Final Exam Study Guide: American Literature I

(This List of Information Is Not All Inclusive)

Literary Approaches

Age of Enlightenment1665-1815

It was a time of scientific advancement. Some of the characteristics include:

  • Autonomy: Humans should use their own reason to mature and grow. Individual freedom is important
  • Rational Thought and Objectivity
  • All Humans are Equal
  • Human History is the Story of Progress
  • Religious Beliefs Should not be Tied to the State
  • The Government Should Reflect the Populace

Romanticism-Approx. 1770-1860

This was a reaction against the age of reason. Individualism was central to Romanticism. The individual was meant to be a creator who eschewed rules and tradition. Often Romantic literature look to the past, considering the origins of nations and cultures. In Europe, there was an obsession with the medieval period. Romantic literature often privileged action over character development. The plots are often elaborate traits of Romantic literature includes:

  • Sensibility/Sentimentalism
  • Love of nature
  • Primitivism
  • Interested in the past
  • Mysticism
  • Individualism
  • Moralizing Impulse

Gothic Literature

This is a subset of romantic literature. The goal was to evoke horror and subvert rationality, demonstrating the disturbing reality that lies beneath the veneer of civilization. Characteristics include:

  • Dark and foreboding settings
  • Sock characterization: damsel in distress, evil villains, powerful/ selfless hero
  • Supernatural events
  • Omens, visions, and prophecies
  • Interrupted narratives

Transcendentalism:

  • Part of Romanticism.
  • Reaction to the Enlightenment.
  • All Could Not be Contained within Rational Thought
  • God had given us all intuition and imagination
  • Not a religion
  • Autonomy was important
  • Very Interested in Creating a Uniquely American Literature.
  • Wanted to Reform Society(women’s rights, abolition, etc)
  • Clutter of Society

Realism- Came into prominence after 1865. It is interested in presenting reality in as honest and real terms as possible.

Characteristics

  • Renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail
  • Character is more important than action or plot
  • It deals with complex ethical choices
  • Class is important in texts
  • Events are plausible and realistic
  • Diction is natural. Uses vernacular language
  • Objectivity is important. The author is not intrusive.
  • The idea of truthful observation of life is important.
  • Less of a moralizing impulse. The ability to see that other perspectives reveal the relativity of morality.

Terms
Puritanism
Pilgrims
Predestination
Sentimentalism
Pragmatism
Age of Exploration
Triangle Trade
Covenant of Grace
King Philip’s war
Primitivism
Tragic Mulatto
Voyeur
Minstrel
Fragmentation
Bildungsroman
Slave Narratives / Themes
Reason vs. Sentimentality
Religion vs Secularism
Appearances vs. Reality
Reliability of the Narrator
Nature as a force that shapes and impacts lives (Dangerous or Benevolent)
Social Class
Parental Fealty
Conformity
The Wilderness
The American Revolution
Tyranny
Individuality vs. Community
Cult of True Womanhood
Universalism
Masculinity
What Constitutes Freedom

Reminders

  • Make sure that you review your notes for any characters, other than the main characters, who we have discussed at length.
  • The themes section of the study guide refers to both themes and ideas in the text that we explored in depth.
  • Success on this test depends on your ability to demonstrate that you have read the texts, that you understand the texts, that you have paid attend during lectures, and that you are able to connect the ideas that we have discussed to different text.

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