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William Bradford
Died 1657
He was elected governor of Plymouth shortly after the pilgrims landed in on Plymouth Rock. He was essentially the first historian of the new colonies. His participation in the voyage of the Mayflower and being governor made him the ideal person for this job. He wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in 1651. -
Colonial Period
Ended 1765
America became a free country and we gained our independence from England
-Jamestown founded in 1607
-Instructive, religious
-Plain style of writing
-Personal narratives
-Diaries
-Sermons
The Declaration of Independence was written. -
Anne Bradstreet
Died 1672
The first publication of a book of poems in America, was also the first publication by a woman in America. She also wrote The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America in 1650. -
Washington Irving
Died 1672
Irving was the first “famous” American author; he’s also known as the “Father of American Literature.” He wrote travel books, short stories, and satires. Some of his works include; Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and Devil and Tom Walker. -
Edward Taylor
Died 1729
Taylor was a Minister who studied at Harvard College, and whose works were never published by Taylor, himself, until they were discovered in 1930s. He wrote such pieces as Metrical History of Christianity, which mainly a history of Christian martyrs. -
John Woolman
Died 1772
The best known work by a Quaker was written by this man, simply named Journal in 1774, this journal was a complete and full account of his life in a pure, heartfelt style of great sweetness that have attracted many American and English writers for many years after Woolman had past away. -
Thomas Paine
Died 1809
Paine wrote mostly pamphlets that would spur ideas and immediate action. In the document "The American Crisis," Paine wrote about the oppression that America suffered from Britain, and propelled America into a war with Britain. Paine, to this day, is well known for his propaganda. -
Thomas Jefferson
Ended 1826
Jefferson is bets know for writing the Declaration of Independence, the document came about as a response to these times, people were thinking for themselves, and one of the major thing the Americans discovered was that they didn’t need England. So Jefferson wrote the D of I to formally state that. -
Abigail Adams
Died 1818
She wrote letters that campaigned for women’s rights. Her grandson, Charles Francis Adams, published The Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail During the Revolution, which were just what they said they were, letters written by Abigail and her husband. -
Age of Reason
Ended in the 1800s
A time when authors were focused more on their own reasoning rather than simply taking what the church taught as fact. During this period there was also cultivation of patriotism. The main main focus was political pamphlets, essays, travel writings, speeches, and documents. They wanted to seperate from the church. -
Romanticism
Ended 1850
The people were tired of reality, They wanted more then what life was. Gothic literature was also introduced it is a genre, that included stories about characters that had both good and evil traits. Gothic literature used elements of supernatural. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Died 1882
Emerson had a strong sense of a religious mission though he was accused of subverting Christianity. He left the church saying, “to be a good minister, it was necessary to leave the church.” Some of his mayor works include Nature, published in 1836. -
Transcendentalism
Ended 1885
NEVER manifesto they wanted indivisulality. Stressed unity between God and the world.
A period of literature that stressed indivisualism, mature, and self-reliance. -
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Died 1864
Hawthorne was a Puritan who utilized his writings to express his dark, and gloomy outlook on life. Some of his works include; Twice Told Tales, published in 1837; The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850; and The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851. -
Edgar Allen Poe
Died 1849
Poe had a bad childhood that made him despise the world, and his works reflected his work. He is credited for creating the modern short story, and the detective story. He also challenged two long-standing theories, one, a poem had to be long, and two, a poem had to teach you something. Some of his works include, "The Raven", "Bells", "Annabel Lee", and "Dream." -
[Sarah] Margaret Fuller
Died 1850
Fuller was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. She learned Greek and Latin at a very young age, and later learned German and Italian. After her father, a congressman, died she became a schoolteacher. She worked with Ralph Emerson as editors of The Dial, a literary and philosophical journal, for which she wrote many articles including “The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Woman, Woman versus Man;” in which she spoke for the equality of men and women. Some of her other works include Summer -
Henry David Thoreau
Died 1862
Thoreau Lived his life, to do just that, live his life. He was never rich and for the most part lived with little money all his life. His work he is most well known for is Walden, published in 1854. -
Herman Melville
Died 1891
