History of American Literature

History of American Literature

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  Estt. 1869 History ofAmerican Literature A Report for E.A. Literature Thursday, November 7, 2013 Reporters: Kimberly B. Dela Cruz Jonathan Ace Robles Jhoanna Rose Tenorio Member of the Asscoiated Press . Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenhswse. Cejhciebce fcdcdcd.
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  OVERVIEW During its earlyhistory, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition.
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  Colonial Literature Some ofthe earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings extolling the benefits of the colonies to both a European and colonist audience. John Smith Captain John Smith could be considered the first American author with his works: A True Relation of ... Virginia (1608). The revolutionary period also contained Samuel Adams political writings, including those by colonist Samuel Adams. Two key figures were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac and The Benjamin Franklin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin are esteemed works with their wit and influence toward the formation of a budding American identity. Thomas Paine
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  Early U.S. Literature Inthe post-war period, The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay represented a historical Alexander Hamilton discussion of government organization and republican values. Thomas Jefferson's United States Declaration of Independence, his influence on the James Madison Constitution, and the mass of his letters have led to him being considered one of the most talented early American writers. John Jay The first American novel is sometimes considered to be William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy (1789). Much of the early literature of the new nation struggled Thomas Jefferson to find a uniquely American voice. European forms and styles were often transferred to new locales and critics often saw them as inferior W.H. Brown
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  Unique American Style Withthe War of 1812 and an increasing desire to produce uniquely American work, a number of key new literary figures appeared, perhaps most prominently Washington Irving Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving, often considered the first writer to develop a unique American style (although James Fenimore this is debated) wrote humorous works Cooper in Salmagundi and the well-known satire A History of New York, by Diedrich Edgar Allan Poe Knickerbocker (1809). Anti-transcendental works from Melville (Moby-Dick), Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter), and Poe (The Fall of the House of Usher) all comprise the Dark Romanticism subgenre of Hawthorne literature popular during this time.
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  American 19th CenturyPoetry America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more different in temperament and style. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a working man, a traveler, a selfappointed nurse during the American Civil War (18611865), and a poetic innovator. His magnum opus was Leaves of Grass, in which he uses a free-flowing verse and lines of irregular length to depict the all-inclusiveness of American democracy. Taking that motif one step further, the poet equates the vast range of American experience with himself without being egotistical. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in small-town Amherst, Massachusetts. Within its formal structure, her poetry is ingenious, witty, exquisitely wrought, and psychologically penetrating. Her work was unconventional for its day, and little of it was published during her lifetime. Many of her poems dwell on death, often with a mischievous twist. Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson
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  Realism Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Langhorne  Clemens, 1835-1910) was the first major American  writer to be born away from the East Coast -- in the  border state of Missouri. His regional masterpieces  were the memoir Life onthe Mississippi and the  novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain's style  changed the way Americans write their language.  His characters speak like real people and sound  distinctively American, using local dialects, newly  invented words, and regional accents. Henry James (1843-1916) confronted the Old WorldNew World dilemma by writing directly about it.  Among his more accessible works are the  novellas Daisy Miller, about an enchanting  American girl in Europe, and The Turn of the Screw,  an enigmatic ghost story. Mark Twain Henry James
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  Turn of theCentury At the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists  were expanding fiction's social spectrum to encompass  both high and low life and sometimes connected to the  naturalist school of realism.  More directly political writings discussed social issues and  power of corporations. Some like Edward Bellamy in Looking Backward outlined other possible  political and social frameworks. Upton Sinclair, most  famous for his meat-packing novel The Jungle,  advocated socialism. Henry Adams' literate  autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams also  depicted a stinging description of the education system  and modern life. Experimentation in style and form soon joined the new  freedom in subject matter.  Edward Bellamy Upton Sinclair Henry Adams
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  Turn of theCentury American writers also expressed the disillusionment  following upon the war. The stories and novels of  F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) capture the restless,  pleasure-hungry, defiant mood of the 1920s. Fitzgerald's  characteristic theme, expressed poignantly in The Great Gatsby, is the tendency of youth's golden dreams to  dissolve in failure and disappointment.  Depression era literature was blunt and direct in its social  criticism. John Steinbeck (1902-1968). His style was  simple and evocative, winning him the favor of the  readers but not of the critics. The Grapes of Wrath,  considered his masterpiece, is a strong, socially-oriented  novel that tells the story of the Joads, a poor family from  Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a  better life. Scott Fritzgerald John Steinbeck
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  Post-World War II Theperiod in time from the end of World War II up until, roughly, the late 1960s and early 1970s saw to the publication of some of the most popular works in American history. The poetry and fiction of the "Beat Generation," largely born of a circle of intellects formed in New York City around Columbia University and established more officially some time later in San Francisco, came of age. The term, Beat, referred, all at the same time, to the countercultural rhythm of the Jazz scene, to a sense of rebellion regarding the conservative stress of post-war society, and to an interest in new forms of spiritual experience through drugs, alcohol, philosophy, and religion, and specifically through Zen Buddhism Regarding the war novel specifically, there was a literary explosion in America during the post-World War II era. Some of the most well known of the works produced included Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1948). Norman Mailer
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  TIMELINE 1600s 1700s 1800s Colonia l Period Early US Literatur e Unique American Style Post WorldWar IIst 1950s-21 century Turn of the Century th 20 century 19 th century American Poetry Realism 12