American Literature Notes: Puritans
and The Age of Reason (AKA The
Great Awakening and the Rationalists
Era)
I. ____________Period (pre-1600 to 1760)
1. Begins with ___________literature of Native Americans
2. No __________ literature among the more than 500 tribes
before Europeans came
3. Native American stories show deep respect for ____________.
4. Nature contains _______________.
5. Main characters may be _______or __________
6. The focus was on ______more than the ________ person
7. This period was ____________for the __________
A. The literature of Exploration
1. The written record of Jamestown (founded 1607) (before the
Pilgrims) is mainly that of ________________.
a. John Smith was an incurable __________
b. He stretched _____________in
his stories
c. _________________is the
most famous story of John
Smith.
2. Later in the 1600’s, ___________, _____________, and
______________opened the way for a second wave of settlers at
Plymouth
a. Their literature
consisted of
___________,
__________,
______________,
and
_____________.
b. Because England
eventually took control
of the colonies, the
best known colonial
literature is _______.
(Meaning from
England and like
England’s writers.)
c. Today we are
“discovering” the literature
of many minorities who
came here at the same time.
B. The Puritans of New England (the North)
1. Puritans were probably the most ____________colonists of any in history
a. Between 1630-1690 many university graduates came to America.
b. Most educated people of that time were wealthy and not willing
to risk the wilderness life
2. Puritan writing
a. Mostly ___________because
they
were a ______________society
b. We learn a lot about them from
their ________________
c. Puritan Themes were (1) _________________________, (2)
________________________________, and
(3) _______________________________________.
d. To the Puritans, the world was an arena where ________and
______________constantly fought
3. Puritanism
a. Rests on ______________________________________________ .
b. Puritans felt earthly
_________________was a sign that
they were one of the
__________________(bound for
heaven) / Today many Americans
applaud material success too.
4. The Puritans believed everything that happened was “God’s will”
Here is a passage from William Bradford’s Of Plymouth
Plantation describing what happened to a sailor (not a
Pilgrim) on the Mayflower during the passage to the New
World. Underline the words that make you agree with this
statement.
And I may not omite hear a spetiall worke of Gods
providente. Ther was a proud and very profane yonge
man, one of the sea-men, of a lustie, able body, which
made him the more hauty; he would allway be
contemning the poore people in their sicknes, and cursing
them dayly with greevous execrations, and did not let to
tell them, that he hoped to help to cast halfe of them over
board before they came to their jurneys end, and to make
mery with what they had; and if he were by any gently
reproved, he would curse and swear rnost bitterly.
But it plased God before they came halfe seas over, to
smite this yong man with a greeveous disease, of which
he dyed in a desperate maner, and so was him selfe the
first that was throwne overbord.
5. To the Puritans, history was symbolic of them
triumphing over the New World.
6. The “Separatists” (Puritans who “separated”
themselves from the Old World to avoid
persecution) interpreted the Bible literally. Many
Americans today do the same.
7. The Puritans believed in public
education, which is why you are
sitting in this room right now!
II. The Revolutionary Period (1760-1820)
The Revolutionary War took place in this time.
1. Military victory over England brought hope of ____________________
2. Excellent _______________, but no great new literature came
3. American books were considered __________________ in England
4. The not-yet-invented invented ___________________became a national obsession
5. Unfortunately, we were still so culturally tied to England that we simply ___________the
styles being written there in _____________________________.
6. American authors also had a small audience because
_______________________________________________________________
7. Lack of adequate copyright _________in America hurt – why pay an unknown
American writer for a book when you could print an unauthorized copy of a
foreign one and not get penalized? This hurt both American and English authors.
8. This period was _________________instead of _______________________
A. The American Enlightenment
1. This was marked by
______________over ________________,
and ___________________instead of
___________________________________
2. Writers and thinkers were devoted to
__________________________________.
3. __________________is a good example
a. Poor Richard’s Almanack
b. The Autobiography
B. The Political Pamphlet
1. Over 2,000 ______________were published during the ___________
2. They thrilled __________and threatened ____________
3. Very dramatic; often read aloud to excite public audiences
4. American _______________read them in camps; British ______________burned them
5. Thomas Paine
a. Common Sense sold over 100,000 copies in
first 3 months of publication
Published in 1776, Common Sense
challenged the authority of the British
government and the royal monarchy.
The plain language that Paine used
spoke to the common people of
America and was the first work to
openly ask for independence from
Great Britain.
Common Sense came before the Revolutionary War.
“IN the following pages I offer nothing more than simple
facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no
other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he
will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession . . . .”
B. The Crisis is a collection of articles written by Thomas Paine during the
American Revolutionary War.
After the colonists in America decided
that they were going to attempt a move
towards freedom from British rule,
they found themselves faced with
several problems. Many of these
problems dealt directly with the threat
of a British invasion to stamp out such
a revolution. However, a major
problem was an internal one. The
feelings regarding independence were
mixed throughout the colonies and
divided among classes. The Patriots
found themselves among many
devoted British loyalists who were
totally against any ideas of secession.
b. “The Crisis” encourages colonists to
fight England for freedom and contains
the following famous lines:
“These are the times that try men’s
souls . . .” and “The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will,
in this crisis, shrink from the service
of his country . . .”
6. Political pamphlets had to be ___________________
7. In order to have an informed electorate, the
founding fathers encouraged ______________________
8. One indication of a vigorous literary life in
the colonies was the large number of
_______________
a. More newspapers read in America then than anywhere else in the world
b. Immigration required simple style
in papers; clarity was important
C. Neoclassicism became popular in writing (neo = new; classicism = classics)
Many American writers tried to copy the classical style; especially the
epic (a long, narrative poem telling the deeds of a legendary hero)
Therefore, no new “American style” in writing had yet emerged.
Ironically, the first truly “American style” came in furniture design.
D. Fiction – the first important American fiction writers used American subjects,
historical perspectives,
themes of change,
and nostalgic tones.
1. Washington Irving took his story ideas from European folk tales
a. Legend of Sleepy Hollow
b. Rip Van Winkle
2. James Fenimore Cooper took his story ideas from America; the ironic and
tragic destruction of the wilderness which had drawn us here in the first place
a. The Last of the Mohicans
b. The Leatherstocking tales where the Hero is Natty Bumppo:
The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James
Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by
European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and
by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and
"Hawkeye".
1823 – The Pioneers, 1826 – The Last of the Mohicans,
1827 – The Prarrie, 1840 – The Pathfinder, 1841 – The Deerslayer,