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The beginning of the traditional oral and written stories of the natives of America. They included oral histories, folktales, and myths. They mainly focused on their cultural ways, adaptations, how they communicated, economy, and region.
American Writers are:
"World on the Turtles Back" Iroquois Indians
"Twin Gods" Pueblo
"The Quest" Arnold Krupat -
The Colonial's literature was based on religion, education, and history. Most couldn't be imaginative because it was banned for being immoral. They told stories about a lot of christians ways and what they did for the people.
American Writers:
"A Model of Christian Charity" John Winthrop's
"Anne Bradstreet's Poetry" William Bradford's
"Captivity Narrativeaddress" Mary Rowlandson's -
This period took place during one of the most important times in history. Their general writing style was persuasive writing's, pamphlets, and Travel writing. They covered topics like understanding issues in their world/economy, they created who Americans were, encouraged people to support the war, and helped American pride and patriotism grow.
American Writers:
"The Power of Sympathy" William Hill Brown
"Paradise Lost" John Milton
"The American Crisis" Thomas Paine -
This period contains writings from the founding fathers and explorers. They mainly wrote about there experiences in life, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
American Writers:
"The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America" Anne Bradstreet's
"Autobiography" Benjamin Franklin
"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" Phillis Wheatley -
"The richest period in American history" according to David S. Reynolds. Contained many optimistic writings, Pessimistic, and a little in between.
American Writers:
"The Scarlet Letter" Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Moby Dick" Herman Melville
"Representative Men" Ralph Waldo Emerson -
This period was after the Civil War. It was a move against the romantic period. Realists writers and artists got tired of all the fake lovey dovey stuff, so they started creating more realistic things and things that people could relate to.
American Writers:
"Madame Bovary" Gustave Flaubert
"The Lady of Camellias" Alexandre Dumas
"The Art of The Novel" Henry James -
This literature was way more harsh than the realism literature was. It emphasized all the ugly in life that people needed to be aware of. The writers were influenced by an evolution theory.
American Writers:
"The Call of the Wild" Jack London
"Sister Carrie" Theodore Dreiser
"A Farewell to Arm's" Hemingway -
This period was during a major economic depression. As writers began to express modern life in their writings it became known as modernism. During this time they started experimenting different types of writings.
American Writings:
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" T.S Eliot
"Pear Tree" H.D (Hilda Doolittle)
"The Unknown Citizen" Wystan Hugh Auden -
"Similar to Realism and Naturalism in a sense, many people lost faith in the general kindness of humanity." According to Weebly.com. The mix of all the nationalism and doubtfulness is what made this period.
American Writers:
"Hiroshima" John Hersey
" The Battle of the Easy Chair" Dr. Suess
"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" Flannery O'Connor -
This period centered around Bohemian artist communities. "They advocated personal release, purification, and illumination through the heightened sensory awareness that might be induced by drugs, jazz, sex, or the disciplines of Zen Buddhism." According too Britannica.
American Writers:
"On the Road" Jack Kerouac
"Cities of the Red Night" William S. Burroughs
"The Happy Birthday of Death" Gregory Corso