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Period: Jan 1, 1472 to
Puritan
Most of Puritan literature is histories, journals, personal poems, sermons, and diaries. Most of this literature is wither utilitarian, very personal, or religious. the majority of the writers were influenced by puritan ideals and values and every event represents a double reality;the event as a natural occurrence, the event as a significant message from god. They emphasize on hard work and on the value of education and science.
“Characteristics of Puritan Literature” March 5, 2013 -
"New England" John Smith
New England describes the voyage to the coast of Massachusetts and Maine in the early 1600’s but was captured by French pirates and was detain before escaping and making his way to new England and when he is there gives his description of New England -
“Of Plymouth Plantation” William Bradford
Of Plymouth Plantation is a short story about the early settlement experiences of the puritans from 1620 to 1647. Bradford was the governor of the Plymouth plantation, he also introduce the puritans. By the end of the story Bradford details corruption and hardship and the first years the pilgrims experienced in America. -
“Upon a wasp chilled with cold” Edward Taylor
the poem of Taylor gives detailed observations of nature and the wasp he is watching. The speaker wants to understand the wasp more and pleads god to clear his sight so he can see his divinity as well as see his divinity in the wasp. -
“From the secret diary of William Byrd” William Bryd
Bryd diary gave insight to how life was lived for southern gentlemen. He writes in his diary about daily thoughts and actions and asks god’s forgiveness many time for something he has done like kiss his wife and felt her and also how they treated their women in the 1700’s. -
“Sinners in the hands of an angry god” Jonathon Edwards
This sermon from Edwards was created do to the great awakening; to awaken people’s faith and belief in the majesty of god, he presented the sinners in the hands of an angry to represent both the positive and the negative images if god’s power. He wanted people to feel god’s presence, not just think about it. -
Voltaire “Zadig the babylonian”
Zadig is a young Babylonian with great education and great wealth and lived while the king Moabdar in Babylon. Zadig has withdrew from the turmoil of Babylon to a secluded retreat where he begins the study of nature. -
Swift Jonathan “Gulliver’s Travels”
Gulliver’s Travels recounts the story of Lemuel Gulliver, a practical-minded Englishman trained as a surgeon who takes to the seas when his business fails. In a deadpan first-person narrative that rarely shows any signs of self-reflection or deep emotional response, Gulliver narrates the adventures that befall him on these travels. -
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enlightenment
The enlightenment was a celebration of ideas about what the human mind was capable of and what could be achieved through deliberate action and scientific methodology. The essential elements of enlightenment philosophy had a profound impact on the history of the new world The enlightenment was believed to be the realization of the tools and strategies necessary to achieve that potential.
Rahn, Josh “The Enlightenment” The Literature Network, 2011, March 5, 2013 -
Johnson, Samuel “The Ramble”
the rambler was a periodical essays that were regularly past put out to the people every Tuesday and Saturday between the years 1750 to 1752. The rambler is made up of more than two hundred essays and in one of the later papers records the difficulties a man or men had in those times. -
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Native american
the first native american literary texts were offered orally, and they link their people with the plants and animals. Native american oral tradition provided explanations about the world and its origins. it also teaches moral lessons and coveys pracctical information and was pasted down orally from generation to generation and wasnt recongnized by western scholars until the late 1800's.
