Major Literary Movements

British Literary Movements• 450-1066 : Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) Period• 1066-1500 : Middle English Period• 1500-1660 : The Renaissance• 1558-1603 : Elizabethan Age • 1603-1625 : Jacobean Age • 1625-1649 : Caroline Age • 1649-1660 : Commonwealth Period (or Puritan Interregnum)• 1660-1785 : The Neoclassical Period• 1660-1700 : The Restoration • 1700-1745 : The Augustan Age (or Age of Pope) • 1745-1785 : The Age of Sensibility (or Age of Johnson)• 1785-1830 : The Romantic Period• 1832-1901 : The Victorian Period• 1848-1860 : The Pre-Raphaelites • 1880-1901 : Aestheticism and Decadence • 1901-1914 : The Edwardian Period• 1910-1936 : The Georgian Period• 1914-1945 : The Modern Period• 1945-present : Postmodern Period

Another Way of Looking at the History ofAnother Way of Looking at the History ofEnglishEnglish

It is a truth universally acknowledged,It is a truth universally acknowledged,that a single man in possession of athat a single man in possession of agood fortune must be in want of a wife.good fortune must be in want of a wife.

AustenAusten

(from (from P&PP&P))

1800-1800-presentpresent

ModernModernEnglishEnglish

“Sir, I “Sir, I loueloue you more than words you more than wordscan can weildweild ye matter” (EMnE) = ye matter” (EMnE) =

“Sir, I love you more than word can“Sir, I love you more than word canwield the matter” (wield the matter” (MnEMnE))

ShakespeareShakespeare

(from (from KLKL))

1485-18001485-1800Early ModernEarly ModernEnglishEnglish

““WhanWhan that that AprilleAprille with his with his shouresshouressootesoote . . . ” (ME) = . . . ” (ME) =

“When that April with its sweet“When that April with its sweetshowers . . .” (showers . . .” (MnEMnE))

ChaucerChaucer

(from (from CTCT))

1066-14851066-1485Middle EnglishMiddle English

““GaæþGaæþ a a wyrdwyrd swaswa hiohio scelscel” (OE)” (OE)

==

“Fate goes ever as it must” (“Fate goes ever as it must” (MnEMnE))

BeowulfBeowulf

(from(fromBeowulfBeowulf!)!)

400-1066400-1066Old EnglishOld English

OE=Old English ME=Middle English EMnE=Early Modern EnglishMnE=Modern English

Old English or

The Anglo-Saxon Period449-1066

Theme: Heroes and Heroism

British Legends

Importance

1. Oral History—Lessons and entertainment

2. British folktale

3. Anglo Saxon time period

Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?

• Between 800 and 600 B.C., two groups of Celts from southern Europe invaded the British Isles.– Brythons (now spelled “Britons”) settled on

the largest Island, Britain.– Gaels, settled on the second largest island,

known to us as Ireland.

Pre-Historical/Pre-Roman• The island we know

as England - occupied by a race of people called the Celts.

• One of the tribes was called Brythons or Britons (where we get the term Britain).

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Pre-historical/Pre-Roman (con’t)

• Celts were pagans - believed in “animism,” from the Latin word spirits

• Druids were their priests– Role: Go between

the gods and the people

The Celts

– farmers and hunters – organized themselves into clans– clans had fearsome loyalty to chieftains– looked to priests, known as Druids, to settle

their disputes

• Roman conquest of Britain AD 43– Britain annexed as a province in the Roman

Empire– Difficult to control such a large piece of land

• Brought Christianity to Britain around AD 300– Pagan vs. Christian themes throughout; never fully

indoctrinated at this time• The last Romans left around 407 A.D.

– Needed to defend against rebelling European countries; England left to its own devices

Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?

Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?

• 449AD – 3 Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes)

invade.• Destruction of Roman influence, including

Christianity• New land: “Angle-land”

- small tribal kingdoms- no written language- supported themselves through farming and hunting

Anglo Saxon King and Warriorearly 7th century

An Anglo-Saxon Hall

An Anglo-Saxon Farmstead

West Stow: reconstructed village

Sutton Hoo• Burial site discovered in

1939• Important links to Anglo-

Saxon world and Beowulf• Remains of a boat were

discovered and large burial chamber containing numerous artifacts

• Artifacts suggest a distinctly Christian element intermingled with pagan ritual.

