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Overview of American Literature Major Characteristics
http://goo.gl/LewI5m Colonialism
Beginnings to 1800American
Romanticism1800-1860
AmericanRenaissance-
1840-1860
A NewAmericanPoetry
W. (181 -18 !"#
$. (18%0-1886"
Realism 18&0-1 00
'o erns-1 00-1 &0
Contem)orary 1 &0-Present
Nati*e Americans
use their m!ths toe"plain the creationof the worl anhuman#in
$srelationships witheach other or tonature.P+ritans (
%&''$s(%)''$s* were agroup persecute forreligious +eliefs
in,nglan who cameto America forreligious free oman wrote on ana+out
-i+licalmo els.Rationalists
+elieve thathumans coul arriveat truth +! usingreason.
his literar!
perio value,eeling anint+ition overreason. It wascharacteri e
+!eroes an
o+rneys. Mostof these s!m+olic0trips1 weremoving awa!from the
evil ofcivili ation anthe +on s ofrational thoughtto the purit!
ofnature an thefree om of theimagination.he!
preferre!outhfulinnocence2in ivi ualfree om2 thewis om of the
past2 fascinationwith thesupernatural2inspiration offol#
culture2 an
poetr! as thehigheste"pression ofcreativit!. 2 / e
iresi e )oets3the -oston poetsof Longfellow2Lowell2 4hittier2an
olmessometimesreferre to as06choolroom7oets1 * weree"tremel!
popular2 oftenmemori e 2 anusuall! recite .heir su+jectmatter
3love2
patriotism2nature2 famil!2
8o * comfortetheir au iences
+ut i notchallenge themto +e innovative.
his literar!
re+irth +egan withthe 9uestion2 04illthere ever +e agreater
writer than6ha#espeare 1/ranscen entalism was a +elief offin ing
religion innature. ,ver!thingwas a reflection ofthe ivine soulaccor
ing to,merson anhoreau.ot ic i ealsloo#e at the ar#si e of
humannature usingspoo#! settings2m!steriousillnesses2 strangesoun
s2 an live
+urials 3in wor#sof 7oe2 Melville2an awthorne* toma#e people
facetheir feelings.
hese two
people were +oth greatinnovators of anew wa! ofwriting +utwere
totalopposites.W itman wasa s)o2esman,or )rogress3an
$ic2insonwrote)ri*ately o,er s)irit+almeta) ors innat+re.
Civil 4ar
writing favorerealisticcharacters ansettings overthose that
werecontrive .6eeing thehorrors of warma e 4hitmanmore
optimistic
+ecause heroesovercame somuch suffering
+ut ma#eMelville more
pessimistic +ecause of the pain hewitnesse .Realism soughtto
portra!or inar! life innon(romanticsettings2 an toe"plain wh!
people act thewa! the! o.Regionalism(or local
colorwriting"focuse on asmallgeographical
area an trie toaccuratel!repro uce thespeech anmanners of
thatregion.Nat+ralism was a %; th c.literar!movement thatwante to
showlife e"actl! as itis2 with people
+ehaving li#eanimals whofollow naturallaws of the
universe ansometimes arenot a+le tocontrol theirown
estinies.Psyc ological,iction occursinsi e acharacter$smin while
theuniverse isin ifferent.
4riters +ol l!
e"perimente withnew st!les an
rejecte tra itionalthemes. After4orl 4ar I2isillusionmenta+oun e
2 an
new moral co estempte some.
6ome wrote of theAmerican ream3which showe thiscountr! as a
lan
of promise2 a placefor optimists2 ana worl for the
in epen entin ivi ualist.
3,merson efineits elements mostclearl!*.
8/13/2019 Overview of American Literatur 3 A
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ColonialismBeginnings to 1800
AmericanRomanticism1800-1860
AmericanRenaissance-
1840-1860
A NewAmericanPoetry
W. (181 -18 !"$. (18%0-1886"
Realism 18&0-1 00
'o erns-1 00-1 &0
Contem)orary 1 &0-Present
8Clau e Mc a!$s(& erica*
ennessee 4illiams3%;%%(%;)D* wroterealistic rama
mi"e withimaginative2 poeticsensi+ilit! in his
pla!s The +lass Menagerie# an &Streetcar Na ed
!esire an has +eencalle the
pla!wright of oursouls. ischaracters are oftenlost women
ealingwith their ownsocial tensions an
pro+lems.8Countee Cullen$sTa/leau*
/ e / eater o, t eA5s+r or:
