REVIEW: AMERICAN LITERATURE


1565,1607 - 1763: SETTLEMENT AND COLONIAL AMERICA

American colonists wrote histories, sermons, and political pamphlets. Poetry concerned religious and moral subjects. Colonial writings imitated popular European styles.

1) John Smith, A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents...as
Hath Happened in Virginia (1608): History of Virginia written to
attract settlers to Virginia.

2) William Bradford, Of Plimuth Plantation: History of the
Plymouth Settlers between 1620 and 1647.

3) John Winthrop, Journal: History of life in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony between 1630 and 1649.

4) Bay Psalm Book (1640): First book printed in the colonies (Cambridge)

5) Roger Williams, "The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution" (1644): Pamphlet
argues for separation of church and state.

6) Cotton Mather, Ecclesiastical History of New England (1702): A Puritan
History.

7) Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741): Best
example of a Calvinist Sermon.

8) John Woolman, Journal (1774): Thoughts on the Quaker beliefs.

9) Jean de Crevecouer, Letters from an American Farmer (1782): Describes
colonial rural life.


1763 - 1783: REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

10) Benjamin Franklin, political satires, Poor Richard's Almanac
(1733-1758), Autobiography

11) Thomas Paine, "Common Sense" (1776): Argued for complete independence
from Britain; "The Crisis" (1776-1783): Series of pamphlets to
encourage the colonists during the war.


1781 - 1789: GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
1789 - 1824: THE NEW NATION

12) Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, The Federalist,
(1787-1788): Series of letters urging ratification of the Constitution.


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13) Knickerbockers: This was the name for a group of writers that
flourished in New York City in the late 1700's and early 1800's.
These writers took the first step toward creating a national
literature.

a) Washington Irving, Knickerbocker's History of New York (1809):
Satire; Short Stories: "Rip Van Winkle" (1819), "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow" (1820)

b) James Fenimore Cooper, Adventure stories of the New York frontier
days: The Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans
(1826).

c) William Cullen Bryant: Editor and owner of the New York Evening
Post; Poetry: "Thanatopsis" (1811 - poem about death), "To a
Waterfowl" (1818 - example of his poems about American scenery).


1825 - 1849: AGE OF JACKSON
1849 - 1877: SECTIONALISM, CIVIL WAR, RECONSTRUCTION

14) William Lloyd Garrison, "The Liberator" (1830's): Abolitionist
newspaper.

15) Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

16) Transcendentalists: This was a group of New England writers who
emphasized feelings more than observation and experience. They
believed that the knowledge people got from their own instincts
transcended knowledge resulting from logic and deduction. From
1840-1844 the transcendentalists published a journal called "The Dial."
Contributors included George Ripley, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson
Alcott.

a) Ralph Waldo Emerson: Spokesman of the Transcendentalists. Essays:
"Self-Reliance" (1841), "The Oversoul" (1841).

b) Henry David Thoreau: Wrote about nature, the human spirit, and the
meaning of life. Essay: "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" (1849),
Walden (1854).

17) Boston Brahmins: This group was composed of upper-class New Englanders.

a) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems - "Evangeline" (1847), "The Song
of Hiawatha" (1855), "The Courtship of Miles Standish" (1858)

b) Oliver Wendell Holmes: Leader of the Boston Brahmins, physician;
Series of Essays: The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858).
Poetry: "The Chambered Nautilus" (1858)

c) John Greenleaf Whittier: Accepted by the Brahmins although he was
a Quaker and not from Boston. Poetry: "Snowbound" (1866).

18) Edgar Allen Poe: Father of the Detective Story. Short Stories: "The
Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841). Poetry:
"The Raven" (1845), "Annabel Lee" (1849).


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19) Nathaniel Hawthorne, Short Stories: "The Minister's Black Veil" (1836).
Novels: The Scarlet Letter (1850)

20) Herman Melville, Novels: Typee (1846), Moby Dick (1851).

21) Walt Whitman, Poetry: Leaves of Grass (1855) - poems reflected the
greatness of America and patriotism. Use of free verse.

22) Emily Dickinson: Most of her poems were published after her death. She
wrote of love, nature, death, and eternity.



1877 - 1901: BIG BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, LABOR, FARMERS, REFORM

23) Humorists and Local Colorists: Subject matter dealt with regional
characteristics and often employed use of dialect. This was the
foundation of the Realist movement which would dominate the 1900's.

a) Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Novels: The Innocents Abroad (1869),
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (1884)

b) Bret Harte: Short Stories of the Gold Rush days in California.
"The Outcasts of Poker Flats"

c) Joel Chandler Harris: "Uncle Remus" stories.

d) Booth Tarkington, Novels: Penrod.

24) Henry James, Novels: The Portrait of a Lady (1881), Set Americans
in European settings and explored their reactions.