The Reemergence of Christianity• 596 AD: attempt to convert Anglo- Saxons to Christianity

• 597 AD: Saint Augustine – converted King Ethelbert of Kent to Christianity.– set up a monastery in Canterbury in Kent.

• 650 AD: most of England is Christian; some hold on to previous beliefs– The church provided counsel to quarreling rulers in efforts to

unify the English people.

• At this time, the British Isles were not unified and included separate kingdoms with separate rulers. They fought continuously over the fertile, green land.

Constant Conflict• 9th Century:

– Norway invaded Northumbria (Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northern and central England), Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

– The Danes of Denmark targeted eastern and southern England

Alfred the GreatKing of Wessex 871-899

• 866—resisted Danish intrusion and earned “the great” title

– Saxons acknowledged Danish rule in East and North– Danes respected Saxon rule in South

• End of 10th Century—Danes want to widen Danelaw– Forced Saxons to select Danish Kings

• 1042—Kingship returned to Alfred the Great’s descendent Edward• Edward the Confessor died in 1066.

– His death led to the end of the Anglo-Saxon Period.

Literature of Anglo-Saxon Times

• 2 major influences

1) Germanic Traditions of the Anglo-Saxons

2) Christian Traditions of the Roman Church

1) Germanic Traditions of theAnglo-Saxons

• Germanic language

– Mixture of various Germanic dialects + Old English

– Old English (often looks like a foreign language)

Beowulf

• Beowulf was written in the Anglo-Saxon era.

• Around the year 525.• Literature was transmitted orally

instead of in writing.– Runic alphabet did exist - only used for

inscriptions.– Beowulf was result of storytelling

Page of Beowulf manuscript in Old English

Listen to me!

Language in Transition“Middle Ages”

• Around the year 1000, Old English pronunciation changed when distinct vowel sounds at the ends of words were being dropped.

• Middle English differed from Old English in its greater reliance upon fewer plural forms.

Language in Transition“Middle Ages”

• Middle English was a more analytical language.

• Stressed word order/syntax• Incorporated “function” words—verbs

French Invade EnglandOctober of 1066

Leading Normandy was Duke William or “William the Conqueror”, who defeated and killed the last Anglo-Saxon king. This was the beginning of the Norman Conquest.

Norman Conquest

• The Norman Conquest radically changed:

• English History• English Character• English Language

William the Conqueror is known for three accomplishments:

1. Creating the Domesday Book which was an inventory of every piece of property in England.

2. Bringing the French language to England Creating a bilingual society Upper-Class: spoke French Lower-Class: spoke English

3. Social System known as Feudalism

Feudalism & Knighthood

Feudalism Religious concept of

hierarchy.GOD

KING BARON

VASSAL

KNIGHTS SERFS

2 Major impacts on England as a result of the Feudal System: Form and Manners

Form—better known as knighthood. The institution of knighthood was firmly

based on the ideas of loyalty.

We will see this clearly in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

He is honor-bound to accept a challenge that he knows

could bring death.

2nd major impact that the feudal system had on England:

Manners Code of Chivalry—Courtly Love

A system of ideas and behavior codes that governed both knight

and gentlewoman.

Three aspects that make up the Code of Chivalry

1. Loyalty to Lord Your oath, honor, and

respect went directly to your lord.

2. Warfare Rule Idea of Fairness

3. Courtly Love Men--mostly the knights--

idolized women. They would show this by wearing the colors of their lady in battle, to glorify her. This love for a woman was thought to make the knight a better fighter. They were inspired by women.

ROMANCE

• Courtly Love provided ‘built-in’ drama for a poet or storyteller.

• It brought about the form of literature known as a ROMANCE: a medieval story in verse form in which a brave knight must overcome great danger for the love of a noble lady or higher idea.

Sir Gawain and the Green KnightComposed around

1370

An unknown author transformed the popular romance into great art.

An alliterative romance poem. (Legend)

Basic narrative pattern of a romance:

1. Hero

2. Quest—in which the hero undertakes a perilous journey in search of something of great value.

3. Supernatural event

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight• In Sir Gawain you will see the pull of

sexual temptation and of life in the medieval castle.