Joseph Bruchac, “Native American Oral traditions” Literature and Language art, PG (15-16), March 1 2013 -
Horace Walpole “the castle of Otranto”
the castle of Otranto is a cursed castle that to whoecer lives there becomes too pride they will be replaced by another family. So to keep his family from being ended the father will marry the soon to be wife of the son that had been killed. The wife runs away with a man who later falls in love with her. -
Thomas Paine “common sense”
in the common sense, paine argues for American independence and begins with a more general reflection about government and religion along with the progresses of the colonies without a king. Also argues that man was born into a state of equality and the equality of a king to a subject is unnatural. -
Thomas Paine “Rights of men”
the rights of men is a philosophical argument written in two parts to answer Edmund Burke’s attack against the French revolution. Paine tries to justify the French revolution by using the United States as an example of democracy in action. Thomas argues that each generation has the right to establish its own government. -
Ann Radcliffe “the mysteries of Udolpho
the mysteries of Udolpho is a Gothic romance that presents supernatural phenomenon which is later explained by natural cause. Emily is an orphan and left to be with her aunt whose husband could care less about any of the two. Later the orphan girl runs away from udolpho where all the mysteries are explained. -
Matthew Lewis “the monk”
the monk is a gothic fiction book that contains supernatural agencies, murder, rape , incest, poisoning, hauntings, incarcerations, and a tragic lover story. The story begins with a small family and one of them vows to win the hand of his loved one. -
Abenaki people of Maine
the story tells how Gluskabe catches all the game animals and his grandmother tells him to return the animals back to the woods; if he doesn’t then they will die and no game will be left. -
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Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction can be characterized by the elements of fear, horror, supernatural activities, and darkness. It also is characterized by their well-known characters such as vampires, demons, etc. Some other elements that are included are mystery, Romance, lust, and dread. Tis genre was the first of the modern horror genre. This genre was a branch of the larger Romantic Movement that sought to create strong emotion in the reader.
“What characterizes Gothic Fiction” Wise Geek, March 5, 2013 -
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Romanticism
romanticism displayed a variety of style and theme like no other literature period. It was more concerned on the individual more than with society. It focused on the individual consciousness and especially the individual’s imagination was especially fascinating to the romantics. Romanticism had never completely disappeared but was just underrated, still some writers in the 20th century had been inspired by romantics.
“Romanticism” The Literature Network, 2011, March 5, 2013 -
Dickinson, Emily “Because I could not stop for death”
the poem written by Emily Dickinson is about a suicidal feeling. Emily was about to get married and her fiancé was death. The deal with the poem was the poet’s desire to leave her physical life in this world and being her spiritual life of the soul. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson “Eros”
Eros is a romantic very short poem about being loved and to give love to others. The poem also is about how men and gods themselves have not outlearned the skill to love. -
Irving, Washington “Rip van winkle”
Rip van winkle is a good natured man and did not inherit the lust of war from his ancestors. The story is about how rip van winkle a whole hearted man liked to help his love ones and neighbors but one day he just left and disappeared for twenty years. -
“The Raven” Edgar Allen Poe
the raven is a poem told by a man sitting alone in his room when he begins to reminisce on his lost loved one. Then he begins to hear tapping and then there was a raven who can only say “nevermore” and begins to anger the narrator but at that moment he realized that the bird will never leave because it is the memory of his loved one which will never leave him. -
William Godwin “The Adventure of Caleb Williams”
the adventures of Caleb William is the story of how wealth and reputation can do as they please in the 18th century. It follows William who is poor but a respectable and educated orphan as he reaches to the top of the richest men. Mr. Falkland is a man Caleb is curious about and begins to being to dig up the past that should have been left buried. -
Cooper, James Fenimore “The last of the Mohicans”-
the last of the Mohicans is a novel about races and the difficulty of overcoming racial divides. In this novel cooper suggest that interracial mingling is both desirable but dangerous. It is about two people from different races who have fallen for each other but to other it is an undesirable. -
Nathaniel Hawthorne “the scarlet letter”
the scarlet letter is based around the mid 1600’s in the Massachusetts Bay colony. It is about a woman who has an affair with a man named Arthur Dimmesdale and ends up pregnant. When the government finds this out they sent her jail for refusing to tell who the father was and made to wear the letter A on her chest. -
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transcendentalsim
Transcendentalism is the belief that truths about life and death can be reached by going outside the world of the senses. Believed of the relationship of man and nature; Communicate and be one with nature was true goodness. They believed nature was divine and held the truths of life. After WWI during this time period, literature was a very large medium that artist used to express themselves.
