Part 1 - TEKS Glossary and Syllabus

• Lesson title: Major Literary Periods and The Historical/Cultural Events That Influence(d) Writers
• Student-friendly summary of lesson: You will be able to read a text and identify the literary time period in which it was written and understand the significance of that time period.
• At least 3-5 key words in the lesson, including their definitions from the TEKS Glossary: Theme, Purpose, Diction, Parallel structure, Primary source, Style, Mythic literature, Allusion, Aphoristic, Tone, Tract.

Introduction

In this lesson we will study the historical periods of American literature. A nation’s literature is often studied in chronological order because of how deeply historical events influence writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. At the conclusion of this lesson, you should be able to read a text, identify the literary time period in which it was written, and understand the significance of that time period. You should also be able to analyze how the style, tone, and diction of a text advance the author’s perspective and purpose. The author’s purpose will often be connected to the historical events of the time.

The earliest literature in our country was that of the Native Americans, whose oral tradition included songs, tales, and mythic literature passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. The written tradition began with the arrival of Europeans who, although influenced by the writers of the continent from which they came, would eventually create an original American literature.

You will learn how literature produced in America is linked to events such as colonization, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. You will see how American literature has changed over time because of historical influences. Keep in mind that various literary critics assign different names and years to the movements in American literature.

 

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Colonial and Revolutionary Periods
(1607–1830)

The Colonial Period

Study the chart of the Colonial period (the Age of Faith), 1607–1765. It lists genres and authors along with their themes and literary advances. Then read the excerpts from some of the examples. After you finish reading, you will be asked to answer questions that require you to draw conclusions about the literature of the time.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes	Literary Advances
Histories William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation Captain John Smith, A General History of Virginia	Plain style (direct, unadorned) reflecting the Puritans’ simple and spare lifestyle focused on the necessities rather than the luxuries of life	Harvard College founded, 1636 First printing press in America set up in Cambridge, MA, 1639 First book printed in America, Bay Psalm Book, 1640
Sermons Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”	Clear, precise diction Literal rather than figurative language	First American newspaper, Boston Newsletter, 1704
Journals Mary Rowlandson, The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
Documents Mayflower Compact	“Lyric” poetry expressing personal feelings linked to spiritual themes
Poetry Anne Bradstreet, “Upon the Burning of Our House”	Biblical allusions

 

Now answer these questions about what you’ve read. The correct responses will offer additional insights about the literature of the Colonial period.

1. The literature of the Colonial period was primarily nonfiction.

Correct! Histories, journals, and sermons—all nonfiction forms—constitute the literature of this period. Bradstreet’s poetry is an exception. In addition, much of the writing was private (journals, diaries). Even Bradford’s account of the Pilgrim experience was not intended to be published, but to serve as a family record and tribute to the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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2. The Puritans did not consider education especially important.

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Correct! The establishment of Harvard University indicates that the Puritans did value education. A literate population was important so that the faithful could read the Bible.
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3. Strong religious beliefs are reflected in the writing of the Colonial period.

Correct! Bradstreet seeks comfort in a heavenly home when her earthly one burns. Bradford sees the hand of God in the death of the “proud and very profane” sailor aboard the Mayflower.
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4. The tone of most writing during the Colonial period was serious; the author’s purpose was usually to inform, to glorify God, or to do both.

Correct! The very title, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” suggests the seriousness of the writing. The purpose of the writing was not to entertain.
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The Revolutionary Period

Study the chart of the Revolutionary period (also known as the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason), 1765–1830. William Harmon, author of A Handbook to Literature, divides the period into two parts: 1765–1790 (the “Revolutionary Age”) and 1790–1830 (the “Federalist Age”).

After you finish reading, you will be asked to answer questions that require you to draw conclusions about the literature of the time.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes	Literary Advances
Autobiographies Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography	Logical arguments based on reason	Bill of Rights adds freedom of speech and freedom of the press to the rights protected by the Constitution, 1791
Pamphlets Thomas Paine, Common Sense and The Crisis	Optimism about a better future for mankind	Founding of the Library of Congress, 1800
Political Tracts Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence Alexander Hamilton, the Articles of  Confederation The Federalist	Allusions, imagery, metaphor, first-person point of view, parallel structure, repetition, rhetorical questions—all designed to persuade Aphorism
Speeches Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses” George Washington’s Farewell Address
Reference Books Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack

Read these excerpts from Revolutionary literature. Be sure to read the pop-up comments, which identify aspects of style and other insights about the literature of this period.

