The Colonial Period (1607-1775) was essentially the first literary movement in America. The ideas portrayed within the period were expressed with two main styles of writing; Puritan and Classical. The puritan style was heavily influenced by God and the puritan's way of life. It was often short and too the point, and referred to ordinary things. The Classical Style was usually used to express analysis, theory, and practice. This style was delivered in a way that it would influence the audience. "Huswifery", by Edward Taylor offers a great example of the use of the Puritan style. He used a spinning wheel, and ordinary object, to compare his relationship to God. He tried to compare his feelings in an ordinary way that followed the puritan style, just like Anne Bradstreet in "To My Dear and Loving Husband". She used multiple metaphors to help explain how great her love was for her husband. Although emotion is not favored in the Puritan style, she vented them through her poetry. In the Classical style of writing, giving sermons was a common way of presenting information to people; and Jonathan Edwards is a great example. His sermons were direct and persuasive because he used literary devices that created images in the audience's heads. All of these stories helped to get people to start worshipping God again, thus giving the creation of the Colonial Period in America.
The Revolutionary Period (1765-1790) was considered the second literary movement in American society. This period of literature occurred during the age of the enlightenment; which was known as the Age of Reason because there were thoughts, ideas and opinions that were surfacing. One of the periods greatest thinkers was Benjamin Franklin, who wrote a few stori...
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...t" by Barry Gifford. The moral of the story was to follow your aspirations in life. I also read "Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko. It was about the hallucinations of a man that participated in WWII. All of theses stories contributed to the rise of the Modernism Age in America by forcing people to express modern thoughts and return to traditional religion.
American literature has influenced my life in ways from the way I interpret things to the way I carry myself. I have been inspired by each movement we have learned about this year and will continue to be shaped by them. My dream is to become an engineer and design things that will help people to live more fuller, safer, and adventurous lives. The periods have taught me to become more self reliant and to stand up for what I believe in. American literature will continue to the influence generations to come.
In the poems “Huswifery” by Edward Taylor and “To My Dear Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet use very contrasting writing styles. These were both written in the Puritan era; where the government was a theocracy, the church controlled everything and the people’s lifestyles were severely restricted. I believe that these poems are prime examples of how their strict lives affected the way the writer’s poems came out the way they did.
“He was the greatest diplomat America has ever had”(198), Wood bluntly wrote when describing Franklin’s achievements in France. Another theme in the text is Franklin changing his mind on things that he once felt very strongly about. Before the American revolution, Franklin was a hardcore loyalist. He praised the English Crown and thought that the King could do no wrong. When he was given the opportunity to become a lobbyist for Pennsylvania, Franklin replied that he was “too old to think of changing countries.” However, after being snubbed by various English officials, Franklin returned to America and became one of the strongest supporters of American independence. Gordon Wood has written countless novels about the American revolution. In 1993, he won the Pulitzer prize for his book The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Wood’s purpose for writing this biography of Franklin was to inform the reader about Franklin’s life and role in the American
When one explains his or her ingenious yet, enterprising interpretation, one views the nature of history from a single standpoint: motivation. In The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood, the author, explains the complexities and motivations of the people who partook in the American Revolution, and he shows the significance of numerous themes, that emerge during the American Revolution, such as democracy, discontent, tyranny, and independence. Wood’s interpretation, throughout his literary work, shows that the true nature of the American Revolution leads to the development of United State’s current government: a federal republic. Wood, the author, views the treatment of the American Revolution in the early twentieth century as scholastic yet, innovative and views the American Revolution’s true nature as
Before the American Revolution there was the Enlightenment and Great Awakening period. The Enlightenment and Great Awakening period were different from each other but in similarities they both challenged the way society thoughts of situations in life. They both had a big impact leading towards the American Revolution and how the colonist were thinking differently from before. They were able to think outside the box and become more of a personality than a group. The Enlightenment was a philosophical, social movement that challenged the ideals of reality. They wanted reasons over faith, to establish an authoritative system. The Enlightenment gave a way for a new perspective into the world and take a scientific approach to questioning situations.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
The American Dream and the decay of American values has been one of the most popular topics in American fiction in the 20th century. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises create a full picture of American failure and pursue its ideals after the end of World War I by portraying the main characters as outsiders and describing the transportation in a symbolic way. Putting the aimless journeys for material life foreground, Fitzgerald and Hemingway skillfully link West and men and associate East to not only money but women. As American modernists, Hemingway utilizes his simple and dialog-oriented writing to appeal to readers and Fitzgerald ambiguously portrays Gatsby through a narrator, Nick, to cynically describe American virtue and corruption, which substantially contribute to modernism in literature.
