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William Bradford
Died: May 9, 1657
English leader of settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
-Text Read in Class: Of Plymouth Plantation
-Summary: Written over a period of time about the Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded. It took 17 years to write.
-4 Other works: Mourt's Relation, A Dialogue Between Some Young Men & Sundry Ancient Men, Bradford's Journal, Bradford's Dialogue.
-Historical Events: 1543 Scientific Revolution -
Anne Bradstreet
New England's first published poet.
Born: 1612
Died: September 16, 1672
- Text read in class: To My Dear and Loving Husband
- Summary: Bradstreet goes against puritan and shows how much she loves her man
- 4 Other works: Another, Contemplations, The Prologue, Upon Some Distemper of Body
- Historical Events: 1629: The Colony of Massachusetts was founded where Bradstreet lived -
Edward Taylor:
A colonial American poet, pastor and physician.
Born: Leicestershire, England 1642
Died: June 29, 1729
- Text read in class: Housewifery
- Summary: In Edward Taylor's conceit, "Huswifery", a man describes his longing to be closer to God
- 4 Other works: Things Present, Meditation, I am The Living Bread, The Reflexion
- Historical Events: 1664: Isaac Newton begins to experiment with gravity. -
Jonathan Edwards
Born: October 5, 1703
Died: March 22, 1758
Christian preacher and Theologian
Widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian
- Text Read in class: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
- Summary: A sermon preached on July 8, 1741. he says that if you dont follow God you will go to hell
- 4 Other works: Charity and its Fruits, Original Sin, The nature of True Virtue, Freedom of The Will
- Historical Events: Boston Tea Party -
Edgar Alan Poe
- Born on January 19, 1809
- Was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic
- Died: October 7, 1849
- Text read in class: The Raven
- Summary: The Poem is about Poe's wife. He is struggling to deal with his lonliness, and despair after she dies. he is a little scared as well
- 4 other works: The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lenore
- Historical Events: In 1825 the Erie Canal is completed
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Born: September 24, 1896
- Died: December 21, 1940
- An American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age.
- Text Read in Class: The Great Gatsby
- Summary: Nick Caraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922. He learns about "Old Money" and "New Money." And goes to Jay Gatsby's parties.
- 4 Other Works: The Freshest Boy, The Last Tycoon, The Side of Paradise, A New Leaf
- Historical Events: 1920s: Prohibition
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Langston Hughes
Died: May 22, 1967
An American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist.
Historical Events: best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance
Text Read: Let America Be America Be Again
Summary: In this poem Langston Hughes expresses his feelings on how America is not truly what it should be, He feels that African Americans do no get the same “American Dream” as whites do and that should change.
“April Rain song”, “As I Grew Older”, “Bad Morning”, “Children Rhymes” -
John Hersey
Born in China and a Yale University graduate. HISTORICAL EVENTS. Born the same year as the start of WW1 TEXT. “Hiroshima” Hersey, writes about the atomic bomb dropping in Hiroshima and how people in different perspectives saw it and what happened.
“Algiers Motel Incident”, “A Bell For Adano” -
John F. Kennedy
- Died: November 22, 1963
- was the 35th President Of the United States Of America, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
- Historical events. Born the same year the US entered WW1.
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J.D. Salinger
-Born: January 1, 1919
-An American author best known for his famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
-Text Read in Class: Catcher in The Rye
-Summary: A young man, Holden Caufield, is the story of the teenagers turbulent last few days before his Christmas vacation. During these days, Holden leaves Pencey Prep, a boys' school he's been kicked out of, and takes off for a few nights alone.
-4 Other Works: Nine Works, A Girl I Knew, Elaine, I'm Crazy
-Historical Events: 9/11 -
Flannery O’Connor
Born in Savannah, GA
HISTORICAL EVENTS. Mussolini dissolves Italian parliament and becomes dictator on this day in history.
Text Read: “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”- in this text O’Connor talks about no matter what type of man, either; race, ethnicity, or religion. A good one Is hard to find
“Everything That Rises Must Coverage”, “Presence Of Grace”, “Mystery And Manners”, and “Wise Blood. -
Anne Sexton
- Anne Sexton was born in Weston, Mass. to Mary Gray Staples Harvey and Ralph Churchill Harvey. The youngest of three sisters.
- Historical Events: had depression which she wrote about and killed herself
- Text Read: “45 mercy street”- in this poem Sexton talks about a dream she had that had involved a street named 45 mercy street and how the dream and street brought her and her grandmother together 4 Works: “a curse against alegies”, “a story rose on the midnight flight”.
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Sylvia Plath
- Her mother, Aurelia Plath (1906-1994), was a first-generation American of Austrian descent, and her father Otto Emile Plath (1885-1940), was from Grabow, Germany
- Historical Events: she wrote a note to her neighbor saying call the doctor and she killed herself
- Text Read: "Mirror" the terrible difficulty of the truth, especially the inexorable process of age and time.
- 4 Works: “birthday present”, ”candles”, “childless women”, “aftermath”
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Died: April 4, 1968
- Was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement.
- Historical Events: Was born during slavery and had to suffer through it in and he spoke the speech "I have a dream"
