1. Survey of American Literature
Review—From The New Land to
American Moderns

2. Native American Literature
The Earliest Americans
Oral Traditions
Viewed by many as folklore

3. The Pilgrims and Puritans
A small group of Europeans who were religious reformers critical of the Church of England, sailed from England in 1620
Preoccupation with sin and salvation
Their writings were primarily theological studies, hymns, histories, biographies, and autobiographies with the purpose of each writing to provide spiritual insight and instruction.

4. Puritan Literature Anne Bradstreet William Bradford Jonathan Edwards
Upon the Burning of Our House
To My Dear and Loving Husband
William Bradford
from Of Plymouth Plantation
Jonathan Edwards
from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Mary Rowlandson
Captivity Narrative

5. The Southern Planters
The Southern colonies differed from New England in climate, crops, social organization, and religion.
Literature effected by their busy social lives

6. Much of the literature of this time period was not produced in the colonies, rather it came from England
By 1750, however, the clear beginnings of a native literature began to appear; one that would one day be honored throughout the English-speaking world.

7. The Colonial Period—Age of Reason 1750-1800
During this period, the mind of the nation was on politics.
After 1763, ideas focused on relations with Great Britain and, more broadly, on the nature of government.
Most important writing from the Revolutionary era focused on political writing.

8. By the early 1800s, Americans had generated a small body of work, but no novels or plays existed, nor had the short story been invented.

9. Writers of the Colonial Period
Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry
Speech in the Virginia Convention
Thomas Paine
from The Crisis
Phillis Wheatley
To his Excellency, General Washington
Edward Taylor
Phillip Freneau
Thomas Jefferson
The Declaration of Independence
Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur
From Letters from an American Farmer
Sarah Kemble Knight
A Journey from Boston to New York

10. From Reason to Romance
The Puritans were religious fundamentalists who sought salvation.
The founders of the republic were political realists who pursued reason.
But the early 19th century writers were considered Romantics.
Humanitarian reform is a mark of Romanticism—from abolition of slavery to improvements in education

11. Romanticism The early 19th century writer were considered Romantics.
Humanitarian reform is a mark of Romanticism—from abolition of slavery to improvements in education

12. Realists vs. Romantics
Realists believed that reason is the dominating characteristic both of nature and of human nature.
They believed both nature and human nature are governed and fixed with unchanging laws.

13. History of Romanticism
A number of changing attitudes related to a sense of nationalism
The romantics’ emphasis on the individual reflects the political ideal set forth in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal”
Leads to an emphasis on the dignity and worth of the common individual and to social reforms that were meant to fulfill this ideal of equality

14. Romanticism
Romantic writers favor the imagination over reason, intuition over facts. Intense interest in and reverence for nature.
An accent on mystery—on the strange and fantastic aspects of human experience
Often sought inspiration and understanding through the observation and contemplation of nature.

15. Romantic Views Valued feeling and intuition over reason
Placed central importance upon the emotions and upon the individual
Reason was thought of as important, but it was not the surest guide to truth
Romantic writers emphasized intuition, that inner perception of truth which is independent of reason

16. The Romantic Writers William Cullen Bryant Thanatopsis
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
Oliver Wendel Holmes
The Last Leaf
Contentment
James Russell Lowell
The First Snow Fall
John Greenleaf Whittier
Telling the Bees

17. The Dark Romantics
Edgar Allan Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville

18. The Transcendentalists
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman

19. The Rise of Realism 1860-1914 Principles Of Realism The commonplace
Characters are complex and more important than plot
Attack upon romanticism and romantic writers.
Emphasis on the realization of morals and an examination of idealism.
Use of realistic dialogue and dialect
Social class is important

20. Famous Realists Mark Twain Jack London Charles Chestnutt Willa Cather
Hamlin Garland

21. THE MODERNS
CHANGE
Americans emerged from the war as victors, but something was beginning to change. The country seemed to have lost its innocence.

22. THE MODERNIST MOVEMENT WWI was a turning point in American lives
WWI was a turning point in American lives

23. Americans were disillusioned with traditions that seemed to have become spiritually empty

24. Creators of literature, paintings, music, and the other arts began to call for bold experimentation.
The First Wave of the Great Migration ( ) - part I "Around the time of WWI, many African-Americans from the South left home and traveled to cities in the North in search of a better life." © Jacob Lawrence

25. Grant Wood, Return from Bohemia, 1935, crayon, gouache, pencil on paper, 23 1/2 x 20 inches

26. Walt Kuhn, Angna Enters, 1924, oil on canvas, 33 x 22 inches

27. Stuart Davis EBB TIDE, PROVINCETOWN (MAN ON THE BEACH), 1913 oil on canvas 38 1/16 in. X 30 1/16 in

29. Yves Tanguy. (American, born France. 1900-1955)
Yves Tanguy. (American, born France ). Extinction of Useless Lights Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 25 3/4" (92.1 x 65.4 cm). Purchase.

