1. A Timeline of American Literature
Changing Times – Changing Voices
“Let America be America again.”
Langston Hughes

2. Native American Culture (from 40,000 BC) Tribal, agricultural societies
Oral literature
Epic narratives
Creation myths
Used stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information
Deep respect for nature and animals
Cyclical world view
Figurative language & parallelism

3. Examples of Native American
The Earth on Turtle’s Back - Onondaga
When Grizzlies Walked Upright - Modoc
The Navajo Origin Legend - Navajo
The Iroquois Constitution - Iroquois
“Before there were people on earth, the Chief of the Sky Spirits grew tired of his home in the Above World.”
When Grizzlies Walked Upright

4. Puritanism (1600-1800) Great Awakening; Salem Witch Trials
Sought to “purify” the Church of England by simplifying forms of worship and church organization
Believed in “original sin” and that only the “elect” would be saved
Wrote mostly diaries and histories that expressed the connection between God and everyday life
Used the plain style of writing

5. Examples of Puritan Writings
To My Dear and Loving Husband – Anne Bradstreet
Huswifery – Edward Taylor
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God – Jonathan Edwards
“The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more and rise higher and higher.”
Jonathan Edwards - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

6. Rationalism / The Age of Reason (1750 – 1800) Revolutionary War; U. S
Rationalism / The Age of Reason (1750 – 1800) Revolutionary War; U.S. Constitution; Founding Fathers
Philosophers; scientists; politicians
Believed that humans can arrive at the truth by deductive reasoning rather than relying on past authority
Wrote speeches, pamphlets, editorials, documents

7. Examples of Rationalism
Poor Richard’s Almanac – Benjamin Franklin
The Declaration of Independence – Thomas Jefferson
Common Sense – Thomas Paine
Speech in the Virginia Convention – Patrick Henry
“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.
Patrick Henry - Speech in the Virginia Convention

8. Explorers/Farmers/Slaves (1500-1800)
Recorded experiences in journals, diaries, autobiographies and memoirs
First-hand accounts of history
Authors: Olaudah Equiano (slave), William Bradford (settler and farmer), Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (explorer)

9. Romanticism (1800-1860) Industrialization; War of 1812; California Gold Rush
Valued intuition
Placed faith in inner experience
Shunned civilization and sought out nature as the path to spirituality
Championed individual freedoms
Saw poetry as the highest expression of imagination
Dark (gothic) romances contained supernatural elements

10. Examples of Romanticism
The Devil and Tom Walker – Washington Irving
Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman
The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
“Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, in there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.”
The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe

11. Transcendentalism (1840-1860) “The American Renaissance”; Abolitionist; Women’s Rights Movements
Utopian outlook
Everything in the world, including humans, is a reflection of the “Divine Soul”
People can use intuition to behold God’s spirit as revealed in nature and their own souls
Emphasized self-reliance and individualism
Shunned external authority and traditional conformity

12. Examples of Transcendentalism
Self-Reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Song of Myself – Walt Whitman
“I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
Song of Myself – Walt Whitman

13. Realism (1850-1900) The Civil War; Reconstruction; the Gold Rush
Feelings of disillusionment following war
Sought to explain behavior (psychological / social)
Common subjects: city slums; factories replacing farmland; poor factory workers; corrupt politicians
Regionalism – Local Color

14. Examples of Realism The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
To Build a Fire – Jack London
The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
“Well, thish-yer Smiley had a yaller one-eyed cow that didn’t have no tail, only just a short stump like a bannanner.”
Mark Twain – The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

15. Modernism (1900-1950) World War I; the Roaring ’20s; Prohibition; the Great Depression; World War II
Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American Dream
Emphasis on experimenting with writing style
Interest in the inner workings of the mind (stream of consciousness)

16. Examples of Modernism The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner
The poetry of Robert Frost and T. S. Eliot
Death of a Salesman; The Crucible – Arthur Miller
“I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything…Sophisticated — God, I’m sophisticated!"
F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

17. Harlem Renaissance (1920-1940) Black cultural movement in Harlem, New York
Birthplace of African American black heritage and pride
Street-talk diction
Poetry rhymes based on cadence of jazz, blues, and spirituals
Extended metaphors used to express feeling of black Americans

18. Examples of Harlem Renaissance
Dust Tracks in the Road – Zora Neale Hurston
The Weary Blues – Langston Hughes
The Tropics in New York – Claude McKay
A Black Man Talks of Reaping – Arna Bontemps
Native Son – James Baldwin
“Sure, call me any ugly name you choose – The steel of freedom does not stain.”
Langston Hughes – Let America be America Again

19. Contemporary – Postmodernism (1950-present) Korean War; Cold War; Vietnam War; Civil Rights Movement; Women’s Movement
Writing influenced by advances in electronic media – radio, tv, film, internet
Sense that little is unique; questioning meaning of life
Experimentation with written form
Exploration of personal, ethnic, and racial identity

20. Examples of Postmodernism
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan
The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
“The grenade made a popping noise – not soft but not loud either The young man seemed to jerk upward as if pulled by invisible wires.”
Tim O’Brien – The Things They Carried

21. 21st Century - What Next? 9/11/2001; E-Commerce; War on Terrorism
Relevance to global events
Regional literature (remember local color?)
Graphic novels
Self publishing
Confessional memoirs
Experimental drama

22. What is Your Story? Who are you? What do you see?
Where do you come from?
What obstacles have you overcome in life?
What do you feel strongly about?
What will your voice say about your American experience?