In his time Melville was not entirely recognized, however, in the more recent years he has been considered one of the most top rated novelist of all time. He is most well known for his epic novel Moby Dick. -
Walt Whitman
Died 1892
Whiteman was born on Long Island, and was, for most of his job life, a carpenter; he was a man of the people. Most of his learning career was done on his own, after he left school the age of eleven. His major work was entitled His Leaves of Grass, published in 1855; over the years he made many rewrites for this book. Some of his famous poems are, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." -
Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens] (1835-1910)
Died 1835
Twain is know by many as the greatest American humorist and one of our greatest novelists. He was known for using vernacular, exaggeration, and deadpan narrator to create humor. Twain wrote many great novels including, the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, published in 1876; and The Prince and the Pauper, published in 1881. -
Bret Harte (1836-1902)
Died 1902
Harte was born in New York, and later worked in California, on The California writing stories. He worked with other well-known authors as well, while at The California, authors like Mark Twain, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Prentice Mulford. He was later appointed Secretary of the United States Branch Mint at San Francisco; he held this office until 1870. He then became the editor of Overland Monthly, where he published "The Luck of Roaring Camp," which brought him instant fame. Som -
Anti Transcendendentalism\Dark Romantics
Ended 1855
Edgar Allen Poe and Nathanial Hawthorne
Dark side of nature - sin, pain, and evil exist
Used symbolism to great effect
Focused on mankind andits distructiveness of the human spirt -
James Henry (1843-1916 )
Ended 1916
His father was an important theorist and lecturer, and his older brother was a famous American philosopher, William James. He attended Harvard College. His early stories depict the leisurely life of the well-to-do. In his time he wrote many short stories including; “The Short Story of a Year,” published in 1865; “Gabrielle de Bergerac,” published in 1869; and “Guest's Confession.” -
Sarah Orne Jewett
Ended 1909
Jewett grew up with books all around her, it was only fitting she grow up to be a writer. The early years of her life were much like the story she wrote in A Country Doctor. Some of her works include; Miss Tempy's Watchers, originally published in 1888; The Dulham Ladies, originally published in 1886; A White Heron, originally published in 1886. -
Kate Chopin
Died 1904
Chopin loved literature as a child, and secluded herself in it after her grandmothers death. She never achieved much until 1884 when she finally decided to pursue a career in writing. Some of her writing included; "Desiree’s Baby," published in 1893; "The Awakening," published in 1899. -
Realism
Ended 1915
-Post-Civil War Industrialism
-Birth of Modern America
-Primarily Novels and short stories
-Portrays the world accurately
Wanted to see things for how they actually were.
-Does not idealize people or places -
Regionalism
Ended 1915
-Also known as local color writing
-Fidelity to a particular geographical area and a representation of its habits, speech, manners, history, folklore, or beliefs
Authors writing about regions about a specific geographical area -
Naturalism
Ended 1915
-Literary movement in late 19th and early 20th centuries
-Scientific determinism applied to literature – a response to -----revolution in thought that science produced
-Humans seen as animals in the natural world, responding to ---environmental forces and internal stresses and drives
Its just like realism only veiws the world in a darker perspective. Show free will, and that things that happen in the universe happen and could not be controled. -
Frank Norris
Died 1902
Norris studied in Paris, at the Univ. of California, and Harvard. He also spent several years as a war correspondent in South Africa (1895-96) and Cuba (1898). Some of his works include; The Responsibilities of the Novelist, published in 1903; The Octopus, published in 1901; and The Pit published in 1903. -
Theodore Dreiser
Died 1871
One of Dreiser's favorite fictional devices was the use of contrast between the rich and the poor, the urbane and the unsophisticated, and the power brokers and the helpless. Some of his works include; Twelve Men, published in 1919; A Book About Myself, published in 1922; The Color of a Great City, published in 1923; An American Tragedy, published in 1925. -
Willa Cather
Died 1947
Cather has been called, one of the most interesting female writers in American literary history. She was a teacher, a journalist and a critic as well as a writer. She has a talent for presenting settings, and characters that are rich in language and imagery. She also won a Pulitzer Prize. Some of her works include; April Twilights, published in 1903; and O Pioneers!, published in 1913. -
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Died 1963
America’s best known and most loved poet, Frost wrote his poems in a traditional verse form. He used the plain speech of rural New Englanders. Some of his works include; “Death of the Hired Man,” published in 1951; “Birches,” published in1920; and “The Road Not Taken,” published in 1920. -
