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edgar Lee Masters
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Katherine Anne Porter
Modernism in America
1914-1939
What was Modernism?

A movement in art and literature of the
early to mid 20th century
Modernism Defined


Modernism-was a movement in art,
music, and literature that was dominant
in the first half of the 20th century in
Europe and America.
Modernism-was a reaction to the
horrors of WWI. It manifested itself in
fiction and art with bold, experimental
styles and techniques.
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES

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1905-Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
1906-Yellowstone is first National Park
1912-Sinking of the Titanic
1913-Modern Art is introduced to US in NYC
1914-World War I breaks out in Europe with
the assassination of Austria’s Prince Ferdinand
by Serbian nationalists
1914-The Panama Canal opens
1915-Henry Ford revolutionizes the auto
industry with mass production lines
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES



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

1917-US enters WWI
1917-Russian Revolution ends the
Tsarist rule in Russia-Communism
begins
1918-Prohibition begins
1920-The Harlem Renaissance begins
1920-19th Amendment is ratified giving
women the right to vote
1922-The Jazz Age begins
1927-Lindbergh flies solo across the
Atlantic
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES




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1929-Stock Market Crash
1930s-The Great Depression
1933-FDR elected-proposes the “New
Deal” and Soc Sec legislation
1933-Hitler comes to power in
Germany
1939-Franco’s nationalist forces win
Spanish Civil War
1939-WWII begins in Europe with
Germany’s invasion of Poland
World War I



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

WWI was supposed to be the “War to End All
Wars” or “The Great War”
Supposed to be a war of moral imperatives—
defending the freedom of threatened nations
Instead--bloodbath of epic proportions,
trench warfare in France and Belgium over
small portions of contested ground
1st truly mechanized war-tanks, machine
guns, jeeps, planes and bombs
Advent of chemical weapons
WWI led to “Geneva Convention”-- sought to
establish rules for “fair warfare”
“The Lost Generation”




Term coined by the writer Gertrude Stein
Referred to the disillusioned and alienated
soldiers who returned from WWI with terrible
memories from the battlefield.
They felt disconnected from the America they
had left and its strict moral values, and
unfamiliar with the America they came home
to.
Many became “expatriates,” preferring to live
in France rather than the US
The Expatriates



Produced some of the most profound
American literature to date
Lived largely on the Left Bank of Seine
River in Paris
Included Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood
Anderson, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein,
and F. Scott Fitzgerald
The “Jazz Age”




Was a time when ladies’ skirts
were shortened and their hair
bobbed
Wild dancing and parties
Looser social mores and values
Women, given the vote, now felt
freer to express themselves and
claim their independence
The “Jazz Age”



Also known as “The Roaring ’20s”
Named so by the writer F. Scott
Fitzgerald, who chronicled the
decade from 1920-1929 in his
works
Named after the music, jazz, one of
the only authentically American
forms of music
Themes in Modernist Fiction

Modernism in fiction focused on several
themes:
 Disillusionment with the American Dream
 A fear of automation and the advances of
science as these conflicted with traditional
religious beliefs
 Alienation-resulting from the WWI soldiers
returning home to an unfamiliar world
 A loosening of moral and societal values
 A new awareness of ethnic, especially black,
literature and music
 A need to be “completely new” and different
American Authors of the
Modernist Period
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Sherwood Anderson
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
William Faulkner
John Steinbeck
James Thurber
Eudora Welty
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Ezra Pound
T. S. Eliot
William Carlos
Williams
Robert Frost
Carl Sandburg
e.e. cummings
The Harlem Renaissance




