American Literature - Lesson 1

The History of
American Literature
(Part 1)
Introduction

Content:

Part 1: An overview of the history of American Literature

Part 2: Introductions to some representative writers and analyses of their typical

works

Recommended book:

An outline of American Literature (1986) by Peter B. High, Longman

Literary Elements

Setting
Plot (conflict and climax)
Character
Point of view and tone
Theme and Symbolism
Style (imagery and figurative language)

Stages and Trends

Historical context
Genre
Style
Content
Effect
Representative

Stages and Trends in the History of American Literature

Colonialism and Revolutionary Period (Beginnings to 1800)

Romanticism and Transcendentalism (1800- 1860)

Realism and Regionalism (1860-1910)
American Modernism (1910-1945)
Postwar Literature (1945-1970)

Contemporary Literature /Postmodernism (1970 to present)

Colonialism and Revolutionary Period
(From Beginnings to 1800)
Puritan Times (to 1750)

Historical context

Movement of Puritans from England to America for religious freedom.

Colonization of other people from Europe
Other immigrations

Genre

Sermons
Diaries
Personal narratives
Captivity narratives

Style: plain
Colonialism and Revolutionary Period
(From Beginnings to 1800)
Puritan Times (to 1750)

Content

Christian utopia
Relationship with God
Histories (especially of New England)
Puritan beliefs: community, original sin, and hard work

Effect

Being instructive
Reinforcing authority of Bible and Church

 Representatives
John Winthrop (The History of New England)
Edward Johnson (The Wonder-working Providence of Sions Saviour in New England)
The Mathers (Remarkable Providences, Death Made Easy and Happy)

Colonialism and Revolutionary Period

(From Beginnings to 1800)
Rationalism/ Age of Enlightenment (1750-1800)

Historical context

Growing dissatisfaction with England and taxation without representation

Rebellion against England
Revolutionary War

Genre

Political pamphlets
Travel writing

Style: highly ornate

Colonialism and Revolutionary Period
(From Beginnings to 1800)
Rationalism/ Age of Enlightenment (1750-1800)

Content

national mission and American character

democratic utopia
use of reason

Effect

Pride and patriotism grow.

Print culture becomes a vehicle for the new nations democratic identity and
principles .
Proliferation of newspapers and magazines

Representatives
Benjamin Franklin (Dogood papers, The Way to Wealth)

Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence)

Romanticism and Transcendentalism
(From 1800 1860)
Romanticism (1800-1860)

Historical context

Expansion to 25 states by 1836

Technological developments (telegraph and the steam engine)
Voting rights to all free men in many states a shift in emphasis to common people.

Genre

poetry, short stories, novels

slave narratives
political writings
essays

Romanticism and Transcendentalism

(From 1800 1860)
Romanticism (1800-1860)

Content
imagination over reason
reverence for nature
supernatural/ mysterious writing
a focus on individuals feelings
Effect
fueling abolitionist movement
founding a developmental base for detective fiction
Sub-genre
Transcendentalism
Gothicism
Representatives
Washington Irving (Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature)
Edgar Ellen Poe (The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat)

Emily Dickinson (Hope is the thing with feathers, Poems of nature)

Romanticism

a trend in which people admire wild (not man-made) beauty and feelings (not thought)

Promotion of individualism
Celebration of natures beauty and its ability to enhance human spirituality
Interest in imagination

Interest in emotions
Transcendentalism

a movement of feelings and beliefs

intuition, imagination, and vision as the ways of understanding the world

nature as both a field of study and an inspiration to self-development
God seen everywhere, in man and in nature

interest in individualism and feelings

Gothicism

a focus on mystery
an emphasis on the supernatural forces
an emphasis on terror
an emphasis on ambiguity
depiction of physical and mental abnormality
lack of realism
Realism (1860-1900)
Historical context

Slavery

Civil War

Continuing Westward expansion

Genre

spirituals

slave narratives

political writing

poetry, short stories and novels

Sub-genre

Naturalism

Regionalism

Realism (1860-1900)
Content

abolition of slavery

common characters not idealized

local colour (Regionalism)

mans lack of control over his fate

more literature centred around the Midwest and the Far West

Effect

Social realism changing social problems

realistic fiction remaining popular today

Representatives
Mark Twain (The Adventures of Tom Sawyers and Huckleberry Fin)
Jack London (Call of the Wild, White Fang, Sea Wolf)
O. Henry (The Last Leaf, The Gift of the Magi, One Thousand Dollars)
Realism
Definition: a literary technique considered as the faithful representation
of reality

Characteristics:

Depiction of reality in comprehensive detail

An emphasis on truth

More important role of characters

The subject of complex ethical choices

Plausible events

Separation from the sensational, dramatic elements

Comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact tone

Objectivity in presentation

Naturalism
Definition: a trend that attempts to apply scientific principles of
objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings
characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings.
there are the laws behind the forces that govern human lives.

