AAIN, ANGELA TRINI E.
American Literature Outline
1. Colonial Period (1607-1775)
- In the Colonial period, the native Americans, which were the first people who
lived in the continent, did not have written literature. They made stories, poems,
journals, and other forms of literature and passed it orally.
- The Colonial Era was greatly influenced by the British writers.
- The topics were connected with colonialism and religious matters.
Authors
Anne Bradstreet
o born and studied in England
o She was inspired by English metaphysical poetry.
o She was the first American woman to publish a book, and also the first
American to publish a book of poems.
o She uses elaborate conceits and extended metaphors in her works.
Prominent works
o The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
o To My Dear and Loving Husband
o A Dialogue Between Old England and New, Concerning their Present
Troubles, Anno 1642
o Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666
William Bradford
o He was an English protestant and the governor of Plymouth in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
o He was a religious man.
o He studied Hebrew by himself to be able to see with his own eyes the
ancient oracles of God in their native beauty.
Prominent works
o A Word To New Plymouth
o Some Observations Of God's Merciful Dealing With Us In This
Wilderness, And His Gracious Protec
o Of Plymouth Plantation
John Smith
o According to Oxford Bibliographies, Smith filled many roles and played
many parts in his enterprising lifetime: soldier of fortune, slave, world
traveler, sailor, adventurer, president of the Jamestown colony,
diplomat to the Algonquian tribes in Tidewater Virginia, historian,
geographer/cartographer, ethnographer, linguist, promoter of
colonization to New England, compiler, and autobiographer.
o He was a British volunteer soldier and a founder of the American colony
of Jamestown.
o He became the president of their colony.
o He was a resourceful and disciplined man.
Prominent works
o A True Relation of Virginia
o Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles
o True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith
Mary Rowlandson
o She was born around 1637 in Somerset, England.
o She married Joseph Rowlandson, the Harvard-educated Puritan
minister of Lancaster.
o She did the role of a Puritan wife which is to raise and care for her
children.
Prominent works
o A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
o The Sovereignty and Goodness of God
2. The Revolutionary Age (1765-1790)
- In American Revolution, American writers developed their styles in writing that
grew from their experiences.
- According to the website Encyclopedia.com, The colonial fascination with
science, nature, freedom, and innovation came through in the writings of the
Revolutionary period.
- The colonist stopped copying the formal style of the British writers since they
developed their own way of speaking.
Authors
Benjamin Franklin
o He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
o According to the American History website, He is Practical yet
idealistic, hard-working and enormously successful, Franklin recorded
his early life in his famous Autobiography.
o The website also stated that he is a Writer, printer, publisher, scientist,
philanthropist, and diplomat, he was the most famous and respected
private figure of his time. He was the first great self-made man in
America, a poor democrat born in an aristocratic age that his fine
example helped to liberalize.
Prominent works
o The Way to Wealth
o The Speech of Miss Polly Baker
o Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One
o Autobiography
THOMAS PAINE
o He was born England
o He was a political philosopher and writer
o According to bibliography.com, His writings influenced the American
Revolution, and helped pave the way for the Declaration of
Independence.
Prominent works
o Common Sense
o The Age of Reason
o Crisis
o Rights of Man
Michel Guillaume Jean de Crvecur
o He was naturalized in New York as J. Hector St. John de Crvecoeur
o He was a French-American writer
o According to William L. Clements Library-Manuscripts Division Finding
Aids, He was called into military service during the conflict, rising to
lieutenant in 1758.
Prominent works
o Letters from an American Farmer
John Adams
o He was born in Massachusetts on October 30. 1735.
o According to Legends of America website, He was a Politician,
philosopher, lawyer, and one of the Founding Fathers of our country,
Adams served as George Washingtons Vice President for two terms
before he became the second President of the United States.
o According to the same website he married his third cousin, Abigail
Smith, and the couple would eventually have five children including
future president, John Quincy Adams.
Prominent works
o Letters
3. The Early National Period (1775-1828)
- According to English and American Literature website, Due to the revolution
and the formation of what is now known as "The United States of America",
people were at the peak of patriotism and having nationalistic views. People
wanted to be as American as possible, after finally breaking out of the British
rule.
Authors
Washington Irving
o According to Poem Hunter.com, He was an American author, essayist,
biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century.
o It is also mentioned there that He is best known for his short stories
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which
appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Prominent works
o The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
o The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
o Rip Van Winkle
Edgar Allan Poe
o He was born on January 19, 1809.
o According to Biography.com He was an American writer, poet, critic
and editor best known for evocative short stories and poems.
Prominent works
o The Raven
o Lenore
o The Cask of Amontillado
o The Black Cat
James Fenimore Cooper
o He was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey.
o He studied at Yale College in Albany but got expelled in 1805 because
of a dangerous prank.
o He became a sailor and then a midshipman in the Navy.
Prominent works
o The Spy: A Tale of Neutral Ground
o The Pioneers
o The Prairie
o Notions of the Americans
o A Letter to his Countrymen
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Adams-president-of-United-States3
https://www.biography.com/people/thomas-paine-9431951
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http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/thomas-paine
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http://www.online-literature.com/henry-augustin-beers/studies-american-letters/2/
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http://ressun13ib-literatureblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/early-nationalist-period-deja-
saga-essi.html
