American Lit

John Smith's works

"A Description of New England", "The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles"

Thomas Paine's works

"Common Sense", "American Crisis", "Rights of Man", Age of Reason"

Thomas Jefferson's works

"Declaration of Independence", "Notes on State of Virginia", "First Inaugural Address"

works of Edward Taylor

"Huswifery"; "Preparatory Meditations"

J. Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur

"Letters from an American Farmer"

Edgar Allan Poe

"Ligeia","The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Monkey's Paw","The Raven", "Annabel Lee", "Cask of Amantillado", "Pit and Pendulum", "Tell-Tale Heart"

Cotton Mather's works

"Magnalia Christi Americana", scribe of Salem witch trials, and authored over 450 books such as "Wonders of the Invisible World", "Bonifacious: An Essay Upon the Good", "Manaductio and Ministerium", "The Diary of Cotton Mather"

Phyllis Wheatley's works

"On Being Brought from Africa to America"

Three sea tales written by Cooper

"Red Rover", "Wing and Wing", "Water-witch"

Ralph Waldo Emerson's works

"Self-Reliance", "Divinity School Address", "Nature", "The American Scholar", "Hymn Sung at the Completion of the Concord Movement"

Jonathan Edwards

"Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God"; "A Faithful Narrative"

William Cullen Bryant's works

"Thanatopsis","The Yellow Violet", "To A Waterfowl","A Forest Hymn", "The Prairies"

Michael Wigglesworth works...

"The Day of Doom"

James Fenimore Cooper's works

"The Leatherstocking Tales", "Littlepage Trilogy", "Red Rover", "Wing and Wing", "The Water-Witch

works of William Bradford

"The Mayflower Compact"; "History of Plymouth Plantation"

Poe's most famous poem

"The Raven"

Washington Irving works

"The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.", "Tales of the Alhambra"(his Spanish sketchbook), "A History of New York"

works of Anne Bradstreet

"To My Dear and Loving Husband","The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America", "Verses Upon the Burning of Our House", "In Reference to Her Children"

Philosophy of Transcendentalism

*Nature is the direct connection between the universe and the individual soul. *By contemplating objects in nature, people can transcend the world and discover union with the Over-Soul that unites us all. *Follow your own intuition and own beliefs,however divergent from the social norm they may be. People are inherently good,so your choice will prob be right.

The five principal Romantic themes in American literature

*intuition (the truth of the heart) is more trustworthy than reason *to express deeply felt experiences is more valuable than to elaborate universal principles *the individual is the center of life and God is at the center of the individual *nature is an array of physical symbols from which knowledge of the supernatural comes *we should aspire to the ideal--changing what is to what ought to be

Crevecouer introduces concepts such as ...

America as the "melting pot" and "The American Adam"--the idea that there is something different, special, or unique about these Americans.

Washington Irving is known as

America's first classic writer

James Fenimore Cooper is known as

America's first major novelist. His style took from the frontier,the wilderness, and the sea creating romances often touched with power and beauty.

Anne Bradstreet was...

America's first published poet. Her poetry was infused with Puritanism and her passion for her husband and devotion to her children.

Ben Franklin's works

Autobiography and Poor Richard's Alamanac

Samuel Sewall is

Boston Puritan; only judge in the Salem witch trials to publicly repent his part

"History of Plymouth Plantation"

Bradford--Published posthumously. recounts voyage to New World, founding of Plymouth Plantation,and the Pilgrim's experiences during the early years of the colony's existence.

"Mayflower Compact"

Bradford-Pilgrim's constitution--shaped politics,religion, and social behavior of first settlers. influenced US Constitution

"In Reference to her Children"

Bradstreet- the idea (presented in a conceit) that her eight children are birds. Unusual in Puritan verse it employs homely imagery to convey the warmth of her mother-love.

"To My Dear and Loving Husband"

Bradstreet--"If ever two were one, then surely we...". In addition to love for her husband,the poem conveys the Puritan idea that heaven is a Paradise and the Elect are rewarded in the afterlife.

"Verses Upon the Burning of Our House"

Bradstreet-message was the treasures of this world don't amount to anything compared to God's treasures in heaven.

