American Literature Timeline

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American Literature Timeline

• Ashley McIntyre

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Colonial1650-1750

• The Colonial movement was mostly instructional.
  It was to spread the word of God, and help the
  corrupted-which was everyone.
• This style of writing is seen in plain writing,
  in the form of diaries, sermons, and personal
  notes.
• Edward Johnsons Wonder-Working Providence

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Age of Reason1750-1800

• This movement was generally in an ornate style
• The work in this literary movement is also seen
  in persuasive writing, political pamphlets, and
  travel writing.
• This was a good movement for America. It
  increased patriotism, and it brought about a
  common ground where issues were agreed on
• The reading encouraged the reader to support the
  Revolutionary War and taught the readers how to
  understand what they were reading.

Thomas Paine
Some examples of the work from this movement is
Benjamin Franklins The Autobiography, which is
about his life, and is split into four different
parts. Another example is Thomas Paines work
such as The Age of Reason and Rights of Man
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Transcendentalism1840-1860

• Transcendentalism is a very important part of
  American literature that went from about 1836 to
  1860.
• The style was very dark, the characters
  depressed, and the scene mysterious.
• The purpose of this style is to find truth
  through various senses, and often left the reader
  with something to contemplate.
• This style is seen in poems, and novels.

-Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
-Thoreau's Walden
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Romanticism
1800-1860
Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle

• This movement gave readers a chance to read more
  imaginative work, and often came in the form of
  short stories, or poems.
• There is more focus on feelings, rather than
  reason, which was very different from the
  previous Realism movement.
• Though the work was feeling and imaginary based,
  it started important debates on slavery.

Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickensons poems are
great examples of the Romanticism movement. As
is The Custom-House by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
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Transcendentalism1840-1860

• Transcendentalism is recognized by its depressed
  characters.
• It is also recognized by the seemingly endless
  horrible situations.
• Symbolism was often used in this style of
  writing, and it was often very real, rather than
  being like a fairy tale where there is a happy
  ending.
• It is seen in poems, short stories, and novels

Edgar Allen Poe
Famous Transcendentalism writers are H. D.
Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe The Black Cat and
Emersons poems and essays.
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Realism1855-1900

• Realism is also a form of art, which an artist
  creates something that accurately represents the
  model as it is, which is where the name realism
  came from-not like this background.
• Books that were a part of the Realism movement
  were very objective, and gave the reader perfect
  freedom to have whatever opinion they wanted on
  the work.
• This is seen mainly in short stories and novels.
• A good example of work from the Realism movement
  is Edward Johnsons Wonder-Working Providence
• Another great example is The Adventures of
  Huckleberry Fin by Mark Twain

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The Moderns1900-1950

• The Modern movement brought pride in the American
  dream, often in the form of poems, plays, and
  novels.
• During this movement authors strived to find an
  individual style.
• This style brought pride in being America, and
  the country was thought of as the land of Eden

A great example of the Modern movement is The
Great Gatsby by John Fitzgerald. Some other good
examples are Steinbeck, and Hemmingways short
stories.
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Harlem Renaissance1920s

• This movement was very empowering for African
  Americans, because before this time literature
  portrayed African Americans in very stereotypical
  way. In this movement African Americans were
  revealed to be complex characters.
• The Harlem Renaissance is agreed to help start
  gospel music.
• Poems from this movement are often in blues form

Examples of work from this movement is Zora
Neils Their Eyes Were Watching God. Langston
Hughes poems are also good examples of work from
this period.
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Post Modernism/Contemporary1950-Present

• Post Modernism and Contemporary can be thought of
  as two movements, but their differences are not
  big enough to separate them, in my opinion.
• Both movements blur the line between fiction and
  nonfiction, and either have no heroes, or
  anti-heroes, respectively.
• One difference between the two, is Post Modernism
  usually has no humor, while Contemporary may have
  ironic humor.

• Post Modernism
• Norman Mailers The Naked and the Dead and The
  Executioner's Song
• Capotes In Cold Blood

• Contemporary
• Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain
• Orson Cards Enders Game

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Works Cited

• Lye, John. "Modern Literature." American
  Literature on the Web. 29 Sept. 1997. 12 Apr.
  2006 lthttp//www.brocku.ca/english/courses/2F55/mo
  dernism.htmlgt.
• N/a. "Langston Hughes." Wikipedia. 12 Apr. 2006
  lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughesgt.
• N/a. "Literary Periods and their
  Characteristics." Teach and Learn. 12 Apr. 2006
  lthttp//www.teachnlearn.org/LITERARY20PERIODS20A
  ND20THEIR20CHARACTERISTICS.htmgt.
• N/a. "Romanticism." Wikipedia. 12 Apr. 2006
  lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticismgt.
• I also used wikipedia to research Enders Game,
  Norman Wailer, Truman Capote, Cold Mountain,
  Edward Johnston, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe,
  Walt Whitman, Emily Dickenson," The
  Custom-House, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Benjamin
  Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Edward Johnston.