“Transcendentalism” The movement and its characteristics, March 5, 2013 -
Ralph Waldo Emerson “Self-Reliance”
in self-reliance was one of key piece of writing which helped carve the ethic of American individualism. Self-reliance has the qualities of a concentrated, perhaps the very essence of personal development. -
Margaret Fuller “the Dial”
the dial was one of Margaret fuller’s job as an editor. The dial was a transcendentalist quarterly magazine published from 1840 to 1844, in an accessible and interactive form -
Henry David Thoreau “civil disobedience”
in the civil disobedience it argues that the government rarely prove itself useful and deprives its power from the majority because they are the strongest group. He talks about how people should refuse the government when it is unjust and distance themselves from government in general. In the essay he doubts the effectiveness of reform within the government and this piece gravely inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther king Jr. -
Walt Whitman “Leaves of Grass”
the leaves of grass was a collection of untitled poems created by Walt Whitman. In his poems, they inspired enthralled and tantalized people. He completely identified himself with leaves in “this is no book” and “who touches this touches a man” that reflected whitman’s own life with the uses of imagery and symbolism. He expressed himself through his poetry in the leaves of grass. -
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realism
Realism is the attention to detail and an effort to replicate the true nature of reality in which has never been done by a novelist before. Realist novels included the use of some journalistic techniques, such as objectivity and fidelity to the facts of the matter. The realism movement spread across from Europe to the Americas and from this places great major realist author came from there such as mark twain.
Rahn, Josh “Realism” The Literature Network, 2011, March 5, 2013 -
“Abraham Lincoln Walk at Midnight” Vachel Lindsay
Abraham Lincoln walk at midnight is bibliography of Lincoln’s life and how he came to be the president and won the civil war. The story is about his hardships of of his mother dying when he was a boy and when he was the captain of his volunteer company during the black hawk war in 1832. -
Mark Twain "The celebrated jumping frong of Calaveras County"
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is an 1865 short story by mark twain. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its original title) and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the angel’s hotel in angles camps California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. -
Mark Twain "The lowest animal
in this story, twain satirizes human nature by describing a series of scientific experiments that he supposedly conducted at the London zoological gardens. He bases his experiment on the theory of Charles Darwin and show many examples of doing so, overall showing the greatness that the mind can discover. -
Louisa May Alcott “transcendental wild oats”
Louisa May wrote this story on life in a 19th century utopian community, based on her own family’s experience at Fruitlands. She portrays the father figure as a dreamer and intellectual, and the mother as the one who has to do all the work to meet worldly needs like food and shelter. -
Henry James “Daisy Miller”
Daisy miller was best known for its theme of American abroad that expressed the genre realism. Americans abroad was a subject very much of the moment in the years after the civil war, the Glided age. At the time of the Glided Age Americans were visiting Europe for the first time in record numbers and the clash between the two cultures was a novel and widespread phenomenon. -
Willa Carther "A wamger mantinee"
in this story, Clark is a young man who makes his home at a boarding house in Boston. He receives a letter one day from his Uncle Howard in Nebraska; it informs him that his Aunt Georgiana will be arriving in the city to take care of some business matters. Uncle Howard asks Clark to pick her up at the station and to render her whatever services might be necessary. His uncle has written at the last minute; his aunt will be arriving the next day. This reawakens long-forgotten memories for clark. -
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Regionalism
local color literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. The emphasis is frequently on nature and the limitations it imposes. The plot often has nothing happening but may include activities that revolved around the region. Many of these stories tend to share conflicts between urban ways and old fashioned rural value.
“Regionalism and Local color fiction” Literary Movements, March 5, 2013 -
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Naturalism
Naturalism was the thinking that certain factors were unavoidable determinants in one’s life. Some authors make the case that naturalism is merely a specialized variety of realism; but in this genre the environment and the social environment play a large part in how the narrative developed. The dominant theme of this type of literature is that persons are fated to whatever station in life their Environment and social condition prepared them for.