• Gawain is the model of the chivalric hero whose character is being tested on:

• Courage • Fidelity• Morality

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Purpose of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: teach us a moral lesson.

• Theme: To achieve nobility human beings must rely on the constant practice of a number of virtues such as:

» Courage» Honesty» Self-sacrifice

Setting (time)The mythical past of King Arthur’s Court.

Setting (place)Camelot; the wilderness; Bertilak’s castle; the Green

Chapel.

MotifsThe seasons; games

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight

Warrior vs. KnightWarrior

– Brave– Male– Physically strong

Knowledgeable

offensive

Codes they lived by…

loyalty to tribal king

personal commitment

Boasting was acceptable

Knight– Brave– Male– Physically strongKnowledgeable/Educated

defensiveCodes they lived by…

feudalismcode of chivalry

Knights were expected to be humble before others; boasting was not acceptable.

Geoffrey Chaucerc. 1343-1400

• Considered the father of English poetry• Wrote in the vernacular• Served as a soldier, government servant, and member of

Parliament• Introduced iambic pentameter• First writer buried in Westminster Abbey

Learn more about Chaucer. Go to. . .http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/index.html

Things you need to know for the Canterbury Tales:

• Iambic pentameter• Pilgrimage• Satire• Fabliau• Exemplum

– Intro– Prologue– Pardoner’s Tale– Wife of Bath

The Canterbury Tales: Snapshot of an Age

• It frames a story of characters on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury.

• The characters are a concise portrait of an entire nation.

• The pilgrimage is a quest narrative that moves from images of spring and awakening to penance, death, and eternal life.

• The characters tell stories that reflect “everyman” in the universal pilgrimage of life.

The Travelers to Canterbury

Working Class

Plowman Reeve HostCook Miller

Haberdasher Dyer Carpenter Weaver Carpetmaker

The Travelers to Canterbury

Professional Class

Military Religious Secular

Knight, Squire, Yeoman

Nun, 3 Priests, Friar, Parson,

Pardoner, SummonerCleric, Serjeant at Law, Merchant,

Skipper, Doctor

The Travelers to Canterbury

Upper Class

Wife of Bath Franklin

Le Morte D’Arthur

Sir Thomas Malory

Who was Malory?

• Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel, Warwickshire– Born about 1415; died in 1470– 1450: crime spree (murder, theft, extortion, rape)– 1460: released from prison; active in civil war– 1467: back in prison for being on the losing side– Wrote Le Morte D’Arthur in prison, and it was

published by William Caxton in 1485

15th Century England• Wars of the Roses (1399-1485)

– Lancastrians vs. Yorkists– Decades of civil war

• Changes in battle technology– Longbow– Man in armor on horse no longer defensible– Kings would no longer lead followers into

battle after Richard’s defeat

Who was King Arthur?

• Celtic origins: – Arthwyr as general term for a prince– Name may also derive from the Celtic word “art,”

meaning bear (Arturus the Bear)– Others argue that he was Octha, son of Hengest,

who moved south and united much of the area– Earliest stories represent him as a god-like

creature interacting with other deities in Welsh mythology

– Welsh claims also based on his birth at Tintagel and burial at Glastonbury

• Alternately, High King of Britain with his origins in Brittany (Geoffrey of Monmouth)

Why would Malory choose King Arthur?

• Arthur brought order out of chaos• Warfare as form of sport vs. warfare as

technology aimed at widespread devastation• Men heroically die in single combat, but are

not slaughtered as they lie in the mud• Imaginary past in which nobles had absolute

power over contented peasants• Hero/King who will return to bring peace

Le Morte D’Arthur: Cultural Conflicts• The stability of the society as a whole

– Government by contract between ruler and community of nobles and commons

– Rule of law within class system• The motivations of individuals

– Personal goals– Courtly love– The will to power

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD:-BEOWULF

MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD:

GEOFFREY CHAUCER:-THE CANTERBURY

TALES

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

THOMAS MALORY:MORTE d’ARTHUR

1500-1660

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE:TUDOR PERIOD (Humanist Era)