"A Forest Hymn"

Bryant---Religious feeling as an archetypal human response to God's presence everywhere in nature

"The Prairies"

Bryant---civilizations succeed one another endlessly, the record of their existence all but obliterated by time, just as our advancing civilization will lapse at last into an unpeopled wilderness

"To A Waterfowl"

Bryant--Confidence in God's beneficent guidance through the pathless course of our lives is encouraged by the picture of the unerring flight of a migratory bird.

"Thanatopsis"

Bryant--dispels fear by assuring us that in death personality is extinguished and the body is mixed with earth where we join all who have preceded us, the best and wisest among them,in the "great tomb of man"

"The Yellow Violet"

Bryant--the cheerful flower that marks the end of winter and is forgotten amidst the brilliance of later blooms uses nature to teach that we owe our early friends a debt not to be forgotten

"The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"

Collection of Anne Bradstreet's poems. First one published. Taken to England to be published as a surprise by her brother-in-law.

"Littlepage Trilogy"

Cooper-Contains "Satanstoe" and "The Chainbearer"

"Satanstoe"

Cooper-Cornelius Littlepage "Corny"studies classics under Reverend Thomas Worden at Satanstoe -to prepare him for American universities. Satanstoe was owned by Corny's father. Satanstoe was a peninsula shaped like an inverted toe. Anneke was a girl he fell for and saved in America. Dirck was a friend.

"The Deerslayer" characters

Cooper-Natty Bumppo is the youngest in is novel even though it is the last of the Leatherstocking Tales and is called Deerslayer, Chingachgook (trusted sidekick), Hurry Harry March (greedy frontiersman), Tom Hutter (former pirate, current trapper), Judith Hutter (Tom's daughter), Hetty Hutter (Judith's sister, a girl with such Christian simplicity that she awes even the Native Americans into granting her safe passage), Hist-ho-hist or Wah-ta-Wah (Chingachgook's girlfriend-she is called by either name), Captain Warley (cavalryman to the rescue),Rivernoak (the enemy Iroquois chief, fierce, but honorable)

"Leatherstocking Tales"

Cooper-a series of five novels about the frontiersman, Natty Bumppo---"The Pioneers", "The Last of the Mohicans", "The Prairie", "The Pathfinder", "The Deerslayer"

"The Chainbearer"

Cooper-about the son of Corny--Mordaunt Littlepage during Revolutionary War. He served in his father's battalion and met 67 yr old Captain Andreas Coejemans, a skilled woodsmen and known as Chainbearer bc he carried the forward chain in the surveying work he did as a civilian. They formed a strong attachment.

"Letters from An American Farmer"

Crevecouer-broad social and moral survey of the colonies. Attempted to answer the question, "What is an American, this new man?"

Samuel Sewall's works

Diary; and the first American anti-slavery tract-"The Selling of Joseph"

"Nature"

Emerson explains how Nature's green breast can restore our confidence and release our powers the way religion once did. The way to God's truth is by communicating with nature,not through reason.

most comprehensive spokesperson for the five principles of American Romanticism

Emerson in his book "Nature" and his essay "Self Reliance"

"The American Scholar"

Emerson states that books are for the scholar's idle time,merely the record of what other men have thought. Originality should always be the aim.

"Self-Reliance"

Emerson tells us to trust your emotion when the devout motions of the soul come to yield them heart and life. Do not conform to society. "whoso would be a man must be a NONCONFORMIST."

"The Divinity School Address"

Emerson urges his audience of prospective clergymen to "dare to love God without mediator or veil" not in conformity with the forms of the church, but self-reliantly. Everyone has equal access to the Divine Spririt

"Hymn Sung at the Completion of Concord Monument"

Emerson wrote it for the dedication of a monument to those who fought at the Battle of Concord. "By the rude bridge that arched the flood,their flag to April's breeze unfurled,Here once the embattled farmer's stood. AND FIRED THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD."

"The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon,Gent."

Irving---collection of stories published under pen name Geoffrey Crayon. Included Rip Van Winkle and Legend of Sleepy Hollow--recast German folktales

"History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the end of the Dutch Dynasty"

Irving--pretended the author was Deidrich Knickerbocker--mock-epic and satire of Dutch colonials, Yankees, and Swedes

"The Devil and Tom Walker"

Irving-from "Tales of a Traveler" based on a man who sells his soul to the devil. This book SATIRIZED hypocritical Puritans who used their social standing in the community to amass wealth.