Now answer these questions about what you’ve read. The correct responses will offer additional insights about the Revolutionary period.

1. The writing in the Colonial period was often intended to be private, while most of the works in the Revolutionary period were designed to be public.

Correct! The founding fathers wanted their opinions and arguments to be widely heard in England and America.
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2. The purpose of much of the literature of this period was to entertain the growing American population.

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Correct! Henry and Jefferson spoke and wrote to persuade.
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3. The literature of the Revolutionary period was produced by professional writers.

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Correct! Although these statesmen produced excellent writing, they were not usually professional writers.
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Romanticism and the
“American Renaissance” (1830–1865)

Romanticism

You have seen that the literature of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods was primarily nonfiction composed by the early settlers and founding fathers to inform and persuade. During the Romantic period (roughly a half century before the Civil War), literature as a fine art emerged, and authors sought to entertain their audiences. As a literary movement, Romanticism began in Europe. American writers, although they were influenced by European Romanticism, eventually developed a distinctive American Romanticism with unique characteristics.

Watch “Romanticism in the American Short Story.” Then answer the multiple-choice questions. Write your answers using your Take Notes Tool. When you are finished, check your understanding

 

1. The Romantic writers had an interest in things that—
• A. could be proven scientifically.
• B. were beyond the realm of science and logic.
• C. involved romantic love.
• D. reflected their deep faith in God.
• 
  
Check Your Understanding

B is the correct answer. A is incorrect since it describes the interests of the Revolutionary writers, not the Romantic writers. D pertains to the Colonial period. C is incorrect because romantic love is not the focus of Romanticism.

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2. The Romantic writers were interested in—
• A. psychology and the forces that lurk deep in the human psyche.
  
• B. eternal salvation and how man could achieve it.
  
• C. the rights of American citizens.
  
• D. God and the Devil. 

Check Your Understanding

A is the correct answer. B and D are incorrect because they describe Colonial writing. Answer C is wrong because rights were more the concern of Revolutionary writers.

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3. Many Romantic writers focused on—
• A. firsthand accounts of life on the American frontier.
  
• B. actions Americans must take to avoid the wrath of God.
  
• C. biblical allusions.
  
• D. gothic imagery.

Check Your Understanding

D is the correct answer. Gothic imagery was covered in the video you watched. Colonial writers would have been more likely to focus on B and C. Romantics were interested in the supernatural, but not creating religious literary works.

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4. All of the following can be classified as Romantic writers except—
• A. Edgar Allan Poe
  
• B. Nathaniel Hawthorne
  
• C. Benjamin Franklin
  
• D. Washington Irving

Check Your Understanding

C is the correct answer. You should have remembered Benjamin Franklin as a nonfiction writer from the Revolutionary period. Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving all contributed to the growing body of unique American literature.

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• Exotic settings—past or present
• Emphasis on the beauty and inherent goodness of nature in contrast
  to the corruption that could be found in human society
• Mysterious or supernatural elements
• Commitment to individualism

The “American Renaissance” (including Transcendentalism)

The "American Renaissance" is often considered synonymous with American Romanticism. In American literature, much poetry and prose was produced during this period before the Civil War. Transcendentalism (with its reliance on intuition and conscience) was an important influence on many writers.

Study the chart of the Romantic period and the "American Renaissance." You will notice that writers from these periods overlap. After you have studied the chart, you will see poems and excerpts from essays written during this period.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes
Short Stories Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”	Natural settings, folktales Themes of lost love and emotional collapse Burdened by guilt—one of his Puritan ancestors was a judge in the Salem witch trial Poe and Hawthorne: symbolic and supernatural tales
Poetry William Cullen Bryant, “Thanatopsis”   “Fireside” poets such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author of “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”	Personification of nature, imagery suggesting nature’s vastness and greatness (much like Romantic paintings); spiritual comfort is to be found in nature Lyric poetry featuring images drawn from nature Bryant and Longfellow: themes of mortality
Novels Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter Herman Melville, Moby Dick	Themes concerning the dark side of human nature and the role of destiny; psychological studies of human beings
“New” American Poetry Walt Whitman, “I Sing America” and “Song of Myself” Emily Dickinson, “I never saw a Moor”	Walt Whitman: free verse and cataloging Emily Dickinson: precise word choice; unique capitalization and punctuation
Essays Emerson, “Self-Reliance” Thoreau, “Walden”	Transcendentalism: emphasis on nature, individualism, intuition

 

Now read “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls,” a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Longfellow was one of the Fireside Poets, so called because families often read their poetry around the fireplace in the evening. This poem, which Longfellow wrote toward the end of his life, is about a traveller through life. Notice the regular rhyme pattern.

