English 11 Exam Review
This PowerPoint will help you review the five major periods of
American literature that we have studied:
-- Puritanism (and the Colonial Period)
-- Rationalism (and the Age of Reason)
-- Romanticism
-- Realism (and the Civil War)
-- Modernism
Let’s take a look at the main
concepts related to our first
two literary periods:
-- Puritanism
-- Rationalism
Puritanism vs Rationalism:
Attitude toward Man
Puritanism
Rationalism
Men are naturally evil.
Men are basically good
and perfectible.
We are all born sinners
because of Adam and
Eve’s original sin.
Humans are born as a
“clean slate,” onto which
parents and society
“write.”
Attitude toward Nature, Civilization,
and the City
Puritanism
Nature is dangerous,
savage, and evil.
Rationalism
Nature is wild and
uncivilized.
The devil (the “Black
Man”) lives in nature.
The city is a place of
opportunity,
advancement, and
progress.
The city is a place of
security (safety in
numbers).
Attitude toward Native Americans
Puritanism
Native Americans were
savages because they
were not Christian (not
chosen by God for
heaven).
Rationalism
Native Americans were
savages because they
were uneducated and
uncivilized (Thomas
Jefferson said so).
Man’s Relationship with God
Puritanism
God intervenes in the
lives of humans
through providence.
Rationalism
God does not reveal
himself or get involved
in human affairs.
•There are natural laws
God (and the devil) are available to man
active in human lives.
through reason.
•The universe operates
like clockwork; God
starts the clock and just
lets it run.
How is your destiny (heaven or
hell) determined after death?
Puritanism
Predestination
determines destiny
after death, and
nothing humans do
can change it.
God decided before we
were born who would
go to heaven and who
would not.
Rationalism
God rewards good
works and punishes
crimes.
Attitude toward Learning and
Knowledge
Puritanism
Learning to read and
write was essential so
people could study the
Bible.
The New England
primer taught Puritans
the alphabet and also
Bible lessons.
Rationalism
Self-knowledge was
an important part of
being educated (Ben
Franklin’s Plan for
Moral Perfection).
Man could use logic
and science to make
discoveries about the
world.
How should you live? Most
important values?
Puritanism
Rationalism
•One should live with
simplicity, temperance
and industriousness.
One should live by doing
good works, trying to
improve oneself, and
seeking happiness.
•One should live by
example as if they are
a member of the elect
(chosen by God).
Rationalism: A Few Highlights

The belief that
human beings can
arrive at truth by
using reason, rather
than by relying on
the authority of the
past, on religious
faith, or on
intuition.
Puritanism vs. Rationalism
Puritanism

“God is actively
and mysteriously
involved in the
workings of the
universe.”
Rationalism


Sir Isaac Newton said
God is a “clockmaker”.
God’s special gift to
humanity was reason –
“the ability to think in
an orderly, logical
manner.”
Rationalism: The Watchmaker Theory
Sir Isaac Newton
compared God to a
watchmaker.
 Having created the
perfect mechanism
of this universe, God
then left his creation
to run on its own, like
a clock.

Rationalism: People are Basically Good

1.
2.
3.
4.
Believed:
“that the universe was
orderly and good”
“in the perfectibility of
every individual thought
with the use of reason”
“that God’s objective
was the happiness of his
creatures”
“the best form of
worship was to do good
for others”
Rationalism & Revolution


The American struggle
for independence was
justified by rationalist
principles.
The Declaration of
Independence bases
its arguments on
rationalist assumptions
about relations
between people, God,
and natural law.
The Rationalist Worldview – Recap (1)


People arrive at truth by
using reason rather than
relying on the authority
of the past, on religion,
or on non-rational
mental processes, such
as intuition.
God created the
universe, but does not
interfere in its workings.
The Rationalist Worldview – Recap (2)
The world operates
according to God’s
rules, and through
the use of reason,
people can discover
those rules.
 People are basically
good and
perfectible.