“Naturalism”The Literature Network, March 5, 2013 -
William Dean Howells “A Modern Instance”
the modern instance offers an unflinching portrait of an unhappy marriage in the world and ends with a hero barred by his perhaps conscience from marrying the divorced woman. One again personal dilemmas are seen as symptoms of the rapid changes that are happening in society and religious stabilities by opportunism. -
Mark Twain "Life on the Mississippi"
In the life on the Mississippi, the author describes many different aspects of the river and its life in the nineteenth century. Overall, Twain writes about the Mississippi as a living, breathing being - it is by far the most important character in the story, and functions as a character throughout the narrative. -
Edwin Robinson "Richard Cory"
Richard Cory first appeared in The Children of the Night and remains one of Robinson’s most popular poems that recalled the economic depression of 1893. At that time, people could not afford meat and had a diet mainly of bread, often day-old bread selling for less than freshly baked goods. This hard-times experience made the townspeople even more aware of Richard’s difference from them, so much so that they treated him as royalty. -
Edwim Robinson "Miniver Cheevy"
: In the poem Miniver Cheevy, he is claimed to be a self-pitying dreamer who blames the world for his social status and poverty. The name Miniver Cheevy means to be an underachiever, minute accomplisher, and takes little action for his future. One must express sympathy for a man "with reasons" to have "wept that he was ever born", but once it is understood that Miniver escapes the world of reality into his dreams induced by alcohol, the reader has a hard time still being compassionate for him. -
“The story of an hour” Kate Chopin
this inspiring short story about a woman named Mrs. Millard with heart disorders; the fact that Mrs. Mallard has a weak heart change the way everybody has to behave to her. She has to be handled gently so that her heart doesn't get a shock. This results in instant and constant dramatic tension. -
Kate chopin “the awakening”
in the awakening Edna Pontellier and her children spend the summer in Grand isle where they spend most of their time away from her husband and their hometown of new Orleans. While on grand isle Edna releases herself to her deepest yearnings, plunging into a state of realization that reawakens her long dormant desires, enflames her heart and eventually blinds her to all else. -
Mark twain “the adventures of huckleberry finn”
huckleberry finn is about a young boy in search of freedom and adventure. Huck is kidnapped by his drunken father because he wanted his $6000 award he found with tom. He is an illegitimate child who runs away from his adopted family to be free of society and civilization. -
"Left for dead" beck weathers
n Left for Dead Beck recalled a miraculous survival after a disastrous expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. With a father in the military, he moved around a lot and was able to experience different cultures. He, along with his two brothers, played the typical pranks a young boy would enjoy and learn about camping and scouting. Overall contributing to his writing. -
The Blackfeet Genesis
this story is a myth based upon how the Blackfeet tribe was first created and how the old man created the earth itself and the animals upon it. It also shows how people will die and cannot live forever; it is law and was created by the old man. -
Jack London "To build a fire"
To Build a Fire is a short story that was published in 1908. London published an earlier and radically different version in 1902 with a different ending, and a comparison of the two provides a dramatic illustration of the growth of his literary ability. This story is considered a prime example of the naturalist movement and of a Man vs. Nature conflict. -
T.S.Eliot "The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
The title of the poem is Eliot's first hint that this is not a traditional love poem at all. J. Alfred Prufrock is a farcical name, and Eliot wanted the subliminal connotation of a "prude" in a "frock." This emasculation contributes to a number of themes Eliot will explore revolving around paralysis and heroism, but the name also has personal meaning for Eliot. -
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Imagism
Ezra pound the creator of imagism defines it as that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time and has three tenets of imagist poetry. I) direct treatment of the “thing,” whether subjective or objective. II) To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation. III) As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome.