30. Marsden Hartley, Adelard the "Drowned," Master of the "Phantom," c
Marsden Hartley, Adelard the "Drowned," Master of the "Phantom," c , oil on board, 28 x 22 inches, Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

32. The modernists began to reject traditional themes and styles.

33. Idealism was turning to cynicism
Some writers began to question the authority and tradition that had seemed to be standard in America.
Soldiers who had seen the world wanted a more modern lifestyle.
For the 1st time, many Americans enrolled in higher education.
Farm machinery evolved, yet farmers were still poor.

34. Prohibition prompted underground “speak-easies.”

35. American women felt more liberated.

36. Because of economic conditions, American dollars were worth more abroad: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound became expatriates.

37. The Great Depression brought suffering to millions of Americans—those hard working people that had put their faith in America to provide for them.
Many saw the depression as punishment for their sins of loose living.

38. FDR and the New Deal programs tried to renew prosperity, but not until the industrial build-up of WWII did an economic resurgence occur.

39. ELEMENTS OF MODERNISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form—reflects the fragmentation of society
Rejection of traditional themes and subjects.
Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American Dream. (Modernists rejected Emerson’s optimism.)
Rejection of the ideal of a hero as infallible in favor of a hero who is flawed and disillusioned but shows “grace under pressure” (Hemingway)
 Interest in the inner workings of the human mind. (Sometimes expressed through a new narrative technique such as stream of consciousness—William Faulkner)

40. THE AMERICAN DREAM: Pursuit of Promise

41.   Three Central Ideas:
1) There is admiration for America as a new Eden
 A “promised land” of beauty, bounty, unlimited resources and promises, and endless opportunities.

42. 2) Americans have faith in progress, and we can optimistically expect life to keep getting better and better.
 The American birthright is one of ever-expanding opportunity.
Progress is a good thing.
A belief that we are moving toward an era of prosperity, justice, and joy that always seems just around the corner.

43. 3) The independent, self-reliant individual will triumph. Americans have confidence in the ultimate triumph of the individual.
Everything is possible for the person who places trust in his or her own powers and potential.
Remember Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.”

44. A CRACK IN THE DREAM:
Breakdown of beliefs and traditions
 Þ  World War I
Þ  Economic Crash
 Both damaged the tenets of the American Dream.

45. CONCLUSION
American modernist writers both echoed and challenged the American Dream. They took on a broader voice than before causing a second American Renaissance. Even with these challenges, they continue to ask the fundamental questions about life and the purpose of human existence.

46. Ernest Hemingway ( ), born in Oak Park, Illinois, started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. After the United States entered the First World War, he joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army. Serving at the front, he was wounded, was decorated by the Italian Government, and spent considerable time in hospitals. After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as the Greek Revolution.

47. William Faulkner ( ), who came from an old southern family, grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. He joined the Canadian, and later the British, Royal Air Force during the First World War, studied for a while at the University of Mississippi, and temporarily worked for a New York bookstore and a New Orleans newspaper. Except for some trips to Europe and Asia, and a few brief stays in Hollywood as a scriptwriter, he worked on his novels and short stories on a farm in Oxford.

48. THE JAZZ AGE— (named by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Roaring Twenties
THE JAZZ AGE— (named by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
                                                           

49. Flappers

50. Flappers

51. Flappers

52. The Jazz Age

53. THE JAZZ AGE— (named by F. Scott Fitzgerald) The Roaring Twenties
 1919—the constitution prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol—singled out as a central social evil.
 Consequently, the amendment caused an age of bootleggers, speakeasies, cocktails, and short skirted flappers, new rhythms of Jazz, and the new profession of gangster.
 The Roaring Twenties made an impact on America’s history—the pursuit of pleasure.
 Some took this pursuit abroad. Many American writers went abroad and became expatriates—one who withdraws from his own land.
Living was cheap in Paris, somehow better and more exotic, more grace and luxury, no need to go into a cellar to get drunk.
This wave of expatriates was another signal that something had gone wrong in the Eden of America.

54. Pre-Reading Questions for
The Great Gatsby

55. How might people who are born into wealth compare or contrast to those who are “nouveau riche” or acquired their wealth over night?

56. Would you date or marry someone just for his her money
Would you date or marry someone just for his her money? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?

57. What defines a person’s “social class” today
What defines a person’s “social class” today? Would you date or marry someone below your own social class? What would be your parents’ reactions? How would you or your parents be different if the person was above your social class?

58. What dreams and hopes do you have for your future?

59. What goals do you have for your life in the next. 5 years (21)
What goals do you have for your life in the next years (21) ? 10 years (26) ? 30 years (46) ? Lifetime (+)?

60. Can money really buy happiness?

61. Is the love of money really the root of all evil?
(from The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy. 6:10: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”)

62. F. Scott Fitzgerald