25) Realism: William Dean Howells said this was "nothing more and nothing
less than the truthful treatment of material." Naturalism: Writing
which dwelled on the lowest aspects of society.

a) William Dean Howells, Novels: The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885)

b) Stephen Crane, Novels: The Red Badge of Courage (1895), showed
battle reations of a Civil War Soldier.

c) Theodore Dreiser, Novels: Sister Carrie (1900), An American
Tragedy (1925).

d) Hamlin Garland, Short Stories: Main-Travelled Roads (1891), dealt
with hardships of Midwestern farmers.

e) Jack London, The Call of the Wild (1903)


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1901 - 1913: PROGRESSIVE ERA
1913 - 1921: WILSON AND WORLD WAR I

26) Social Criticism: Writers in this era often attacked evils in politics
and business. They were dubbed "Muckrakers" by T. Roosevelt.

a) Lincoln Steffens, The Shames of the Cities.

b) Ida Tarbell, History of the Standard Oil Company.

c) Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906).

27) O'Henry (William Sydney Porter), Short Stories: "The Gift of the Magi"
(1905), use of surprise endings.

28) Expansion of Social Criticism

a) Sherwood Anderson: Psychological examination of small-town
inhabitants. Winesburg, Ohio (1919)

b) Sinclair Lewis: Satirized the hypocrisy and dullness of small-town
inhabitants. Main Street (1920). Lewis became the first
American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. (1930)

29) Willa Cather, My Antonia (1918), description of pioneer life in
Nebraska; O' Pioneers

30) Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence (1920), analysis of New York
society life.


1921 - 1939: BOOM AND BUST AND A NEW DEAL

31) Social Criticism Continued

a) Thomas Wolfe: Studied American morals and values. Look Homeward,
Angel (1929)

b) John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath (1939)

32) The Harlem Renaissance: During the 1920's black writers gathered in
this district of New York City and began to explore black American
culture.

a) Countee Cullen: traditional poems on black themes.

b) Claude McKay, Novel: Home to Harlem (1928). First best-seller
by a black author.

c) Langston Hughes: best-known writer of the Harlem Renaissance.
Poetry and short stories.


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33) The Lost Generation: This title was given by Gertrude Stein to a group
of post-war writers who gravitated to Paris and wrote about alienation
and rootlessness.

a) Ernest Hemingway, Novels: The Sun Also Rises (1926), For Whom
the Bell Tolls (1940), The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

b) F. Scott Fitzgerald, Novels: This Side of Paradise (1920),
The Great Gatsby (1925).

c) William Faulkner, Novels: The Sound and the Fury (1929), "stream
of consciousness" technique.

34) Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth (1931), stories about China.

35) Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind (1936)

36) Edna Ferber, Show Boat (1926), Giant (1952)

37) Robert Frost, Poetry: "Mending Wall" (1914), "Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening" (1923)

38) Carl Sandburg, Free Verse: Chicago Poems (1916), Biography:
Abraham Lincoln (1939)

39) Stephen Vincent Benet, Poetry: "John Brown's Body" (1928)

40) Imagists: These poets emphasized everyday speech, new rhythms, and the
use of clear, sharp images. (Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell)

41) T.S. Eliot, Poetry: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1917),
"The Waste Land" (1922), difficult, symbolic poetry.

42) E.E. Cummings: Poet who used unusual punctuations and no capital
letters.

43) Drama

a) Eugene O'Neil, "Beyond the Horizon" (1920), "Mourning Becomes
Electra" (1931), "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (1956), use of
realistic themes.

b) Thornton Wilder, "Our Town" (1938), omitted scenery and stage
settings.

44) Katharine Anne Porter, Short Stories: Flowering Judas (1930),
Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939), Novel: Ship of Fools (1962)


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1939 - 1945: WORLD WAR II
1945 - 1989+: COLD WAR AND AFTER

45) Tennessee Williams, playwright: "The Glass Menagerie" (1945),
"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1947).

46) Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead (1948), account of American
soldiers fighting in the Pacific.

47) Arthur Miller, playwright: "Death of a Salesman" (1949)

48) Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny (1951), conflicts on a Navy ship.

49) J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951), story of a teenager
growing up in New York.

50) Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952), explored black life in the U.S.

51) Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), story of racism in a small
Alabama town.

52) Alex Haley, Roots (1976)

53) Beat Movement: This group of 1950's writers lived in New York City and
San Francisco. They condemned middle-class morality and praised
individualism

a) Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957), autobiographical novel

b) Allen Ginsberg, Poetry: Howl, and Other Poems (1956)

54) Edward Albee, playwright: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe" (1962)

55) Neil Simon, playwright: "Odd Couple" (1965), "Brighton Beach Memoirs"
(1983)