“A Brief Guide to imagism” Poets.org, March 7, 2013 -
Erza Pound "The Garden"
The Garden is a poem about the false refinements of gentility - art being true refinement. Eve is an emotionally repressed England fenced off in her Eden, tempted by the vitality of the so-called 'lower orders’. The poet is a brasher American Adam who will take her even against her will. -
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Modern Age
Modernism was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world. It displays a relatively strong sense of cohesion and similarity across genres and locales. It was the poets who took fullest advantage of the new spirit of the time, and explored new possibilities for their craft to lengths never before seen and broke the tradition of the past
“Modernism” The Literature Network, 2011, March 7, 2013 -
Erza Pound "the river-merchant's wife"
The River-Merchant's Wife was published in 1915 in Ezra Pound's third collection of poetry, Cathay: Translations, which contains versions of Chinese poems composed from the sixteen notebooks of Ernest Fenollosa, a Chinese scholar. Pound called the poems in English which resulted from the Fenollosa manuscripts "translations," but as such they are held in contempt by most scholars of Chinese language and literature. However, they have been commended as "poetry" for their clarity and elegance. -
WIlliam Carlos William "The Red Wheelbarrow"
William Carlos Williams' poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" explains the degree to which humans depend on objects as seemingly simple as a wheelbarrow for their everyday survival. -
William Carlos william "The great figure"
"The Great Figure" is a short poem that describes the speaker's encounter with a number he saw on a fire truck as it raced by him in the city. If you have read William Carlos Williams's famous poem the red wheelbarrow you'll notice some similarities between the two poems -
The Huron
“the sky tree” is a myth about the creation of Huron, a group of Native American people of the eastern woodlands. The Huron consisted of four native tribes that united by the Wyandot language. The sky tree tells the story of how the sky tree can to be by Aataentsic with the help of animals. -
The Earth Only
the earth only was composed by Teton Sioux and is implying how the elder people are very wise and know a great more deal than the younger groups. -
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Harlem Renaissance
The renaissance began when huge numbers of African Americans migrated north from the economically depressed south. The legacy of the Harlem renaissance opened doors of possibilities and deeply influenced the next generations of African American writer to follow. Its writing was unusual among literary and artistic movements for its close relationship to civil rights and reform organizations.
“Harlem Renaissance” Britannica, March 7, 2013 -
Ernest Heming way "Soldiers home"
the Soldier’s Home is a short story about an American soldier who has recently returned home to Oklahoma after serving in WWI. The soldier is named Harold Krebs and he is living at his parents’ house. He comes home later than most of the other soldiers came home so he misses out on all the elaborate welcome home greetings. -
Arna Bontemps "A black man talks of reaping"
Basically he gives us a description of the fear involved in the African American life. The lines "I planted deep, within my heart the fear that wind or fowl would take the grain away..." supports this assumption of the continued oppression of the Blacks. This shows the awareness of the fact that what was planted will easily be taken away by the Whites. Therefore we can see that all the effort that is made by the Blacks. -
Coyote finishes His work
the story is about how the earth became populated and how the coyote is represented as one person and when that person has done all that he can do then it is time for him or her to return where they first began. -
F. Scott Fitsgerald "Winter dreams"
"Winter Dreams" was published in 1922, right at the start of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald is clearly responding to the sudden, visible signs that lots of Americans are getting very rich, very quickly. Dexter Green's ease with making money demonstrates both the positives and the negatives of this sudden rise in American wealth. -
William Faulkner "A Rose for Emily"
Faulkner's most famous, most popular, and most anthologized short story, "A Rose for Emily" evokes the terms Southern gothic and grotesque, two types of literature in which the general tone is one of gloom, terror, and understated violence. The story is Faulkner's best example of these forms because it contains unimaginably dark images: a decaying mansion, a corpse, a murder, a mysterious servant who disappears, and, most horrible of all, necrophilia. -
Langston Hughes "The weary Blues"
