Literary+Movements

When you think of American Literature, what comes to mind?
 * Question**:

//In the 1750’s the literary standpoint would center on Christianity as the sole religion. Science was also a major part of it. The mood was bright and ambitious.//



(Painting by G.P. Pannini, Roman ruins and Sculpture)

♥ [|Neoclassicism]The study of classical art and literature, this became a popular art style which helped to inspire the causes of the French Revolution. It reflected calm, serious subjects presented with simple lines and a sense of order and purpose.

♥ [|Rationalism]The principle of accepting reason as the supreme authority in matters of opinion, belief, or conduct. Human reason is the sole guide to all attainable religious truths.

♥ [|Native American Literature] -Characteristics of Myths Myths are used to describe primal worlds. Beings are considered animal spirits. -Characteristics of Legends The hero or transformer turns animal people into animals, other beings become landmarks and it flows into historical time (real heroes). 1. Figures -Heroes exaggerate typical events and behaviors, they show how to do what is right and how we become the people we are, they shape the world and gives it its character by thievery of sun, fire, or water, and they’re often of divine birth. Myths are not concerned with original owners, only with hero's achievement of them. 2. Trickster heroes (Raven, Spider) -They provide for chaos and change, enable us to see the unpleasant base of life, and remind us that civilization is finally synthetic. They provide for the possibility of change and may be overextended who gets their retribution. -Themes The formation of the world through struggle and robbery (Pacific coast), movement from a sky world to a water world by means of a fall (Iroquoian), fortunate fall; creation story Earth-diver myth flood that occurred after creation of the universe recreation of the present world out of mud brought up from under the water by the earth-diver (muskrat or water bird).



♥[|Travel Narratives] The basics are: "Barbaric" rituals, threats of death, physical suffering, and triumph of the European hero. The stories include complicated ocean passage, scoffing earlier reports, reporting advantages of European technology, describing New World geography, mixing convenient advice with rhetorical landscape descriptions, nature and "savages" as friendly and vicious journey plagued by conspiracy and disunity, emphasizing fault and merits of the expedition leaders, comparison of virtues of life in a strange foreign land with the idleness and dishonesty of the old world, New World plenitude: the catalogue of delights, initial successes followed by defeats.

(The Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, 1620)

♥[|Puritanism] The practices and doctrines of the Puritans. Strictness and austerity in conduct and religion

(Sermon on the Mountian)

♥[|Sermon Structure] Parts of a Sermon include: Grammatical meaning, logical meaning, figurative meaning, doctrine, partition and division of the topic, collects beneficial points of Scripture Reasons Demonstration of the truth of the doctrine, leads to balanced conviction, application, epilogue, amplifies argument, leaves listener well-disposed, rejuvenated, and stimulated to further action.

♥[|Captivity Narratives] According to Richard Slotkin, "In [a captivity narrative] a single individual, usually a woman, stands passively under the strokes of evil, awaiting rescue by the grace of God. The sufferer represents the whole, chastened body of Puritan society; and the temporary bondage of the captive to the Indian is dual paradigm-- of the bondage of the soul to the flesh and the temptations arising from original sin. The reasons are: - Revenge - Ransom - Substitution of tribal numbers destroyed by war and disease

Rhetorical Purposes: -Religious expression -Justification of westward expansion - Nineteenth-century: cultural symbol of American national heritage - Popular literature - Reinforcement of stereotypes Spanish: Indians as brutish beasts French: Indians as souls needing redemption English in Virginia: innocent exotics Puritans: Satanic threat to religious utopia

Themes and Types: - Fears of cannibalism - Fears of scalping - Hunter-predator myth: captive as cultural mediator between savagery and civilization - Judea capta, //for Puritans: Israel suffering under Babylonian captivity. - Freudian view: captivity becomes adoption - Myths Myth of Love in the Woods (Pocahontas and John Smith) Myth of Good Companions in the Wilderness (Cooper's Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook) Myth of White Woman with a Tomahawk (Hannah Dustan; inverts Pocahontas; kills 10 Indians and scalps them when she escapes.)

Pattern: - Separation: attack and capture - Torment, ordeals of physical and mental suffering - Transformation (accommodation, adoption) - Return (escape, release, or redemption)//

♥[|Calvinism] the doctrines and teachings of John Calvin or his followers, accentuating predestination, the sovereignty of God, the supreme authority of the Scriptures, and the irresistibility of grace. The religious doctrines of John Calvin, emphasizing the all-powerfulness of God and the deliverance of those chosen by God's grace alone.

♥ Native American Lit//.: It focuses mainly on nature and how life started. ♥// Calvinism//: Predestination; the sovereignty of God, the supreme authority of the Scriptures, and the irresistibility of grace. The religious doctrines of John Calvin, emphasizing the omnipotence of God and the salvation of the elect by God's grace alone. ♥// Captivity Narratives//:// The //sufferer represents the whole, punished body of Puritan society; and the temporary repression of the captive to the Indian ♥// Travel Narratives//: "Barbaric" rituals, threats of death, physical suffering, and triumph of the European hero. ♥// Native American Lit.: //From Nature and the creatures around them. The Natives wrote stories to preserve their culture and ways of life. ♥// Calvinism: //God himself and his dinive power. ♥// Captivity Narratives: //It shows that even though women do need help in being protected, they are also strong and have faith in God. ♥// Travel Narratives: //The expanding of nations and people's curiosity of the New World.
 * Themes: (What are the themes?)**
 * Influence: (What are the things that influence them?)**

♥// Native American Lit.: //Fiction, Poetry ♥// Calvinism: //Sermons/Speech ♥// Captivity Narratives//: Non-fiction ♥// Travel Narratives//: Non-fiction
 * Types of literature: (Any books you know?)**

♥// Native American Lit//.: They lost a lot of culture because of Europeans killing off their people, which in turn forced them to them to join cultures and tribes. ♥// Calvinism//: It was a giant reform to theology in England and would lead to a Great Migration where the descendents of Calvinism came to America as separatist. ♥// Captivity Narratives//: Women were able to keep their faith and their strength and were able to communicate about it even though it was such a horrific experience. ♥// Travel Narratives//: Stories that started when the New World was discovered to when the colonist expanded their frontier deep into America.
 * Changes:**


 * Important writers:**//


 * 1. [|Benjamin Franklin]** (1706-1790)


 * 2.** [|Samson Occom] (1723-1792)


 * 3.** [|Phillis Wheatley] (1753-1784)


 * 4.** [|J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur] (1735-1813)


 * Other notable writers:**


 * [|Olaudah Equiano] || [|Susanna Rowson] ||
 * [|John Woolman] || [|Judith Sargent Murray] ||


 * World events: (How did it al effect literature?)**


 * -1754-63** French and Indian War//: It most likely caused the colonists and English to hate the INdians and French even more and that anger would certainly reflect on the writings.


 * -1765**// Stamp Act//: Fewer books were made because of tax.

-**1770**// Boston Massacre//: The colonist began to have a different view of England.

- **1794**// Whiskey Rebellion//:


 * Works Cited:** http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/litfram.html