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Name _______________________________________________ Date _____________ English 11R

What is American Literature?

America is an ever-evolving country, and it is imperative that we see where we havecome from and where we are going. We already know that literature stems from culture.This means that we must analyze the culture and time period in order to understand whatour culture is and what it represents. The following is a breakdown of literarymovements in America:

I. Early American and Colonial Period to 1776a. American literature begins with the orally transmitted myths, legends,

tales, and lyrics (always songs) of Indian cultures. There was no writtenliterature among the more than 500 different Indian languages and tribalcultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived.

As a result, Native American oral literature is quite diverse. Narrativesfrom quasi-nomadic hunting cultures like the Navajo are different fromstories of settled agricultural tribes such as the pueblo-dwelling Acoma;the stories of northern lakeside dwellers such as the Ojibwa often differ radically from stories of desert tribes like the Hopi.

II. Democratic Origins and Revolutionary Writers (1776-1820)a. The hard-fought American Revolution against Britain (1775-1783) was

the first modern war of liberation against a colonial power. The triumph of American independence seemed to many at the time a divine sign thatAmerica and her people were destined for greatness. Military victoryfanned nationalistic hopes for a great new literature. Yet with the

exception of outstanding political writing, few works of note appearedduring or soon after the Revolution.III. The Romantic Period (1820-1860)

a. The Romantic movement, which originated in Germany but quicklyspread to England, France, and beyond, reached America around the year 1820, some 20 years after William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge had revolutionized English poetry by publishing Lyrical

Ballads . In America as in Europe, fresh new vision electrified artistic andintellectual circles. Yet there was an important difference: Romanticism inAmerica coincided with the period of national expansion and thediscovery of a distinctive American voice. The solidification of a nationalidentity and the surging idealism and passion of Romanticism nurtured themasterpieces of "the American Renaissance." Romantic ideas centeredaround art as inspiration, the spiritual and aesthetic dimension of nature,and metaphors of organic growth. Art, rather than science, Romanticsargued, could best express universal truth.

IV. The Rise of Realism (1860-1914) a. The U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) between the industrial North and the

agricultural, slave-owning South was a watershed in American history.

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The innocent optimism of the young democratic nation gave way, after thewar, to a period of exhaustion. American idealism remained but wasrechanneled. Before the war, idealists championed human rights,especially the abolition of slavery; after the war, Americans increasinglyidealized progress and the self-made man. This was the era of the

millionaire manufacturer and the speculator, when Darwinian evolutionand the "survival of the fittest" seemed to sanction the sometimesunethical methods of the successful business tycoon.

V. Modernism and Experimentation (1914-1945) a. Many historians have characterized the period between the two world wars

as the United States' traumatic "coming of age," despite the fact that U.S.direct involvement was relatively brief (1917-1918) and its casualtiesmany fewer than those of its European allies and foes. John Dos Passosexpressed America's postwar disillusionment in the novel Three Soldiers (1921), when he noted that civilization was a "vast edifice of sham, andthe war, instead of its crumbling, was its fullest and most ultimate

expression." Shocked and permanently changed, Americans returned totheir homeland but could never regain their innocence.VI. Realism and Experimentation (1945-1990)

a. Narrative literature in the decades following World War II resistsgeneralization: It was extremely various and multifaceted. It was vitalized

by international currents such as European existentialism and LatinAmerican magical realism, while the electronic era brought the globalvillage. The spoken word on television gave new life to oral tradition. Oralgenres, media, and popular culture increasingly influenced narrative.

VII. Contemporary American literature and poetry (1990-present)a. The United States is one of the most diverse nations in the world. Its

dynamic population of about 300 million boasts more than 30 millionforeign-born individuals who speak numerous languages and dialects.Some one million new immigrants arrive each year, many from Asia andLatin America.Literature in the United States today is likewise dazzlinglydiverse, exciting, and evolving. New voices have arisen from manyquarters, challenging old ideas and adapting literary traditions to suitchanging conditions of the national life. Social and economic advanceshave enabled previously underrepresented groups to express themselvesmore fully, while technological innovations have created a fast-moving

public forum.

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Name _______________________________________________ Date _____________ English 11R

What is America?

If we are going to be able to analyze American literature, we need to define whatAmerica is. Take a moment and contemplate what America used to represent, what itrepresents now, and where it is going in the future? Sketch images, write down words(explosive words), and write a paragraph explaining what America was, is, and will be.

Part I: What did America represent?Sketch:

Spark Words:

Paragraph: ______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ ________

Part II: What does America represent?Sketch:

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Spark Words:

Paragraph: ______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ ________

Part III: What will America represent?

Sketch:

Spark Words:

Paragraph: ______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

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