Sir Thomas More

THE RENAISANCEPERIOD

1500-1660ENGLISH RENAISSANCE:

The Elizabethan Age

WILLIAMSHAKESPEARE

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The Elizabethan Age

ChristopherMarlowe

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The Elizabethan

Age

EdmundSpenser

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The Elizabethan

Age

BenJohnson

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The Jacobean Age

Metaphysical POETS

JohnDONNE

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The Caroline Age

Metaphysical POETS

JohnMILTON

1500-1660ENGLISH

RENAISSANCE:The COMMONWEALTH

PERIOD(Puritan &

Protectorate)

Andrew Marvell

1660-1700Neoclassical

Period:The RESTORATION

PERIOD:

JOHN MILTONJOHN DRYDEN

1660-1700Neoclassical

Period:The AUGUSTAN AGE:

ALEXANDERPOPE

1660-1700Neoclassical

Period:The AUGUSTAN AGE:

JONATHANSWIFT

The GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

1700-1800Neoclassical Period:

The AGE of SENSIBILITY:

• SAMUEL JOHNSON

• HENRYFIELDING

1785-1870ROMANTICISM

The AGE of REVOLUTION:

• William Blake• William Wordsworth• S.T. Coleridge• G. G. Byron• Percy B. Shelley• John Keats• Jane Austen

1785-1870ROMANTICISM

The AGE of REVOLUTION:

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

1785-1870ROMANTICISM

The AGE of REVOLUTION:

• Lord George Gordon Byron

1870 - 1914Victorian Period

• Charles Dickens• The Bröntes

• Charlotte – Jane Eyre• Emily – Wuthering Heights• Anne – Agnes Grey

• George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)• Robert Browning• Lord Tennyson• Thomas Hardy

1870 - 1914Victorian

Period

• Robert Browning

1870 - 1914Victorian

Period

• George B. Shaw•

1870 - 1914Victorian

Period

William B. Yeats

1870 - 1914Victorian

Period

D.H. Lawrence

1870 - 1914Victorian

Period

• T. S. Eliot

Virginia Woolf James Joyce

1941, the year in which Irish novelist James Joyce and English novelist Virginia Woolf both died, is sometimes used as a rough boundary for postmodernism's start.

Post-war developments in literature (such as the Theatre of the Absurd, the Beat Generation, and Magic Realism)

POST-WAR LITERATURE

Samuel Beckett William S. Burroughs

MAGIC REALISM

Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke, John Fowles, Angela Carter, John Banville,

John Fowles Angela Carter

Margaret Atwood Ian McEwan

David Mitchell

The Handmaid's Tale (1985) is perhaps Atwood's best known novel and emblematic of the social criticism (Canadian)

British writer Ian McEwan started winning literary awards with his first book, First Love, Last Rites (1976) and never stopped. Atonement (2002) won several awards and is being made into a movie, and Saturday (2005) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

In his first novel, Ghostwritten (1999), he uses nine narrators to tell the story and 2004's Cloud Atlas is a novel comprised of six interconnected stories

ENGLISH & AMERICAN WRITERS TODAY

Zadie Smith Kazuo Ishiguro

In his first novel, An Artist of the Floating World (1986), Ishiguro explored the world of post World War II Japanese society.

Guildford, Surrey, England

She wrote her first novel, White Teeth, while still at Cambridge and published it after graduation in 2000.In 2002, Smith published The Autograph Man.On Beauty (2005)In 2009, Smith published Changing My Mind

American Literary Movements• 1607-1776 : Colonial Period

• 1765-1790 : The Revolutionary Age

• 1775-1828 : The Early National Period

• 1828-1865 : The Romantic Period (Also known as: The American Renaissance or The Age of Transcendentalism)

• 1865-1900 : The Realistic Period

• 1900-1914 : The Naturalistic Period

• 1914-1939 : American Modernist Period

• 1920s : Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance

• 1920s, 1930s : The "Lost Generation"

• 1939-present : The Contemporary Period

• 1950s : Beat Writers

• 1960s, 1970s : Counterculture

• Ethnic Literatures, including, but not limited to: – African-American Writers Hispanic Writers – Native American Writers Asian-American Writers

American Literary Timeline

Colonial Period Age of Reason Romanticism Transcendentalism Anti-Transcendentalism

Realism Naturalism Regionalism Modernism Contemporary

Pre-Colonial/ Native American[ 1600]

CHARACTERISTICS•1ST Americans

•Creation & Origin Myths•Legends

•Storytelling•Oral Tradition

Early Colonial Literature(Puritan)

[1600-1700]

CHARACTERISTICS• Sermons

• Personal Narratives• Plain Style

• Authority of Bible & church

Colonial PeriodEarly America-1776 Puritanism

Puritans definition of good writing was writing that brought home a full awareness of the importance of worshipping God and of the spiritual dangers that the soul faced on Earth, and the literature that was produced by the Puritans reflected this.

EARLY COLONIAL

HISTORY

PURITAN

Person’s fate determined by God• All are corrupt & must be saved by Christ• Settlement of British Colonies in America

EARLY COLONIALPURITAN WRITERS

• William Bradford• Mary Rowlandson• Jonathan Edwards• Anne Bradstreet

William Bradford (1590-1657)• He was elected governor of

Plymouth shortly after the pilgrims landed in on Plymouth Rock. He was essentially the first historian of the new colonies. His participation in the voyage of the Mayflower and being governor made him the ideal person for this job. He wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in 1651.

Colonial Period

Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612-1672)

• The first publication of a book of poems in America, was also the first publication by a woman in America. She also wrote The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America in 1650.

Colonial Period

Edward Taylor (c. 1644-1729)

• Taylor was a Minister who studied at Harvard College, and whose works were never published by Taylor. They were discovered in 1930s. He wrote “Huswifery” and “Upon a Spider catching a Fly.”

Colonial Period

COLONIAL(Age of Reason)

[1700-1800]

CHARACTERISTICS• Political pamphlets

• Ornate Style• Persuasive Writing

• Patriotism

Age of Reason or Rationalism

Late 1770s to Early 1800s This period was a time when authors were

focused more on their own reasoning rather than simply taking what the church taught as fact. During this period there was also cultivation of patriotism. The main medium during that period were political pamphlets, essays, travel writings, speeches, and documents.

Also during this period many reforms were either made or requested, for instance during this time the Declaration of Independence was written.

COLONIAL

AGE OF REASON• Revolutionary War • Instructive in values

COLONIAL

AGE OF REASON WRITERS• Thomas Jefferson• Benjamin Franklin

• Thomas Paine• Patrick Henry

Abigail Adams (1744-1818)• She wrote letters that

campaigned for women’s rights. Her grandson, Charles Francis Adams, published The Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail During the Revolution, which were just what they said they were, letters written by Abigail and her husband.

Age of Reason

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)• Franklin is well known

worldwide for his discoveries in the world of science and his theories on electricity. He is known for his autobiography and considered the Father of the Autobiography. He wrote aphorisms in Poor Richard’s Almanac.

Age of Reason

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)• Jefferson is best know for

writing the Declaration of Independence; the document came about as a response to the times. People were thinking for themselves, and one of the major idea the Americans discovered was that they didn’t need England. So Jefferson wrote the document to formally state the colonies’ intent to form a new nation.

Age of Reason

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) • Paine wrote mostly

pamphlets that would spur ideas and immediate action. In the document "The American Crisis," Paine wrote about the oppression that America suffered from Britain, and propelled America into a war with Britain. Paine, to this day, is well known for his propaganda.

Age of Reason

Romanticism 1800-1850

After the “Age of Reason” came to an end, the people of America were tired of reality; they wanted to see life as more than it was. This was the Era of Romantics. The main medium that presented itself at that time were short stories, poems, and novels. During this era, as appose to the “Age of Reason” the imagination dominated; intuition ruled over fact, and there was a large emphasis on the individual/common man, and on nature or the natural world.

Dark Romanticism or Gothic literature was also introduced at this time, which is a sub-genre of Romanticism, this genre included stories about characters that had both good and evil traits. Gothic literature also incorporated to use of supernatural elements.

