NATIONAL

BEGINNINGS
Literary Periods of American Literature

1607 1776 :Colonial Period

1765 1790: The Revolutionary Age
1775 1828: The Early National Period
1828 1865: The Romantic Period (Also known as:
The American Renaissance or The Age of
Transcendentalism)
 • 1865 1900: The Realistic Period
• 1900 1914: The Naturalistic Period
• 1914 1939: American Modernist Period
• 1920s: Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance
• 1920s, 1930s: The "Lost Generation"
• 1939 present: The Contemporary Period
• 1950s: Beat Writers 1
• 1960s, 1970s: Counterculture
The colonial period of American literature
• It
spans the time between the founding of the first
settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the
Revolution.

• Thewritings of this time centered on religious,

practical, or historical themes.
 The most influential writers of this
period are:

John Winthrop Cotton Mather Benjamin Franklin Anne Bradstreet

 "And when I could no longer look,
I blest His grace that gave and took, That laid
my goods now in the dust. Yea, so it was, and
so 'twas just.
It was his own; it was not mine.
Far be it that I should repine."
Cotton Mather
(1662/3-1727/8).
• He wrote and published more
than 400 works. His magnum
opus was Magnalia Christi
Americana (1702)
• His Manuductio ad Ministerium
(1726) was a handbook of advice
for young graduates to the
ministry.
• Although his writing is didactic,
moralistic, and filled with
references to the Bible, it reveals
important information on the
history and society of his time.
Bonifacius, or Essays to Do Good
(1710), instructs others in
humanitarian acts
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
• Benjamin Franklin is best known
as one of the Founding Fathers
who drafted the Declaration of
Independence and the
Constitution of the United
States.
Franklin’s prominence and
success grew during the 1730s,
especially with the publication of
Poor Richard’s Almanack at the
end of 1732.
Legacy
• Founding universities and libraries
• The post office
• Shaping the foreign policy of the fledgling
United States
• Drafting the Declaration of Independence
• Publishing newspapers warming us with the
Franklin stove
• Pioneering advances in science
• Letting us see with bifocals
• and lighting our way with electricity
• All from a man who never
finished school but shaped his
life through abundant reading
and experience
• A strong moral compass
• An unflagging commitment to
civic duty,
• And an overall wit, good humor
and integrity.
The Revolution Age
During the Revolutionary Age, 1765 1790, some of the greatest
documents of American history were authored.

In 1776, Thomas Paine authored Common Sense and Thomas

Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence.

Finally, in 1787, The Constitution of the United States was

drafted and in 1789 it was ratified.
Thomas Jefferson
( 1743-1826)
• Thomas Jefferson, a spokesman for
democracy, was an American Founding
Father, the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence (1776), and
the third President of the United States
(1801–1809).
• As a member of the Continental
Congress, he was chosen in 1776 to draft
the Declaration of Independence .
 Legacy
As the author the Declaration of Independence, the
foundational text of American democracy and one
of the most important documents in world history,
Thomas Jefferson will be forever revered as one of
the great American Founding Fathers.
The Early National Period Of American Literature
It saw the beginnings of literature that could be
truly identified as "American".
The writers of this new American literature wrote
in the English style, but the settings, themes, and
characters were authentically American.
• In
addition, poets of this time wrote poetry that
was relatively independent of English precursors.
• Three
of the most recognized writers of this time
are Washington Irving, James Fennimore
Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Washington Irving
Writer (1783–1859) • Perhaps best known for his short
stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
and "Rip Van Winkle,"
• Washington Irving was educated
privately, studied law, and began to
write essays for periodicals. He
traveled in France and Italy (1804–6),
wrote whimsical journals and letters.
• He and his brother William Irving and
James Kirke Paulding wrote the
Salamagundi papers (1807–8), a
collection of humorous essays.

• Washington Irving first became more

widely known for his comic work, A
History of New York (1809), written
under the name of "Diedrich
Knickerbocker."
 James Fenimore Cooper is considered the frist
American novelist. His most popular work,
James Fenimore The Last of the Mohicans, is one of the most
Cooper (1789-1851) widely read novels around the world. This
novel along with the other four novels that
make up The Leather Stocking Tales has
impacted the way many view both the
American Indians and the frontier period of
American history.
• James Cooper's first book, Precaution, was a
failure.
• His second, The Spy, was published a year
later (1821). Fortunately, for James (who
carried the burden of debt; care of his own
family, and had assumed responsibility for his
brothers' widows and children), it became an
instant success.
 • American writer, critic and editor Edgar Allan
Poe is famous for his tales and poems of
Edgar Allan Poe horror and mystery, including “The Raven”.
Writer (1809–1849)
• His first collection of poems, Tamerlane, and
Other Poems, was published in 1827. In 1829,
he published a second collection entitled Al
Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems.
Neither volume received significant critical or
public attention. Following his Army service,
Poe was admitted to the United States
Military Academy, but he was again forced to
leave for lack of financial support.
• In late 1830s, Poe published Tales of the
Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of
stories. It contained several of his most spine-
tingling tales, including "The Fall of the
House of Usher," "Ligeia" and "William
Wilson."
• Poe launched the new genre of detective
fiction with 1841's "The Murders in the Rue
Morgue.“
• A writer on the rise, he won a literary prize
in 1843 for "The Gold Bug," a suspenseful
tale of secret codes and hunting treasure.
Poe became a literary
sensation in 1845 with the
publication of the poem "The
Raven." It is considered a
great American literary work
and one of the best of Poe's
career.
The Romantic Period
• The
period from 1828 to 1865 in American Literature is
commonly identified as the Romantic Period in
America, but may also be referred to as the American
Renaissance Or the Age of Transcendentalism.
• The writers of this period produced works of originality
and excellence that helped shape the ideas, ideals, and
literary aims of many American writers.
 Writers of the American Romantic
Period Include:
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Herman Melville
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Emily Dickinson
• Walt Whitman.
The Realistic Period
• Following the Civil War, American Literature entered
into the Realistic Period. The major form of literature
produced in this era was Realistic fiction.
• Unlike romantic fiction, realistic fiction aims to
represent life as it really is and make the reader believe
that the characters actually might exist and the situations
might actually happen.
• Inorder to have this effect on the reader, realistic
fiction focuses on the ordinary and
commonplace.

• The
major writers of the Realistic Period Include
Mark Twain, Henry James and Stephen Crane
 The major writers of the Realistic
Period Include:

Mark Twain Henry James Stephen Crane