Early American Literature Review
Homework Grade
To earn 40 points for homework, turn in 4 of the following 8 assignments on the day of the
test.
1. America the Beautiful – and Talented
2. Notes on “What is an American” by Hector St. John de Crevecouer
3. In the Beginning: America’s First Writers with four author bios (Bradford, Bradstreet,
Taylor, Mather)
4. Anne Bradstreet Poetry Web Activity
5. Irving and the Predecessors of the American Short Story
6. Jigsaw Activity – must have Early American Literature Chart and Venn Diagram
7. Washington Irving biography
8. “Rip Van Winkle” worksheet
Test Preparation
The following topics will be covered on the test. The number in parenthesis indicates which
assignment above should be studied.
 Why we study American literature (1)
 Characteristics of early Americans (2)
 Puritans – what they were called, their beliefs, their typical genres of writing (3)
 Why William Bradford was famous (3)
 Anne Bradstreet – details of her life (no dates), analysis of her poetry (3, 4)
 Edward Taylor – characteristics of his poetry, his success as a published poet (3)
 Cotton Mather – why he was famous and why he is important now (3)
 Facts about early short fiction – changes from Puritan era to Age of Reason (5)
 Venn Diagram of characteristics of early American short stories (6)
 Washington Irving – details of his life (no dates), inspirations, characteristics of
writing (7)
 “Rip Van Winkle” – basic details and analysis (8)
 Essay – write a well-organized essay in which you explain why early American
literature is still relevant to us today. Support your arguments with specific
examples from the literature we’ve read and/or discussed so far this quarter.
Extra Credit
Make flashcards on part or all of these topics on Quizlet (http://www.quizlet.com) or on
Study Blue (http://www.studyblue.com) and share them with Ms. Morris via email or
Facebook. Must be shared BEFORE the day of the test. (You can also do this for any weekly
vocabulary.)