Jack London
Ended 1916
London was born in San Francisco, California; he lived a hard life, switching from job to job for whatever money he could get, after his father abandoned him at a young age. He is one of the most highly acclaimed writers of all time; his stories of life and death struggles are vivid and engaging. Some of his works include; The Call of the Wild, published in 1903; White Fang, published in 1906; “Lost Face,” published in 1910; and “The Night Born,” published in 1913 -
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Died 1940
Fitzgerald wrote about the times. In his novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, he wrote about the roaring twenties, a time when no one cared about the future and they had fun with what they had then. Some of his other works include; The Side of Paradise, published in 1920; and The Beautiful and the Damned, published in 1922. -
William Faulkner (1897-1962)
Died 1962
He served in both the Canadian and the British Royal Air Force. He wrote most of his novel on a farm in Oxford, Mississippi. Some of his novels included; The Hamlet, published in 1940; The Town, published in 1957; and The Mansion, published in 1959. -
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961
Died 1961
Hemingway won a Pulitzer Prize and Noble Peace Price for Literature. He used concise, direct, spare, objective, precise, rhythmic writing styles to create larger than life heroes, big game hunters, etc. Some of his works include; The Sun Also Rises, published in 1922; A Farewell To Arms published in 1929; For Whom the Bell Tolls, published in 1940. -
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Died 1968
Steinbeck wrote about the both the pains and joys of life. The Grapes of Wraith, published in 1939, his most well known work told the story of families ring to survive and stay together during the depression. In other works like Tortilla Flat, published in 1935, Steinbeck wrote about the joys of life. Some of his other works include; East of Eden, published in 1952; Of Mice and Men, published in 1937; and The Pearl, published in 1947. -
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Died 1968
Steinbeck wrote about the both the pains and joys of life. The Grapes of Wraith, published in 1939, his most well known work told the story of families ring to survive and stay together during the depression. In other works like Tortilla Flat, published in 1935, Steinbeck wrote about the joys of life. Some of his other works include; East of Eden, published in 1952; Of Mice and Men, published in 1937; and The Pearl, published in 1947. -
Modernism
Ended 1946
-Post-World War I writing marked by a strong and conscious break from tradition
-Implies a historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation and despair
-Rejects traditional values and assumptions
-New and distinctive features in subjects, themes, forms, ideas, and styles of literature
-Poetry, novels, short stories -
J. D. Salinger
Salinger studied at NYU, and Columbia University. After which he decided to devote his life to his writing. His writing career was interrupted by World War I, where he served in the U.S. Army. His most well known work was his novel Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, a novel about a high school student who tries to run away from his life that he thinks is “phony.” Some of his works are A Perfect Day for Bananafish published in 1948; For Esmé With Love and Squalor, published in 1950. -
Joyce Carol Oates
Oates received a type writer at the age of fourteen and trained herself to write novel after novel through high school and college. She earned an M.A. in English at the University of Wisconsin. Some of her works include; Blonde, published in 2000; Wonderland, published in 1971; and The Tattooed Girl, published in 2003. -
Contemporary
Present time -
Contemporary
Present time -
Stephen King
King write novels that frighten people. Some of his major works are; Carrie published in 1974; The Shining, publishing in 1998; Salem's Lot, published in 1993; and The Stand, published in 1991. -
Robert Jordan
He went to the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, where he received a degree in physics. Jordan’s main area of expertise is in the genre of fantasy. He is currently in the process of writing a series of novel entitled The Wheel of Time, some of the novels from this series are, The Eye of the World, published in 1990; Crossroads of Twilight, published in 2003; and The Novel: New Spring published in 2004. -
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin is well known worldwide for his discoveries in the world of science and also for works that he contributed to, such as the Declaration of Independence, and his theories on electricity. His works were all new ideas things people never thought of before because they always took what they got as fact. -
Stephen Crane
Died 1900
Crane’s writing was known for attacking patriotism, individualism, and organized religion; it also confronted the meaninglessness of the world. His work was also very well known for its imagery and symbolism. The work he is most famous for Red Badge of Courage, which was set in the Civil War. Some of his other works include; The Open Boat, published in 1894; “An Episode of War,” originally published in 1890.
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