Unlike the Fireside Poets, Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) does not fit into any particular category. Note her use of slant rhyme, also known as off rhyme, in contrast with Longfellow’s exact rhymes. Some of her other trademarks include creative capitalization and the frequent use of dashes.

In this poem, we see one of the important characteristics of American Romanticism: the idea of finding truth through intuition and imagination. In the second stanza Dickinson conveys her certainty in a God and heaven despite never having experienced them.

Walt Whitman, sometimes considered America’s first modern poet, is another example of the poetry of the American Renaissance. Listen to the audio of “I Hear America Singing.” Listen especially for the occupations Whitman includes.

Whitman celebrated the unique “song” of each of the following: mechanics, carpenters, masons, boatmen, deckhands, shoemakers, hatters, woodcutters, ploughboys, mothers, young wives, and girls sewing or washing. His “catalog” emphasizes the equality of people regardless of their line of work.

 

Excerpts from “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Watch the video based on “Self-Reliance.” Hint: You may have to watch the video more than once to infer some of Emerson’s ideas. Then answer the questions that follow. 

1. Emerson urges you to imitate others in your quest for truth.

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Correct! The title alone suggests that you should trust yourself rather than rely on others in forming your opinions and beliefs.
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2. As individuals we know what is best for us.

Correct! Emerson urges us to "detect and watch that gleaming light which flashes across [our] mind[s] from within." Note the emphasis on both intuition and individualism here.
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3. Emerson advocates nonconformity.

Correct! He says “My life is for itself and not for a spectacle,” and “I must be myself.”
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4. Nature is important to the well-being of mankind.

Correct! Emerson says that “man cannot be happy and strong until he lives in nature.”
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Realism, Naturalism,
and Regionalism (1865–1915)

Realism

Romanticism receded and realism emerged as a result of the Civil War, advances in transportation and communication (railroads, the telegraph), industrialization (including a movement from farm to city), European immigration, and population growth. Writers began to depict the hardships Americans experienced in war and in earning a living. According to William Harmon, author of A Handbook to American Literature, realists took as the subjects of their writing “the common, the average, the everyday.” They concentrated on “the immediate, the here and now.”

The editors of Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience distinguish the three “isms” of the period in this way: “Realism attempted to present ‘a slice of life,’ whereas Naturalism went one step further, showing life as the inexorable working out of natural forces beyond our power to control. Regionalism, in contrast, was in some ways a blending of Realism and Romanticism. It emphasized locale, or place, and the elements that create local color—customs, dress, speech, and other local differences.”

Study the chart of the Realistic period. Then read samples from this period below the chart.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes	Literary Advances
Novels Louisa May Alcott, Little Women Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Henry James, Daisy Miller Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and The Red Badge of Courage Upton Sinclair, The Jungle	Regional dialect Destiny determined by heredity and environment Muckraking	Transatlantic cable completed, 1867 Transcontinental railroad completed, 1869 Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone, 1876 Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb, 1879
Short Stories Bret Harte, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Jack London, “To Build a Fire”	Local color Flashback, surprise ending Man versus nature: people struggling with forces they can’t control

The dog, like the man, faces natural forces beyond its control, but seems to recognize instinctually the necessity of building a fire.