Forces: instincts, passions, heredity, environment

Regionalism
Definition: fiction or poetry that focuses on specific features including
characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography of a particular
region/ area

Features:

stereotypical characters

stories revolving around the community

thematic conflict between urban ways and old-fashioned rural values

Modernism (1910-1945)
Historical context

World War I and World War II

Technological changes

Jazz Age conflicts developed between older, conservative generation

and young alienated generation

Great Depression

Expanded role of women in society

Genre

continuation of the same genres as in the past

Sub-genre: Harlem Renaissance

Style

free verse and stream-of-consciousness prose new styles

use of allusions

highly experimental (rejection of the artistic convention of the past)

irony as a signature technique

Modernism (1910-1945)
Content

reality not absolute but depending upon the point of view of the
observer

impersonal, alienating attitude

people not able to communicate effectively

grief over loss of the past (pre-war world)

Effect
American literature on the leading edge of worlds artistic achievement
Representatives
Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)
Earnest Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms)
William Faulkner (Soldiers Pay, The Sound and the Fury)
Gertrude Stein (Three Lives, The Making of Americans)
Contemporary Literature (From 1945-Present)
Historical context

Civil Rights Movement

JFKs assassination

Vietnam War

Growing media influence

Technological advances

Rethinking of our past at the beginning of 21 st century

Genre

continuation of the same genre as in the past

new styles: found poems, concrete poems

confessional poetry

performance poetry

Style

blurring of lines between fact and fiction

Defying classification

Contemporary Literature (From 1945-Present)

Content

life observed as the media present it

popular/mass culture

peoples identity shaped by cultural and gender attitudes

communication as a way to cope with problems

ethnicity and women

Effect

more multicultural literature included in anthologies

Representatives
Flannery OConnor (A Good Man is Hard to Find)
Mary McCarthy (The Company She Keeps)
John Updike (Bech: A Book)

TOM SAWYER
Characteristics

childish:
hate doing chore, especially at weekends

Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden.

easily be distracted
He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrow
multiplied.
be afraid of being teased by other boys
and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work -- the very
thought of it burnt him like fire.
consider thrown-away things as treasures
Tom was literally rolling in wealth.

mature
figure out the nature of human being

 get things done in a strategic way

be a great actor

The Story of an Hour

The character of Mrs. Mallard

emotional and demonstrative

young but experienced

rebellious in inner thoughts

Symbols

Heart trouble: the problems of emotions

Her private room: a constraint life after marriage

Springtime: the beauty and the happiness of (marriage) life

The open window: the hope for freedom

Patches of blue sky: the new life with hope and opportunities

The name Mallard: freedom

The Last Leaf

The picture of the last leaf
Why is the picture of the ivy leaf considered the masterpiece of Behrman?
It is created wholeheartedly.
It gives hope to save one life.
It takes away another life.
It cannot be ruined.
What is it symbolized?
sacrifice
compassion
artistic desire
true value of art
Call of the Wild
Lessons

In the new hostile environment Buck has to change the way he

sleeps
eats
relates to humans
interacts with other dogs
works
He learns the law of club and fang, and the theory of the survival of the fittest.
Transformation
physical conditions:
hard muscles
tough and stout tissues
keen sight and scent, acute hearing
mental conditions
more alert
more cunning
farther away from his moral nature
Curlys death
It is:
Violent and cruel
Unfair and merciless
Symbolically it represents the defeat of the unfit.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
THEME: HEROISM
triumph over adversity

continuous labor

dignity and grace

optimism

In what way is Santiago heroic?

THE CHARACTER OF SANTIAGO

 A tragic hero

Skilful and experienced

Determined

Strong-willed

Humble but proud

Capable of endurance

Hopeful and optimistic

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHER

THE THEME OF HOPE

HOPE enables you to fly, suggesting a new beginning

HOPE is always in us

HOPE is eternal

HOPE is everywhere

HOPE helps people get over difficulties

Destroying HOPE causes pain

HOPE is a free gift for anyone who needs it