Name:Jov

anneF.Cl
apano BSEDENGLI
SH3A

Cour
se:Sur
veyofEngl
i
shandAmer
icanLi
ter
atur
e

1.Whati
sAmer
icanLi
ter
atur
e?Descr
ibehowi
twasshaped.

Amer i
can lit
erature can be br oken down i nto wri
tt
en wor ks thatwer e most l
y
composedoft heEngl i
shlanguage.I treflectsbothit
sbelief
sandt r
aditi
onst hatcame
fr
om t henation'
sf ronti
erdays.Amer icanl it
erat
urewasshapedbyt hehi storyoft he
countrythatproducedi t,j
ustlikeothernat ionall
it
erat
ures.Throughi t
schangi ngti
mes,
people,andindust r
yi nnovati
onsthatwer eimportantt
omanyEngl ishwr i
terswhent hey
creat
eddi ff
erentl i
terarypieces.Significanteventst hathappenedi neachper i
odi n
Amer i
canlit
erature’
shi st
oryhavecont ributedt ot
hesuccessofAmer i
canl it
erature.

C
2.Enumer
ateanddi
scusst
heper
iodsofAmer
icanLi
ter
atur
e

JF
 Col
oni
alandEar
lyNat
ionalPer
iod(
17t
hcent
uryt
o1830)

Beginni
ngint he1600s,theearli
estEur opeanset t
lersinNor t
hAmer i
ca
wrot
eaboutt hei
rexperi
ments.Thiswasthefi
rstpracti
cal,str
aight
-f
orward,of
ten
deri
vati
ve American l
it
erat
urein GreatBr i
tain,and i twas Fut ur
e-f
ocused.
Amer i
canLit
erat
urebeganinthe1600swi t
hpr act
icalnon-fi
cti
onwrotebyBr i
ti
sh
Sett
lerswhocolonizedtheterr
it
ori
esthatwoul deventuall
ybecomet heUnited
Stat
es.

 Romant
icPer
iod(
1830-1870)

Romant i
cism i
samet hodoft hi
nkingthatpriori
ti
zesthei ndi
vi
dualov erthe
group,the subject
ive overt he object
ive,and the emotionalexperience ofa
personov errati
onale.Italsofavorsnat ur
e'swildernessoverman- madeor der
.
Romant i
ci
s m asawor l
dview gainedt r
acti
oninwest er
nEur opeinthel ate18th
centur
y,andi twasembr acedbyAmer i
canwr i
ter
si ntheearl
y19t hcentury.

 Real
i
sm andNat
ural
i
sm (
1870-1910)

Lit
eratur
ethatpresentedadetai
ledandunembel l
ishedvisi
onoft heworldas
i
ttr
ulywas.Nat urali
sm wasani nt
ensif
iedf orm ofreal
ism.Aft
eragr i
mr eali
ti
esof
adevast ati
ngwar ,theybecamet hewr it
er'
spr i
marymodeofexpr essi
on.The
l
it
eraturethatbl
ossomeddur i
ngthi
sper iodwasi nspi
redbypeopl e'
spercepti
ons
ofthewor l
dasi twas.Theessenceofr eali
sm wasf orwrit
erstoemphasi zethe
act
ualabove t he imagined.The realism l i
terarytr
end centered on average
 peopl
einordi
nar
ysur
roundi
ngs.Nat
ural
i
sm,ont
heot
herhand,wasj
ustanot
her
nameforr
eali
sm.

 Moder
nistPer
iod(
1910-1945)

Amovementi ntheac t
sdef i
nedf ir
standf oremostasar adi
calbreakfrom
t
hepast .Pr ovedtobeoneoft her i
chessandmostpr oducti
veinAmer i
can
l
it
erat
ur e.Scot tFrit
zgeral
d,Ri char d Wright,ErnestHemmi ngway,et c
.The
Unit
edSt atesi shomet os omeoft hewor l
d’smostamazingpoems,pl ays,and
t
heatert hatar euniquel
yandendur i
ngl
yAmer i
can,maki
ngthem avail
ableduri
ng
t
hemoder nistperi
od.Themoder nistwri
tersthenusedcreat
ivi
tytoexposemany
i
njust
icesi nAmer i
caandt oconveyhopef orthefutur
e.

 Cont
empor
aryPer
iod(
1945t
opr
esent
)

OnNovember11,1945,aver yimport
antperi
odbeganf ortheUnitedSt ates
astheWor l
dWarI Iperiodcamet oanend.Byt het urnofthe20thcent ur y,
American Li
ter
ature had become a much mor e complexand incl
usive stor y

F C
gr
oundedonawi de-nagingbodyofpastwrit
ingsproducedintheUni t
edSt ates.

J
Reali
ty-
basedfict
ionwi t
hs tr
ongcharact
ersandbel i
evablestor
ieswerecommon
i
nlit
eratur
eduringthisper i
od.I
tcausedpeopletoquesti
onhumani t
y'sgoodness,
st
udyhumanconsci ousness,andfi
ghtagai
nstsocialrul
es.

3.BasedontheAmeri
canlit
erar
yti
me,whatwast
heer
awher
eyout
hinkt
he
l
it
erat
ures
tar
tedt
ofl
our
ish?

Ithink,t heAmer i
canl it
erat
ures tar
tedt of l
ourishdur ingtheRomant i
cPer iod.
Aftert heRevol uti
onar yWar ,li
ter
aturebegant ogr ow anddevel opinal lfi
el ds,
mai nlyi nt he f i
eldsofpoet ry,ficti
on,phi l
osophy,Amer i
can studies,pol i
tical
science,hi story,andmor e.Byt hef i
rstdecadesoft he19t hcent ur y,at ruly
Amer i
canl i
terat urebegant oemer ge.Thoughst illderivedf r
om Br i
tishl i
ter ary
tr
adi ti
on,t hes hor tstori
esandnovel spubl ishedf r
om 1800t hr ought he1820s
begant odepi ctAmer i
cansoci et
yandexpl oret heAmer i
canl andscapei nan
unpr ecedent ed manner .Val uesoverpar t
iculart hings,subj ective rat hert han
objective,andt hecent r
al i
tyofpersonalemot ionalexper i
encebecameobvi oust o
Amer i
canwr i
ter s.Ther eali
tyoftheevol vi
ngandchangi ngwor ldar oundt hem
wasgr eatlyi nfluenced byt hese evol vi
ng and changi ng factors.Manymor e
stori
eswer ewr i
tt
endur i
ngt histi
me,somet hingt hat’squi tetelli
ngoft hisnew
i
dent it
y.Theyemphasi zedt hei mpor t
anceofexpr essi
ngone' sownsens eof
pers onalandsoci alidentit
yaswel lasar t
ist
icexpr ession.