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The 17th century
This history of American literature begins with the arrival of English-speaking Europeans in what would become the United States. At first American literature was naturally a colonial literature, by authors who were Englishmen. John Smith, a soldier of fortune, is credited with initiating American literature.
Example:
Virginia, John Smith
Brief Description of New York, Daniel Denton
Journal, John Winthrop -
The 18th century
s the colonists moved to the belief that rebellion was inevitable, fought the bitter war, and worked to found the new nation’s government, they were influenced by a number of very effective political writers, such as Samuel Adams and John Dickinson.
Examples:
Almanack, Poor Richard
Common Sense, Thomas Paine
Contrast, Royall Tyler -
The 19th century
After the American Revolution, and increasingly after the War of 1812, American writers were exhorted to produce a literature that was truly native. As if in response, four authors of very respectable stature appeared. William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe,
Examples:
Thanatopsis, Bryant
Salmagundi, Irving
The Raven, Egar Allan Poe -
The 20th century
Important movements in drama, poetry, fiction, and criticism took shape in the years before, during, and after World War I.Poetry ranged between traditional types of verse and experimental writing that departed radically from the established forms of the 19th century.
Example:
The Bridge, Hart Crane
This Side of Paradise, Scott Fitzgerald
Quicksand, Nella Larsen