ROMANTICISM[1800-1860]

CHARACTERISTICS• VALUE FEELING & INTUITION OVER

REASON• IMAGINATION

• MYSTERY• SLAVE NARRATIVES

• POETRY• SHORT STORIES

ROMANTICISM

HISTORY

Expansion of magazines, np, and book publishing

• Slavery debates• Industrial Revolution: “old ways” of doing

things are now irrelevant

ROMANTICISMWRITERS

• William Cullen Bryant• Paul Laurence Dunbar• Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Emily Dickinson

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James Fenimore Cooper(1789-1851)

Cooper was greatly influenced throughout his life by his natural surroundings. Cooper also wrote a five-novel series called the Leatherstocking Tales: the stories are The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). He is the Father of the American Hero.

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

• Member of the “Fireside Poets”• Longfellow's poems are also highly

regular in their form. • Easy to read and memorable• Composed “Song of Hiawatha”, • “Paul Revere’s Ride” • “Psalm of Life”• “The Day Is Done”

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William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878)

• Composed “To a Waterfowl” and “Thanatopsis”

• One of the founders of the Republican party and supporter of Lincoln

Dark Romantics 1840-1855

Dark Romantics focused on the limitations of mankind, and its potential destructiveness of the human spirit. For instance, water brings life, but it’s excess, i.e. a flood, can bring death and destruction. (Notice how they sometimes use nature in their writings to reflect what goes in with humans. Example: Scarlet Letter and the forest – reflect Pearl’s wild nature; only place Hester and Dimmesdale can be free, etc.)

DARK ROMANTICISM[1840-1855]

CHARACTERISTICS• Self is the only thing that can be known

or verified. • The focus on the tragic.• The belief in sin and evil.• An attention paid to the mysteries of life.• A reverence for human nature, and all its

struggles.

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DARK ROMANTICISM[1800-1860]CHARACTERISTICS

• Symbolism• Sin, Pain, & Evil

DARK ROMANTICISMDARK ROMANTIC WRITERS

• Edgar Allan Poe• Herman Melville

• Washington Irving

Washington Irving (1789-1851)

• Irving was the first “famous” American author; he’s also known as the “Father of American Literature.” He wrote travel books, short stories, and satires. Some of his works include: Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and Devil and Tom Walker.

Romanticism

Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)• Poe had a bad childhood that

made him despise the world, and his works reflected his work. He is credited for creating the modern short story, and the detective story. He also challenged two long-standing theories, one, a poem had to be long, and two, a poem had to teach you something. Some of his works include, "The Raven", "Bells", "Annabel Lee", and "Dream."

Romanticism

Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864)

• Hawthorne was a Puritan who utilized his writings to express his dark, and gloomy outlook on life. Some of his works include; Twice Told Tales, published in 1837; The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850; and The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851.

Anti-Transcendentalism Romanticism

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

• In his time Melville was not entirely recognized, however, in the more recent years he has been considered one of the most top rated novelist of all time. He is most well known for his epic novel Moby Dick.

Romanticism Anti-Transcendentalism

TRANSCENDENTALISMCHARACTERISTICS

TRANSCENDENTALISM[1840-1860]

• “American Renaissance”• Self-Reliance• Individualism• Inner-Light

• Idealist• Utopia

• Intuition

TRANSCENDENTALISM

TRANSCENTDENTALISM WRITERS

• Ralph Waldo Emerson• Henry David Thoreau

• Ambrose Alcott

Transcendentalism1840-1855

This movement pushed America from the elaborate and fantasy like writings displayed in the period Romanticism, into a period of literature that stressed individualism, and mature and self-reliance. Often Transcendentalists used nature to gain knowledge or to return to a life of self-reliance and individualism. It also stressed the fundamental idea of a unity between God and the world, that each person was a microcosm for the world.

.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

• Emerson had a strong sense of a religious mission though he was accused of subverting Christianity. He left the church saying, “to be a good minister, it was necessary to leave the church.” Some of his mayor works include Nature and Self-Reliance published in 1836.

Transcendentalism

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

• Thoreau Lived his life, to do just that, live his life. He was never rich and for the most part lived with little money all his life. His work he is most well known for is Walden, published in 1854.