The Rationalist Worldview – Recap (3)


Since God wants
people to be happy,
they worship God
best by helping other
people.
Human history is
marked by progress
toward a more
perfect existence.
Moving from the Revolutionary Period & Rationalism to ….
Romanticism
Characteristics of American Romanticism
 Values feeling over
reason
 Places faith in the
imagination
 Prefers innocence to
sophistication
 Fights for the
individual’s freedom and
worth
Characteristics of American Romanticism
 Shuns civilization and
seeks nature
 Trusts past wisdom, not
progress
 Reflects on nature to gain
spiritual wisdom
 Finds beauty & truth in
supernatural or imaginative
realms
A New Kind of Hero
Benjamin Franklin - Rationalism
 Represents the
rationalist hero
 He is worldly,
educated, & civilized
 He looks to the city to
better himself and
make a brighter future
General Romantic
Hero
 The typical Romantic hero
is youthful & innocent.
 He relies on common sense
rather than book learning &
is close to nature.
 Because women
represented marriage &
civilization (to many male
writers), Romantic heroes
are often uncomfortable
around them.
Characteristics of the
American Romantic Hero
1. Is youthful & innocent
2. Has a strong sense of honor
3. Has a knowledge that comes
from experience, not formal
learning
4. Loves nature & avoids town
life
5. Seeks truth in the natural
world
Romantics: Attitude toward the City
and Civilization
Rationalists
 Rationalists saw the
city as a place of
civilization and
opportunity.
 Ben Franklin’s
Autobiography is
about the city as a
place of opportunity.
Romantics
 Romantics see the city
as a place of
immorality & death.
 The Romantic journey
often leads to the
countryside & away
from the city
(civilization).
The Romantic Journey
 To the Romantics, nature was a place of independence,
morality, & healthful living.
 Sometimes the journey may be into the imagination, such as
works by Edgar Allan Poe.
 The Romantic journey is both a flight away from something &
a flight to something.
The Civil War and the
Rise of Realism
Civil War Literature
 Writings from the Civil War were
autobiographical in nature; thus, they were
descriptive and realistic.
 War confirmed the idea that the world is
indifferent, often hostile.
 Literary forms of the day (Romanticism) were
inappropriate for capturing the horror of war.
 No real “literature” emerged from the Civil War.
Realism
 Attempts to depict the minute detail of
everyday life
 Examines human behavior closely
 Discerns “truth” by examining ordinary
people/life
 Began in Europe and developed in the U.S.
after the Civil War
 Fueled by new sciences (psychology, biology,
sociology) that sought to explain human
behavior and the human condition
Regionalism
 First form of realism in the U.S.
 Local color fiction: attempted to recreate
the speech and manners of people from
a particular region
 Realistic in speech and manner, but plots
tended to be romantic
 Reached its height of popularity in the
1880’s
Naturalism
 Shaped by the horrors of the Civil War and the
teachings of Charles Darwin
 Believed behavior was determined by forces
beyond an individual’s control (biology and
environment)
 Characters often have limited choices
 Humans are like animals, subject to the laws of
nature
 Much more emphasis on indifference of the
natural world
The Moderns
1914
- 1939
AMERICAN
LITERATURE
CLASS
ENGLISH 11
SCHOOL
TARBORO HIGH
The American Dream: Pursuit
of a Promise
Three beliefs are at the center of what has
become known as the American Dream.
America as a New Eden
A Belief in Progress
Triumph of the Individual
America as a New Eden
The first of these beliefs is a vision of America as a
paradise, like the biblical Garden of Eden.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, explores
America’s promise and its disappointments. The
character’s dreams are far greater than the
country’s opportunities.
Optimism: A Belief in Progress
The second belief is optimism!
As a young country, the United States offered what
seemed like unlimited opportunity and wealth.
Americans thought that life would keep getting
better and that a perfect world could be made.
Triumph of the Individual
Nothing is out of reach for an
independent, confident person.
If a person trusts the universe and trusts
himself, “the huge world will come round
to him.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Crack in the
World:
Breakdown of Beliefs &
Traditions
World
War I and the
Great Depression hurt
the belief in the
American Dream. The
three basic ideas no
longer seemed as true.
Elements of Modernism:
Recap
Emphasis on bold experimentation in style
and form, reflecting the fragmentation of
society.
Rejection of traditional themes, subjects,
and forms.
Elements of Modernism:
Recap
SENSE OF DISILLUSIONMENT and LOSS OF FAITH in the
American dream
Rejection of the ideal hero as infallible in favor of a hero
who is flawed and disillusioned, but shows “grace under
pressure”
Elements of Modernism:
Recap
Interest in the inner workings of the human
mind, sometimes expressed through new
narrative techniques such as stream of
consciousness
Revolt against the spiritual debasement of the
modern world