"Legend of Sleepy Hollow" characters

Irving-main character: Ichabod Crane, Gunpowder (Ichabod's borrowed horse), Katrina Van Tassel (A rosy-cheeked rustic heiress), Mynheer Van Tassel (Katrina's father), Headless Horseman (legendary Hudson Valley ghost--head supposedly shot off by a cannonball), and Abraham van Brunt/Brom Bones (the leading man of the crowd,in love with Katrina

What defined the Colonial period of writing from beginnings to 1790?

It was a religious, social, and political movement that began in the 17th century and lasted until 1790. It stressed original sin, doctrine of election, predestination, limited atonement, irresistible grace

First Inaugural Address

Jefferson--calls for faith in representative government under law. Rights of majority will prevail,but also must protect rights of minority

Writers of Colonial Revolutionary Period

John and Abigail Adams, J. Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,and Thomas Paine

John Winthrop

Journal-"A History of New England";"A Model for Christian charity"

"Magnalia Christi Americana"

Mather- means the great works of Christ in America, history of New England colonies, excellent short bios of great founders,describes striking instances of God's hand in the affairs of New England.

"Bonifacious: An Essay Upon the Good"

Mather-offers counsel on conduct; enlightened when speaking in terms of relationships between men and women

"Wonders of the Invisible World"

Mather-written to justify the execution of the women accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials

Manaductio ad Ministerium

Mathers-guide meant for beginning ministers. IMPORTANT FOR DISCUSSION OF ALLUSIVE METHOD IN WRITING

Edward Taylor is...

Minister and finest Puritan writer. None of his poems were published until the twentieth century. Rugged language that employed conceits. He considered his poems to be a form of personal religious worship and only allowed two stanzas from one of his poems to be published.

Characters in "The Last of the Mohicans"

Natty Bumppo (Hawkeye),Chingachgook (courageous and loyal Mohican chief), Uncas (Chingachgook's son -the last of the Mohicans who falls for Cora and she for him), Major Duncan Heyward, Magua (Huron chief who seeks revenge on Colonel Munro by turning his feisty daughter Cora into a servile squaw),Alice Munro (Cora's half sister and Duncan's beloved), Colonel Munro (English general in charge of defending Fort Williams that is eventually forced to surrender fort to French when backup troops can't provide military support), David Gamut (a sissy,singing teacher), The Marquis de Montcalm (the French general who captures the fort and allows the Hurons to massacre the English),General Webb( Fort Edwards incompetent commander)

"Common Sense"

Paine--popular pamphlet that coalesced American opinion in favor of Revolution

"The American Crisis"

Paine-16 essays that stiffened American morale and addressed a succession of war-caused problems

"The Age of Reason"

Paine-examines Christian belief and favors reason and advances deism

"Rights of Man"

Paine-he attacks the institution of hereditary monarchy and sets for the a program for world revolution. Also defends the French revolution against the attacks of Edmund Burke.

"The Raven"

Poe---a ballad of 18 six-line stanza. Describes the nightmarish story of a young man mourning the death of his beloved (Lenore). As he mourns he is driven mad by a raven that can only say "Nevermore". The dramatic JUXTAPOSITION of the black bird perched on the white bust,central to the play of light and shadow helps the poemmove to its frenzied climax, the speakers overwhelming sorrow and insane desperation.

"Cask of Amantillado"

Poe--Montressor tricks his friend-Fortunato into coming down into a wine cellar to test out if he really has Amontillado (a type of sherry). Once he gets him down there he chains his drunk friend to the wall and uses stone and mortar to "wall" him in and leave him there to die.

"Annabel Lee"

Poe--famous for haunting rhythms and lulling repetition; rhyme captures cadence of the ocean; repetition of "sea","Lee", and "me" induce sleep; storyline---boy loves girl, girl dies, boy spends every night in tomb next to her body (she has been dead for many years)

Cotton Mather is

Puritan minister who helped stir up the Salem witch trials with his inflammatory writing

What are the major writers in the Colonial Period; beginnings to 1790?

Puritan writers: William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, Cotton Mather, John Winthrop, Michael Wigglesworth, and Jonathan Edwards, John Smith, Samuel Sewall

Major Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, Bronson Alcott, William Ellery Channing, George Ripley, Elizabeth Palmer Parker

"The Selling of Joseph"

Sewall--antislavery tract that appealed to Scripture,reason,and hard-headed practical considerations. Urged the end of slavery saying, "It is most certain that all men, as they are the sons of Adam, are coheirs; and have equal rights unto liberty."