Transcendentalism

REALISM/ REGIONALISM/ NATURALISM

HISTORY

[1860-1900]• Civil War & post Civil War

• Influence of Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx & Charles Darwin

• Demand for “truer” type of lit. that does not idealize people or places

REALISM[1860-1900]

CHARACTERISTICS• Real-life, Every-day events

• Minute Details• Objective Narrator• Open Interpretation

• Slave Narratives

REALISM 1865-1915

• life presented with fidelity •  fidelity in presenting the inner workings of the mind •  the analysis of thought and feeling •  set in present or recent past •  commonplace characters •  exposed political corruption, economic inequity, business deception, the exploitation of labor, women rights problems, racial inequity •  described the relationship between the economic transformation of America and its moral condition

REALISM

WRITERS• Walt Whitman

• Ambrose Bierce• Stephen Crane

• Frederick Douglas

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)

One of Dreiser's favorite fictional devices was the use of contrast between the rich and the poor, the urbane and the unsophisticated, and the power brokers and the helpless. Some of his works include: Twelve Men, published in 1919; A Book About Myself, published in 1922; The Color of a Great City, published in 1923; An American Tragedy, published in 1925.

Naturalism

James Henry (1843-1916 )

• His father was an important theorist and lecturer, and his older brother was a famous American philosopher, William James. He attended Harvard College. His early stories depict the leisurely life of the well-to-do. In his time he wrote many short stories including: “The Short Story of a Year,” published in 1865; “Gabrielle de Bergerac,” published in 1869; and “Guest's Confession.”

Realism

REGIONALISM [1860-1900]

CHARACTERISTICS

• Focuses on characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features specific to a certain region (eg. the South)

• Coincided with Realism and sharing many of the same traits.

• Prominent from 1865-1895.

REGIONALISM

WRITERS• Mark Twain

• Sarah Orne Jewett• Willa Cather• Kate Chopin

• Edith Wharton

Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens] (1835-1910)

Twain is know by many as the greatest American humorist and one of our greatest novelists. He was known for using vernacular, exaggeration, and deadpan narrator to create humor. Twain wrote many great novels including, the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Prince and the Pauper..

Realism

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909)

Jewett grew up with books all around her, it was only fitting she grow up to be a writer. The early years of her life were much like the story she wrote in A Country Doctor. Some of her works include; Miss Tempy's Watchers, originally published in 1888; The Dulham Ladies, originally published in 1886; “A White Heron,” originally published in 1886.

Realism

Willa Cather (1873-1947)

Cather has been called, one of the most interesting female writers in American literary history. She was a teacher, a journalist and a critic as well as a writer. She has a talent for presenting settings, and characters that are rich in language and imagery. She also won a Pulitzer Prize. Some of her works include: April Twilights, Death Comes for the Archbishop, My Antonia, and O Pioneers!, published in 1913.

Regionalism

Kate Chopin (1851-1904)

Chopin loved literature as a child, and secluded herself in it after her grandmothers death. She never achieved much until 1884 when she finally decided to pursue a career in writing. Some of her writing included: "Desiree’s Baby," “Story of an Hour” and The Awakening.

Regionalism

NATURALISM 1865-1915

• People are hapless victims of immutable natural laws. • Naturalism is closely related to realism only it usually

views the world in a darker perspective. • Free will is an illusion • Characters’ lives are shaped by forces they cannot

control.

REALISM/ REGIONALISM/ NATURALISM

WRITERS• Stephen Crane• Jack London

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)• Crane’s writing was known for

attacking patriotism, individualism, and organized religion; it also confronted the meaninglessness of the world. His work was also very well known for its imagery and symbolism. The work he is most famous for Red Badge of Courage, which was set in the Civil War. Some of his other works include; The Open Boat, published in 1894; “An Episode of War,” originally published in 1890.

Naturalism

Jack London (1876-1916)

London was born in San Francisco, California; he lived a hard life, switching from job to job for whatever money he could get, after his father abandoned him at a young age. He is one of the most highly acclaimed writers of all time; his stories of life and death struggles are vivid and engaging. Some of his works include; The Call of the Wild, published in 1903; White Fang, published in 1906; “Lost Face,” published in 1910; and “The Night Born,” published in 1913.