As this semester comes to a quick close I have learned about the lives of many authors, the works of many authors and the variety of impact that they had on the nation. American Literature has had many different impacts on America. The literature has shaped the lives of the American people from generation to generation. The literature has shared the lives of those long before and created traditions to be passed on from family to family. From learning of a woman who changed the idea of women in literature to reading about the life of a man who shaped the nation as president, American Literature has increased my knowledge of the nation that I call home. There were authors I had no knowledge of such as Walt Whitman, authors that widely influenced
Although the end of World War II brought immense joy to the world, it was a turning point for American literature. Though the war was over, it was like starting over for America as it donned a new post war era. Authors and poets used their stories and characters to portray the grim era of that time and many of them reflected a guilt and disillusionment in the American dream. Though various writers had their own ideas of what the new post war America would shape out to be, not all had positive outlooks. It was a time of change as the United States was beginning its foray to the forefront of being the new cultural center and world power. Not only did a new generation come out of the war, but its ethnic, regional, and social character was
Puritan values, ideas, and beliefs are evident in the works of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, and Jonathan Edwards. Through her poetry, Bradstreet reveals her Puritan values and ideals. Bradstreet was aware of a woman’s role in Puritan society and tried to portray herself as a humble, pious, obedient, and modest wife. William Bradford’s work also encompasses beliefs, values, and ideas of Puritan life. One can see that in Bradford’s writing such as Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford emphasizes Puritan suffering specifically through the Mayflower journey and how, with the grace of God, they prevailed. Jonathan Edwards’ work also displays Puritan beliefs, values, and ideals through the installation of fear. In an excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Puritan minister Edwards uses the effective element of fear when addressing his congregation. Puritan values, ideals, and beliefs are reflected and expressed in the works of all three of these influential writers.
American literature over the Great Depression was a quite settle time since no one had strong education but more experience. With new ways of government rulings “2 thinkers whose idea had the great impact on the period were the Austrian Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and German Karl Marx (1818-1883)” (Bayom 1712) are changing people’s way of thinking. With Communism rising both outside and inside the US and poverty made people start to question society logic on the rich and lower class. Even with all the change from the wars “American Literature…not separated family roots” (Bayom 1713); families were able to stay together but moved on from different ideas and view of life. New ideas of way of life were starting to change literature this time “between the two world wars found itself… attacking the old-style idea of tradition literature” (Bayom 1716). The American people slowly progressed from a straight conservative view to a more liberal view on lifestyle and society. The Great Depression authors were able to change how writers write after authors “writers before World War I had faith in society and in art, writers after between 1914 and 1945 had faith… writers after 1945 had lost even faith and never the faith in themselves that had inspired and sustained writer between the wars.” (Bayom 1713). The change in how writers wrote their books happened because of the depression and which they were forced into poverty and little hope for their future. Harper Lee showed us about how her life was with racism and poverty mixed in with the outcome of sadness and depressing from it. The writers in the 1930s were so influential that “[authors during the Great Depression] remain strong… as teaching of American Literature in college... on the premise that these earlier writers constituted a true American literary traditional worthy of study alongside the British” (Bayom 1713). Big writers
Modern American aspirations, fears, and myths played an important part of early nineteenth century literature. Shaping literature from many angles, this era was full of influential change. In many ways, writers addressed their own personal fears, as well as those felt nationwide. In a way, writers wrote these things down to help people cope, dream, and even just to wonder about. Overall during the nineteenth century, literature dramatically shifted into an important part of Americans lives because of the personal connection they were able to make with it.
American literature, as does all literature, continues to reflect the conflicts that universally impact humankind - political, social, economic, racial, sexual, and moral. More than any other type of literature, American literature has brought to the world the ideals on which the country was founded: freedom, equality, individual rights vs. the rights of the state, and the right to self-determination. Certainly other authors, from many nations, have promoted these ideals in the hopes of making lives better, initiating social change, or seeking justice. However, the difference seen in early American literature is that these revolutionary ways of thinking and being were being created and lived by real people, and were not just dreams in the minds of a few. As the country expanded traditional mores and expectations changed as people struggled to survive in a harsh and often hostile environment. Women authors began to appear, calling for reform of the injustices they experienced and observed. Through their writing they brought to light new perspectives and embraced the idea of an age of enlightenment as a means of promoting change.
... just the scholars but every citizen in America the importance of preserving their own culture with originality in everyone’s ideologies. He has attempted to provide elements through which the new form of literature can grow and it has evidently helped literature in America be more research based and not scholars memorizing from previous texts written by other authors. The American scholar was thus a historic speech that encouraged scholars since to write with freedom encouraging arguments to discover truth for any matter to be discussed.
Up until the early 17th century, American literature was chiefly about politics, religion, and recorded events. These writings were very dry and lacked insight into the everyday lives of the authors. To put into writing any individual spiritual reflections that strayed away from the religion of the colony could be dangerous at that time; possibly resulting in banishment from the colony or worse. Likewise, any writing that did not serve at least one of the purposes listed above was considered to be a waste of time that would be better spent praising God. Anne Bradstreet defied the rules of her time by writing about whatever she wanted including personal thoughts, reflections, emotions, and events. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.