A movement in art and literature of the early
1920s that emphasized the life and culture of
the Negro in American society
White patrons encouraged and supported
black performers, artists, and writers
Jazz and the Blues were the musical styles of
choice
As Langston Hughes wrote, “the Negro was in
vogue”
American Writers of the
Harlem Renaissance
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Langston Hughes
James Weldon Johnson
W.E.B. Dubois
Frances Harper
Countee Cullen
Zora Neale Hurston
James Baldwin
Richard Wright
Contemporary Literature
From 1939-Present Day
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES
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1939-1945-World War II
1941-Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor-US
enters the war
1942-Hitler begins implementation of
the “Final Solution”
1944-Allied forces land in Normandy to
liberate European countries from Nazi
control
1945-May, Hitler commits suicide-war
in Europe ends
1945-August, US uses first nuclear
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan surrenders ending WWII
1945-United Nations established
WWII
The Axis Powers:
 Germany
 Italy
 Japan
The Allied Powers
 US
 Great Britain
 Russia
Causes of WWII: Japan
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Japanese Imperialism-believed that they were a
superior Asian race destined to rule all other Asian
races
Believed their emperor was a god
Japanese society—high sense of honor
Needed oil from the Middle East
Attacked Mainland China and the island nations of of
the Pacific
Very barbaric attacks on the Chinese people
Western nations tried to help
US Entry into WWII




Came about after Japan bombed Pearl
Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941
2300 people were killed that day
Most of our navy was destroyed
The next day we declared war on Japan
and Germany
US Influence in the War




Huge economic and industrial power
Women went to work in munitions and
supply factories
Huge influx of manpower with the US
draft
Victory in WWII cemented our place as
world power
Causes of WWII: Italy

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Mussolini-dictator of Italy
Wanted to be on the “winning side”
Believed that Italy/Rome must conquer
Europe once more
Wanted to revive the Roman Empire
Allied with Hitler to do so
Causes of WWII: Adolph Hitler

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
Hitler blamed the Jews and other “impure”
races for Germany’s troubles after WWI
Sought to rid Europe, and eventually the
world, of Jewry
Sought to breed “super-race” of pure Aryans
to run the world
Made pact with Italy and Japan, but planned to
overtake and “purify” them, too, after he
conquered the world
Saw the US as an abomination, because of our
mixed races of people
•Journal/WOD/SAT Prep/DOL
•Read aloud: from “Nature,” (Emerson), old lit text pp. 219
•Notes: Synopsis of Lit Periods, slides 63-74 (Romanticism to Realism)
Assign: 25 Notes on pp.201-209 (HW)
Hitler’s Vision

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
Hitler blamed the Jews and other “impure”
races for Germany’s troubles after WWII
He sought to rid Europe, and eventually the
world, of Jewry
He sought to breed a “super-race” of pure
Aryans to run the world
He made a pact with Italy and Japan, but
planned to overtake and “purify” them, too,
when he conquered the world
He saw the US as an abomination, because of
our mixed races of people
The Holocaust

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
In 1942, Hitler implemented the “Final Solution,” a plan
to rid Europe of Jewry
He implemented a series of laws taking away all civil
rights of Jews and other undesirables in Germany and
its conquered territories
Heinrich Himmler was in charge of “Final Solution”
Concentration (work) camps were set up across Eastern
Europe
Ghettos were set up in cities
Death camps were built to exterminate the Jews
6.5 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust
7 million others were also murdered
The End of WWII: Italy and
North Africa


North Africa and Italy were liberated
first from Axis control
Mussolini ran with his mistress, was
caught, shot, and hanged in the
marketplace
End of WWII: Europe




D-Day-1944 Allied troops invaded the
beaches of Normandy, France to liberate
Europe
Russian troops moved east as Britain, US,
Australia, and others moved west across
Europe
Hitler committed suicide in Berlin as Russian
troops closed in on the city in April of 1945
Germany surrendered in May
End of WWII: Japan
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The first atomic bomb was created at Los Alamos,
NM
US decided to use it on Japan, who refused to
surrender
The first A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
in August of 1945
The second-three days later on Nagasaki, Japan
71,000 people were killed immediately
Over 100,000 died within three months
Japan surrendered almost immediately
The Aftermath of WW
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Germany, Japan, and Italy decimated
Borders indefinite and disputed
Under the Marshall Plan, Europe was divided and
rebuilt by the remaining world powers—Great Britain,
US, Russia
Russia refused to allow its rebuilt areas to govern
themselves
Russia claimed them as part of their Soviet Union of
Socialist Republics
Made those nations live under communist rule
Communism

