Literary Periods in
American Literature
Historical Background
Introduction
 The following is an overview of the major
periods in American literature we will be
studying.
 Please take notes on the timeline provided
to you and in your notes section/notebook.
 Your timeline will serve as a frame of
reference as we move forward in the course.
“The earth is a great island floating
in a sea of water, and ….”
Pre-1600: Native American Period
 Original native people belonged to more than 200 distinct
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groups, speaking over 500 different languages.
Native American literature was primarily oral, passed down
from generation to generation by storytelling and
performance.
Types:
-creation myths (beginning of the world)
-trickster and hero tales (common beliefs and values)
-ritual songs and chants (religious ceremonies)
Subject matter – emphasizing importance of living in
harmony with natural world.
Oral tradition – repetition and rhythm
“In the name of God, Amen.”
1600-1750: The Colonial Period
 The Colonial Period of American Literature spans
the time between the founding of the first
settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the
Revolution.
 Influence of the Puritans - The writings of this
time centered on religious, practical, or historical
themes.
 Records of descriptions and daily life as well as
exploration (John Smith and Pocahontas).
The Colonial Period Continued
 Writers not born in U.S., but writing on American
topics
 Literature: Survival, religion and written
communication. Genres (nonfiction): Poetry
(devoted to God), diaries, journals, letters,
sermons, etc.
 The most influential writers of the Colonial Period
include William Bradford, Jonathan Edwards
and Anne Bradstreet (1st American poet).
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
1750-1800: Revolutionary Period
 Led by the Age of Reason – did not depend on past
traditions.
 Revolutionary War – fight for independence
resulted in need to express.
 During the Revolutionary Age, some of the
greatest documents of American history were
authored.
 Genres (nonfiction): essays, speeches, letters,
diaries and documents.
Revolutionary Period (Continued)
 Writers were also political figures. Literature
reflected turbulent times.
 In 1776, Thomas Paine authored “Common
Sense” and Thomas Jefferson wrote “The
Declaration of Independence.”
 In 1787, “The Constitution of the United States”
was drafted.
 Slave voice emerges – Phyllis Wheatley
(1st book of poetry by African American)
“Good men must not obey the laws too well.”
Romantic Period Artwork
1800-1850: Romantic Period
 The early Romantic Period of American Literature
saw the beginnings of literature that could be truly
identified as "American".
 The writers of this new American literature wrote in
the English style, but the settings, themes, and
characters were authentically American.
 Rise of the short story (first time writing for fun).
 Emphasis on emotions and individual, not
just reason (intuition & imagination valued).
1800-1850: Romantic Period cont.
 Subjects – nature, past, inner world, death
 Four of the most recognized writers of this time
are: Washington Irving (“Rip Van Winkle”),
William Cullen Bryant (“Thanatopsis”),
Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)
and Edgar Allan Poe (wrote short stories and
poetry; generally one mood).
1840-1850: Transcendentalism
 Based on philosophy, literary theory and religion. View that
all basic truths of the universe lie beyond the knowledge we
obtain from our senses.
 Issues: poverty, industrialization, educational reform,
women’s rights, slavery – a new way of seeing life.
 Characteristics: Intuition, not logic; nature is source of
goodness and inspiration; individualism; democracy; desire
to reform society; and optimistic view.
 Genres: nonfiction essays, poetry.
 Writers include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott.
"The man who does not read good books has no
advantage over the man who can't read them.”
~Mark Twain
Realism Period Artwork
1865-1930: Age of Realism
 Following the Civil War, American Literature
entered into the Realistic Period.
 The major form of literature produced in this era
was realistic fiction.
 Unlike romantic fiction, realistic fiction aims to
represent life as it really is, and make the reader
believe that the characters actually might exist and
the situations might actually happen.
 “Slice of life”
1865-1930: Age of Realism cont.
 Historical influences: Rise in materialism, gap
between rich and poor, farmers having trouble
surviving, science (Darwin’s survival of the fittest)
and Civil War.
 Other techniques: Dialect and the female voice.
 In order to have this effect on the reader, realistic
fiction focuses on the ordinary and commonplace.
 The major writers of the Realistic Period include
Mark Twain, Henry James and Kate Chopin.
1920s: Harlem Renaissance Period
 Historical Influences: Jim Crow laws, Klan
violence and jazz music (Duke Ellington
and Louis Armstrong)
 Writers include Zora Neale Hurston, who
wrote about blacks as complete, complex,
multifaceted human beings; and Langston
Hughes.
“The power of a woman is her refinement, gentleness and
elegance; it is she who makes etiquette, and it is she who
preserves the order and decency of society.”
1920-1940s: Age of Modernism
 Between 1914 and 1939, American Literature entered
into a phase which is still referred to as "The Beginnings
of Modern Literature".
 Events: World War I: 1914-1919; Women’s Suffrage;
Prohibition; Great Depression; World War II 1939-1945.
 Some characteristics: Images and symbolism; language
that creates feeling of “real” conversation; purpose to
change way people see world; form and style most
important; experimentation in forms; and characters
trapped by own flaws and destroyed by society.
1920-1940s: Modernism cont.
 1920s: Harlem Renaissance, Jazz Age
 The American Modernist Period also produced
many other writers that are considered to be
writers of Modernist Period Subclasses.
 For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered a
writer of The Jazz Age, and Langston Hughes and
W.E.B. DuBois writers of The Harlem
Renaissance.
1920-1940s: Modernism cont.
 Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest
Hemingway are famous writers of The Lost Generation
(1920s & 30s).
 Some well-known American Modernist Poets include
Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay and E.E.
Cummings. Prose writers include Edith Wharton,
Sinclair Lewis, and Willa Cather.
 The Great Depression marked the end of the American
Modernist Period, and writers such as William Faulkner,
John Steinbeck, and Eugene O'Neill dealt with the social
and political issues of the time in their literary works.
New Voices in America
1940-Present: Postmodernism
 Postmodernism, or The Contemporary Period
includes an abundance of important American
literary figures spanning from World War II into
the New Millennium.
 These writers include, Eudora Welty, John
Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Sylvia Plath, Arthur
Miller, Tennessee Williams, Ralph Ellison,
Gwendolyn Brooks, Zora Neal Hurston, Alice
Walker, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.
1940-Present: Postmodernism cont.
 1950s : Beat Writers
 During the 1950s, a vigorous anti-establishment, and
anti-traditional literary movement emerged. The main
writers of this movement, Allen Ginsberg and Jack
Kerouac, are called Beat Writers.
 1960s, 1970s : Counterculture
 Much writing of the 1960s and 1970s, referred to as
Counterculture Writing, continued the literary ideals
of the Beat Movement, but in a more extreme and
fevered manner.
1940-Present: Postmodernism cont.
 Characteristics:
-No heroes
-Individual isolation
-Social issues – align feminist and ethnic groups
-Humorless (usually)
-Present tense
-Narratives
-Irony
-Writing style and content must agree
-Challenges limits of decency
What will be the next literary
period?
Since major events usually change the way we
think and write, is there one event that may have
already changed the literary period in American
Literature in the 21st Century?
9-11?
The New Millennium in America:
How will it affect our literature?