AMERICAN

LITERATURE
AMERICA
The story of American Literature begins
long before the US began its existence
Native Americans
Oral literature
Myths and Legends
Focus on nature and creation stories
The first permanent settlers were Puritans
Interested in education and culture
Harvard was founded in 1636
Printing press was started in 1638
New World saw the emergence of
literature which was mainly made up of
sermons, histories, autobiographies and
poems all of them written with a religious
purpose
ERAS OF AMERICAN
LITERATURE
1.Native Americans
2.Enlightenment Era
• Age of Faith
• Age of Reason
3.Romanticism Era
4.Realism Era
5.Modernism Era
6.Contemporary Era
MODERNISM
I. Historical Context
• Overwhelming technological advances
• World War I- first war of mass destruction
• Grief over loss of past; fear of eroding traditions
• Rise of youth culture
II. Genre/Style
• Dominant mood:
alliteration/disconnection
• Writing highly experimental: stream of
consciousness, interior dialogue
• Writers seek to create a new style
MAJOR WRITERS:

ERNEST HEMMINGWAY (1899-1961)

ERNEST HEMMINGWAY (1899-1961)
1. Writing style: concise, direct, spare,
objective, precise, rhythmic
2. Major works include The Sun Also
Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom
the Bell Tolls, The
Old Man and the Sea
3. a larger than life hero; big game
hunter; sport fisherman; headliner; won
Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for
Literature
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (1896-1940)

• The Great Gatsby (ironic and tragic

treatment of the American success
myth)
• his work and life illustrate American
culture of the 1920's
WILLIAM FAULKNER (1897-1962)
WILLIAM FAULKNER (1897-1962)

• As I Lay Dying
• The Sound and the Fury (his
masterpiece)
• the most original writer of his time
• primary subject was his heritage:
Southern memory, reality, myth
JOHN STEINBECK (1902–1968)
JOHN STEINBECK (1902–1968)

• Grapes of Wrath (combined naturalism &

symbolism to express outrage and
compassion for the plight of the farmers
displaced by the Depression & Dustbowl)
• Of Mice and Men
• The Pearl
• belief in the need for social justice; hope
that people can learn from the suffering of
others
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911–1983)
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911–1983)
• Writing style - playwright
• Major works include A Streetcar Named
Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof, & Baby Doll
• concerns with traditional values of the
American South and the aggressive,
rapidly changing world of modern
America.
• Personal: Homosexual, many of his
characters grapple with their sexuality.
ARTHUR MILLER (1915–2005)
ARTHUR MILLER (1915–2005)
• Writing style - playwright and essayist
• Major works include Death of a Salesman,
The Crucible, Misfits, & All My Sons
• Major Themes: American Dream and the
common man's inability to achieve it.
• Tragic Figure (Aristotle)
• Jewish American, Communism, and
Hollywood
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