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
After WWII, China embraced
Communism as its form of govt.
The USSR and China wanted to spread
communist govt. across the globe
USSR controlled Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania,
Albania, half of Germany, and many
other countries under communist rule
Communism

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


China sought to make the entire East Asian continent
communist
Supported communist rebels in Korea
Started the Korean Conflict/1950-1953
Western nations sent help to fight the insurrgent
communist troops
Settled by dividing Korea into communist N. Korea
and democratic S. Korea
Communism

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
China also supported communist rebels
in Viet Nam
Western nations again fought the
spread of communism in VN
1964-1974
America withdrew under terms of a
“peace with honor”
S. Viet Nam fell to the communists
Historical Influences


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
1947-India gains
independence from
British rule
1948-State of Israel
established out of
occupied Palestine
1949-Mao Zedong
and his communist
forces take over
China
1950-53-Korean
Conflict

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1962-Cuban Missile
Crisis
1963-Assassination
of JFK
1964-1974-Viet Nam
War
1979-Personal
computer
1980-War in
Grenada
1992-Bosnia Conflict
The Sixties: The Generation of
Peace and Love

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
With the advent of rock and roll in the fifties and
sixties, society changed
Protests concerning the VN War, the draft, civil rights
(race), women’s rights, and the sexual revolution
pervaded college campuses
“Don’t trust anyone over 30!”
Young people disdained materialism-became very
idealistic
Wanted to save the earth, mankind, society, animals,
values, etc.
Very “Back to the Land”
The Summer of Love

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

Young people, “Hippies,” dropped out
of “the establishment” and went west
Centered in the Haight-Ashbury district
of San Francisco
Culminated in the summer of 1967
Characterized by avant garde music and
art, experimentation with drugs and
sexual practices
The “Me” Generation

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
1970s-1980s
Reaction against the idealism of the
’60s
Self-satisfaction became center-stage
Upwardly mobile “Yuppies”
More people moving into the middle
class
The Fall of the Soviet Union

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
SU invaded Afghanistan in 1980s
Fought a futile and expensive war to overtake the
country
Withdrew in late 1980s
Overspent in Arms Race with the US
Russian economy in shambles
Led to the fall of communism in Russia in 1989
Soviet Union broke up into separate nations
Most nations rejected communism as form of govt.
The Rise of the Middle East




The nation of Israel est. 1948 in what
was German-controlled Palestine
Arab nations refused to recognize Israel
Much of the ME controlled by Western
powers
Mid-’70s, Shah of Iran overthrown—
country taken over by Islamic radicalstake hostages at the US embassy
The Gulf War

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

Saddam Hussein-dictator of Iraq
Not an Islamic fundamentalist
Cruel and inhumane
Attacked Kuwait, a US ally, to gain a seaport to
export oil
Claimed historic rights
US invaded in January of 1991 to liberate Kuwait
Won the war in 6 weeks
Hussein retained power
Islamic Fundamentalism






After SU withdrew, Islamic fundamentalist created a
theocratic govt.
Strict laws and cruel punishments
Osama bin Laden declared war on the US
Led to WTC bombings
US declared War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan
Liberated A. from the Taliban-still there fighting
The Iraq War


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
US invaded Iraq in 2003
Easy victory over Saddam’s troops
Purpose was to find and destroy WMD
No WMD found
Saddam Hussein overthrown, captured, tried by new
Iraqi govt., and hanged
Rival tribes and religious factions cause sectarian
violence-civil war
US still fighting there
Age of Technology, Information, and
Communication

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


Invention of the personal computer in 1979
changes the world
Begins the Age of Technology
Cell phone in early ‘80s
Internet becomes the most common form of
accessing info
Changes writing styles, communication styles,
political campaigns, education, etc.
Themes in Contemporary
Literature


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
Resurgence of Romanticism
Science Fiction
The “end of days”
Civil Rights
Sexual Revolution
Confessional
Self-actualization
Effects of technology on people
Religious differences
Forms of Contemporary Literature:

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
Non-fiction: Self-help/Political books/
Romances/Plantation novels/historical novels
Crime novels/True crime
Horror fiction
Biographies/autobiographies
Experimental forms/Science fiction
Growth of Trade Paperbacks
Internet publishing