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The Modern (1914–1945)
and Postmodern (1945–Present) Periods

Modernism

Note that the Modern period spans the years between World War I and World War II, both of which brought about great changes in our country. Keep in mind that this period included the Jazz Age also known as the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In some ways, the Modern period was a response to the Realist literature that came before it—where Realists focused on slices of life and common, everyday experience, Modernists often focused on individualism and themes of the unconscious. Like abstract painters like Pablo Picasso or Morgan Russell (below) and surreal painters like Salvador Dali, Modernists looked beyond mundane "kitchen sink realism" toward a world that was at times distorted, symbolic, and even mythical.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes
Poetry Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems T.S. Eliot, Prufrock and Other Observations and The Wasteland   E.E. Cummings, “anyone lived in a pretty how town”   Robert Frost, New Hampshire	Poems set in the graveyard of a fictitious small town Free verse, vivid imagery Reflection of spiritual emptiness Innovative style featuring “thought groups” unmarked by punctuation or line endings Realistic depictions of rural life in New England; colloquial speech
Novels Sinclair Lewis, Main Street and Babbitt F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath Richard Wright, Native Son	Satire of American business and middle-class conformity Futility of war Stream of consciousness Journey motif; effects of the Depression Poverty, racism
Poetry Langston Hughes, “A Dream Deferred”	Failure of capitalism, the family, the individual
Drama Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
Short Stories Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path” Katherine Anne Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”	Betrayal, religion, death, memory

As you read the following excerpts by poets Carl Sandburg and E. E. Cummings, think about how they look at "Realist" subject matter, but reinterpret it as modern poets. Study the chart and read the excerpts that follow.

Check Your Understanding

The poet is writing about workers—butchers, train drivers, freight shippers. At the same time, he applies those qualities to the city of Chicago, as if it was a giant that did the same work for the world.

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Check Your Understanding

“Anyone” might refer to everyman since the poem recounts the lives of the residents of a nameless town, thereby suggesting universality.

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In the following passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, narrator Nick Carraway describes a party he attends at the home of the immensely wealthy Jay Gatsby during the summer of 1922. His description reveals the excesses of the 1920s, which will come to a crashing (pun intended) end in 1929. The passage also hints at Gatsby's alienation and loneliness despite the fact that he has apparently achieved the American dream of material success.

Postmodernism

Study the chart of the Postmodern period (1945–present). The term “postmodernism” refers to a number of literary movements, some of which build on the Modernists, some of which reacted against them. Two experimental forms worth noting are magical realism (style in which magical elements are blended in with a realistic setting, for example Toni Morrison’s Beloved) and creative nonfiction (nonfiction which uses many of the techniques of fiction, for example Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood). A sampling of other styles and themes appears in the chart below.

Genres and Authors	Styles and Themes
Drama Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (1949)	Tragedy of the common man
Novels Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye Toni Morrison, Beloved Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima	Search for identity and place in society Antihero Holden Caulfield; teenage angst Psychological impact of slavery Evil, justice, the nature of God
Autobiography Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Identity, rape, racism, literacy
Poetry Sylvia Plath, Ariel Gwendolyn Brooks, A Street in Bronzeville	Personal “confessional” poetry Ballads, sonnets, free verse

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Your Turn

Use this activity to review selections from the past 400 years of American writing. Select a literary period from the time line, read the passage, and mouse over the name of the period for more information.

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Resources

Resources Used in This Lesson: Bibliography

Bradford, William. History of ‘Plimoth Plantation.’ Reprint of the Boston edition, Project Gutenberg, 2008. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm.

Bradstreet, Anne. “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Bryant, William Cullen. “Thanatopsis.” Adventures in American Literature. Pegasus Edition. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.

Cummings, E.E. The United States in Literature. Glenview, Illinois: Scott Foresman, 1989.

Dickinson, Emily. “I never saw a Moor." Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Edwards, Jonathan. Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Self Reliance.” YouTube video, 2:04. Posted December 29, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/user/ajhande#p/a/u/2/OV5wcj3hbMc.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: MacMillan, 1992.

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. 10th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.

Hennessy, David V. “Romanticism in the American Short Story.” YouTube video, 2:06. Posted December 22, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mSrUTcbGM.

Henry, Patrick. “Speech in the Virginia Convention.”  Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Hughes, Langston. “I, too, sing America.” The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Knopf, 1994.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls.” The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1902. Project Gutenberg e-Book. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1365/pg1365.html.

London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Adventures in American Literature. Pegasus Edition. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.

Mayflower Compact, The. Cape Cod, MA. 1620. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/compact.htm.

Paine, Thomas. The Crisis, Number I. Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Plath, Sylvia. “Metaphors.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Edited by Edgar V Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.

Sandburg, Carl. “Chicago.” The United States in Literature. Glenview, Illinois: Scott Foresman, 1989.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York, 1855.  The Walt Whitman Archive. Edited by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1855/whole.html.