American Literary Periodsand their characteristics

Literary Periods Puritan/Colonial Revolutionary/Age of Reason Romanticism American Renaissance/Transcendentalism Realism

Modernism Harlem Renaissance Post Modernism Contemporary

Puritan/Colonial (1650-1750)

Genre/Style Sermons Diaries Personal Narratives Written in plain style

Puritan/ColonialEffects/Aspects

Instructive Reinforces authority of the Bible and Church

Historical Context A person’s fate is determined by God All people are corrupt and must be saved by

Christ

Puritan/Colonial Examples

Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation

Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity” Equiano’s narrative

Though not written during Puritan times, The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter depict life during the time when Puritan theocracy prevailed.

Revolutionary Age/Age of Reason

Genre/Style Political pamphlets Travel writing Highly ornate style Persuasive writing

Effect/Aspects Patriotism grows Instills pride Creates common

agreement about issues National mission and the

American character

1750-1800

Revolutionary/Age of Reason

Historical Context Tells readers how to interpret what they are

reading to encourage Revolutionary War support

Instructive in values

Examples Writings of Jefferson, Paine, and Henry Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac Franklin’s “The Autobiography.

Romanticism (1800-1860)

Genre/Style Character sketches Slave narrative Poetry Short Stories

Effect/Aspects Value feeling and intuition over

reason Journey away from corruption of

civilization and limits of rational thought toward the integrity of nature and freedom of imagination

Helped instill proper gender behavior for men and women

RomanticismHistorical Context

Expansion of magazines, newspapers, and book publishing

Slavery debates Industrial revolution brings

ideas that the “old way of doing things are now irrelevant.

Examples Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” Poems of Emily Dickinson Poems of Walt Whitman

American Renaissance/

TranscendentalismGenre/Style

Poetry Short Stories Novels Hold readers’ attention through dread of a

series of terrible possibilities

Effects/Aspects True reality is spiritual Comes from 18th century philosopher

Immanuel Kant Idealists Self-reliance and individualism

American Renaissance/

TranscendentalistHistorical context Portrayals of alluring antagonists whose evil

characteristics appeal to sense of awe Stories of persecuted young girl forced apart

from her true love

People seeking the true beauty in life and in nature

A belief in true love and commitment

Realism (1850-1900)Genre and Style

Novels and Short Stories

Characteristics Examines realities of life,

human frailty, local color Depiction of ordinary

people in everyday life Objective narrator Does not tell reader how to

interpret the story

RealismHistorical Context Civil War (1861-1865)

brings demand for “truer” type of literature that does not idealize people or places

Dialogue includes regional voices

Examples Crane’s The Red Badge of

Courage

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

ModernismGenre and Style

Novels Plays Poetry Experimental as writers

seek a unique style Use of interior monologue

and stream of consciousness

Characteristics Pursuit of the American

Dream America as the land of

Eden Soon that optimism and a

belief in the importance of the individual is overwhelmed by themes of alienation and disillusionment

ModernismHistorical context

Writers reflect the ideas of Darwin and Marx

Overwhelming technological changes of 20th Century

Examples Steinbecks The Grapes of

Wrath

Eliot’s The Wasteland

Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms

Williams The Glass Menagerie

Chopin’s The Awakening

Harlem Renaissance (1920s)

Genre and Style Outgrowth of Modernism Allusions to African-

American spirituals Uses structure of blues

songs in poetry (repetition) Superficial stereotypes

revealed to be complex characters

Characteristics Gave birth to gospel music Blues and jazz transmitted

across America via radio

Harlem RenaissanceHistorical Context Mass African-American

migration to Northern urban centers

African-Americans have more access to media and publishing outlets after they move north

Examples Hansberry’s A Raisin in the

Sun

Wright’s Native Son

Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ellison’s Invisible Man

Post-Modernism (1950 to present)

Genre/Style Narratives: both fiction and

non-fiction Metafiction Magical Realism Mixing of fantasy with

nonfiction; blurs lines of reality for reader

No heroes Humorless

Characteristics Concern with individual in

isolation Social issues as writers

align with feminist and ethnic groups

Erodes distinctions between classes of people

Insists that values are not permanent but only “local” or “historical”

Post-ModernismHistorical Context Post-World War II prosperity Media culture interprets

values

Examples Feminist and social issue

poets: Plath, Angelou Capote’s In Cold Blood Stories of Bradbury and

Vonnegut Salinger’s Catcher in the

Rye

Beat poets: Kerouac, Ginsberg

Contemporary (1970s to present)

Genre/Style Continuation of Post-

Modernism Narratives: fiction and non-

fiction Autobiographical essays Anti-heroes Emotion-provoking Humorous Irony

Characteristics Concern with connections

between people

ContemporaryHistorical context

Beginning a new century Media culture interprets

value Influence of war (Vietnam;

Gulf; Iraq)

Examples Poetry of Dove, Cisneros, Soto Walker’s The Color Purple,

Haley’s Roots, Morrison’s Beloved

Nonfiction by Didion, Dillard, and Krakauer

O’Brien’s The Things They Carried

Megastars: King, Crichton, Grisham, Clancy