Ralph Waldo Emerson's style

Transcendentalist. Difficult to read-sentences are not logically linked but exist within the paragraph, repeats his idea in diff terms. Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph he covers the same idea like a spiral. Uses overstatement for shock value-often at the beginning of the essay.HELPED ESTABLISH PHILOSOPHY OF INDIVIDUALISM

American Romantics 1830-1870

Washington Irving, James Fenimoore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass

Main points of "A History of New England"

Winthrop-- *style is plain and lucid,neutral and non-judgmental *sets forth heresies of ANNE HUTCHISON and ROGER WILLIAMS and their expulsion to Rhode Island *distinction between natural liberty and liberty under law

"A History of New England"

Winthrop--began this journal aboard the Arbella, leading 2,000 English immigrants to Massachusetts Bay. Daily entries until his death. Recorded his long governorship.

"Huswifery"

a conceit that express the poet's wish to serve and praise God. The conceit of a spinning wheel shows the speaker's desire to be part of God's plan- a device through which the material of God is transmitted.

"Rip Van Winkle" characters

about a man named Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep in Catskill mountains for 20 years, Dame Van Winkle (his temperamental wife), Wolf (Rip's pooch), Judith Van Winkle (his daughter), and Hendrick Hudson (leader of the little people who visit once a year to party.

James Fenimore Cooper's narrative method...

adopted the form of the English novel of his time: *flight and pursuit *struggle for possession of neutral ground *capture and rescue *action, suspense *often wordy, genteel,humorless *champion of conservation

conceit

an extended metaphor that compares two startlingly different subjects

Legend of Sleepy Hollow storyline

an ill-educated superstitious schoolmaster dreams of marrying Katrina, heiress to the rich Van Tassel acres. But he is no match for Burly Brom Bones the night riding prankster. Katrina makes the material choice to marry power (Brom Bones). Icabod is "supposedly" killed by the headless horseman on his way home from a party. A smashed pumpkin is found near the bridge with Ichabod's horse grazing nearby.

John Smith is

archetypal American, enthusiastic propagandist for colonization in American despite the hardships he recorded

William Bradford was...

first leader of Plymouth colony. Elected governor 30 times. Epitomizes determination and self-sacrifice.

"The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles"

his rescue by Pocahontas, published accounts of Jamestown settlements, made it clear that survival was first priority in New World

"Notes on State of Virginia"

informal, but serious replies to 23 queries by the French legation in Philadelphia

Abigail Adams-future first lady

letters in which she campaigned for women's rights---"Remember the ladies"

"The Day of Doom"

most famous poem of 17th century New England. Proceeds from Judgment Day to hell itself (reprobate infants are damned for Adam's sin to Paradise where the rejoicing saved will look eternally on "God's bright countenance".

Colonial Period/Revolutionary 1750-1800

much of the writing was intended for the public audience and influenced by a Revolutionary spirit and flavor of a new nation

Margaret Fuller is known as

outstanding member of Transcendental movement,first editor of Transcendentalist periodical "The Dial".

William Cullen Bryant is known for

produced a small body of verse of a distinction that made him America's first major poet

"Diary of Cotton Mather"

shows Mather wrestling with sexual temptation to marry a third time a much younger woman that is disapproved of by his family and Puritan community.

Style of "The Devil and Tom Walker"

starts off humorous and builds to a fearful climax. Irving's use of Gothic props-the devil, the dank forest, the grisly murder-in a bucolic American setting creates a uniquely American slant on the supernatural.

William Cullen Bryant's style

strongly influenced by England's graveyard school of poets. He adopted blank verse together with carefully rhymed lyrics in stanzaic form;goal is to awaken emotion

Rip Van Winkle represents

the paradigm of the American male who grows old,but not up, remaining boyish and irresponsible to the end.

Alexander Hamilton and James Madison

writers of "The Federalist Papers"

Themes of Ben Franklin

wrote literature to admonish and instruct fellow citizens. Themes were follies of the times, dependence of individual prosperity upon industriousness, frugality, temperance,justice, finding happiness through self-improvement, etc...

Jefferson's style

wrote to communicate. Plain and unadorned except when elevated to match the dignity of certain state documents