The poem begins with a speaker telling someone about a piano player he heard a couple nights ago. This musician was playing a slow blues song with all his body and soul. The speaker starts to really get into the sad music. This musician is singing about how, even though he's miserable, he's going to put his worries aside. The second verse is more about his depression stating nothing can cure his blues, and he wishes he was dead. -
Bret Harte "THe outcast of poker flat"
the simplicity of the story is a result of the too-easy transformation of such characters as “the Duchess,” a prostitute who reveals a “heart of gold,” and “Mother Shipton,” an old reprobate who gives up her food, and thus her life, so that the innocent Piney Woods can live. The unlikely combination of the innocence of the young couple and the sin of the outcasts forms a sympathetic human community. -
Eudora Welty "A worn Path"
A Worn Path is considered one of Welty's most distinguished and frequently studied works of short fiction. Deceptively simple in tone and scope, the story is structured upon a journey theme that incorporates a rich texture of symbolic meaning. According to Alfred Appel, "'A Worn Path' passes far beyond its regionalism because of its remarkable fusion of various elements of myth and legend, which invest the story with a religious meaning, that can be universally felt." -
John Steinbeck "the Grapes of Wrath"
tom joad and his family are forced from their farm in the Depression-era Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hope for a brighter future. Considered John Steinbeck's masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath is a story of human unity and love as well as the need for cooperative rather than individualistic ideals during hard times. -
Zora Neale Hurston "Dust Reacks on a road"
This is an autobiography of a highly articulate African-American woman. She is the daughter of the Mayor of an "all Negro" town; this was a political and social intentional experiment. There was support for the endeavor from the white community. She has two married parents to start out with, but during her childhood her mother dies. When her father remarries, there is a great deal of trouble as her stepmother does not truly embrace the children. -
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contemporary
Contemporary literature is literature with its setting generally after World War II. -
Countee Cullen "Incident"
The poem “Incident” is one of Cullen’s good collections of poems, which clearly portrays the racism shown among the blacks, even among the children. In the poem, he says that while riding through the Baltimore, he was excited and enjoyed every bit of his travel and sight that he had. During his travel he happened to notice a Baltimorean starring at him for no reason. That made him wonders why the stranger was staring at him for long. -
Countee Cullen "Tableaue"
The poem Tableau written by Countee Cullen, shows the friendship of two young boys, one black and the other one white as they walk down the street “locked arm in arm”. The colored “folks would stare” and the white “folks would talk” saying that these two dare not walk with each other. The two boys continue to walk down without caring about what anybody has to say. It reinforces the concept that friendship has no color boundaries. -
Bernard Malamud "The Magic Barrel"
the magic barrel is a short story that was first published in the Partisan Review in 1954, and reprinted in 1958 in Malamud’s first volume of short fiction. This tale of a rabbinical student’s misadventures with a marriage broker was quite well received in the 1950s, and Malamud’s collection of short stories. -
John Updike "Son"
The affluent Maples are getting a divorce, but they cannot decide on the right time to tell their four children. They finally decide to break the news after their eldest, Judith, returns from studying abroad in England. Richard maple hopes to make an announcement at the dinner table, while Joan prefers to tell the children individually. After bickering, they finally agree that Joan’s way is better. -
Raymond Carver "Everything Struck to him"
in Raymond Carver's short story "Everything Stuck to Him." shows how Carver uses the sensory image of coldness to demonstrate the differences concerning the harshness of the real outside world and the tenderness found in a stable, loving family. -
Anne Tyler "Teenage Wasteland"
n the story, “Teenage Wasteland”, the author describes a rugged connection between Daisy Coble and her ruthless son Donny. Donny, a below average teenager, wants to live his life with no rules and no boundaries, however his mother, Daisy feels that by restraining her son to very little freedom, she could get him to be a much better person. -
Tim O' Brian "Speaking of courage"
After his service in the Vietnam War, Norman Bowker returns home and has difficulty adjusting to the normalcy of everyday life. In the late afternoon on the Fourth of July holiday, Norman drives around a local lake and he recalls driving around the lake with Sally before the war and remembers how a childhood friend drowned in the lake. He thinks about how his friends have gotten married or moved away to find jobs.