Naturalism

MODERNISM

HISTORY[1900-1950]

• WWI & WWII• “Jazz Age”/ “Roaring 20’s”

• Harlem Renaissance• The Great Depression

• Karl Marx• rise of youth culture

MODERNISM

CHARACTERISTICS

• Pessimism• “American Dream”

• Imagism• Lost Generation• Beat Generation

• Use of interior monologue & stream of consciousness

• Plays, Poetry, Novels

MODERNISM

WRITERS• F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Robert Frost• T.S. Elliot

• John Steinbeck• William Faulkner• Langston Hughes

• W.E.B. DuBois• Ezra Pound

• William Carlos Williams• Arthur Miller*

William Faulkner (1897-1962)

He served in both the Canadian and the British Royal Air Force. He wrote most of his novel on a farm in Oxford, Mississippi. Some of his novels included; The Hamlet, Absalom Absalom, The Town, and The Mansion.

Regionalism

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

• Hemingway won a Pulitzer Prize and Noble Peace Price for Literature. He used concise, direct, spare, objective, precise, rhythmic writing styles to create larger than life heroes, big game hunters, etc. Some of his works include: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell To Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Modernism

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

• Fitzgerald wrote about the times. In his novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, he wrote about the roaring twenties, a time when no one cared about the future and they had fun with what they had then. Some of his other works include: The Side of Paradise, and The Beautiful and the Damned.

Modernism

John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

• Steinbeck wrote about the both the pains and joys of life. The Grapes of Wrath, his most well known work told the story of families ring to survive and stay together during the depression. In other works like Tortilla Flat, Steinbeck wrote about the joys of life. Some of his other works include: East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men, and The Pearl.

Modernism

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

America’s best known and most loved poet, Frost wrote his poems in a traditional verse form. He used the plain speech of rural New Englanders. Some of his works include: “Death of the Hired Man,” “Birches,” and “The Road Not Taken.”

Modernism

HARLEM RENAISSANCE 1920s • Literary movement parallel to

Modernism. • It focused on African

American thought and community.

• Civil rights and equality were major themes of Harlem Renaissance writing.

• During this period African Americans were for the first time recognized as artists, writers and musicians.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE

WRITERS• Langston Hughes

• W.E.B. DuBois• Zora Neale Hurston

• Claude McKay• Countee Cullen• James Baldwin

Countee Cullen(1903-1946)

• poet, novelist, playwright

• “Yet I Do Marvel”• “Incident”

Claude McKay(1889-1948)

“If We Must Die”

“America”

photo by James L. Allen

Langston Hughes(1902-1967)

“Dreams”

“Harlem”

“The Weary Blues”

Zora Neal Hurston

(1891 - 1960)Writer, Folklorist, Anthropologist

Their Eyes Were Watching God

James Baldwin1924-1987

•“My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” (1963) •American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet and social critic.

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Felt talented black students should get a classical education

Felt it was wrong to expect citizens to “earn their rights”

Founded the NAACP along with other black and white leaders

W.E.B. DuBois1924-1987

POST-MODERNISM/ CONTEMPORARY

CHARACTERISTICS[1950 ]

• Mix of fantasy w/ non-fiction• Media culture interprets values

• Narratives• Anti-Heroes

• Emotion-Provoking• Humorous Irony

• Storytelling• Autobiographies

• Individual Isolation• Social Issues (ethnic & feminist)

POST-MODERNISM/ CONTEMPORARY

HISTORY• Post WWII prosperity

• New century & millennium• Space exploration

• Korean War• Vietnam War

• Gulf War• WTC/ 9-11• Iraqi War

• Advances in technology

Post Modernism/Contemporary 1950-present

That’s exactly what has happened, there are more different types of writing being done at one time than at any other period in history;

Fantasy, Fiction,

Science Fiction, Horror,

Political Writings, Romantics,

Plays, & Poems,

Anything And Everything.

POST-MODERNISM/ CONTEMPORARY

WRITERS• Thomas Pynchon• Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

• Joseph Неllеr• Arthur Miller• Toni Morrison• Sylvia Plath• J.D. Salinger• “Beat Poets”

• Maya Angelou• Alice Walker

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The End or is it?