english lit exam 1 vocab

Manifest Destiny

John O Sullivan 1845: American sentiment that it was divinely ordained that European settlers continued to expand the nation westward across the continent

Myth

narrative or story that serves as a fundamental basis for a culture, they often involve supernatural beings but not always; they provide an outline of the beliefs, customs, world view and origins of a people

explains where and why things are the way they are; natural phenomenons

cosmogony

how things came to be created; how the physical world we live in came to be; origins

comparative mythology

comes from Joseph Campbell 1949; it is a field of study, school of academia, a way of studying mythology; the compared study of the mythology of the world compels to view the cultural history of mankind

trickster

oral story telling tradition; a character who plays tricks, jokes, or pranks; often these are anthropomorphized (animals given human characteristics) animals who project the feels failures or unattained ideals of the culture

imperialism

the policy of extending a countries power and influence through diplomacy and or military force

puritanism

a protestant (non-Catholic) religious reform movement of the 16th and 17th centuries which aimed to purify the church of England from its vestigial (left over) roman catholic practices; its constituted by moral discipline, personal piety, and direct covenant relationship with God

they promoted a society that was aligned with their strict religious ideals

bicultural composites

a composition that is comprised of two cultural contributions and in this case the spoken words of a native American orator and then the transcribed translated and edited version of a European writer

classical republicanism

a popular style of oratory which was a resurrection renaissance (rebirth of classical ideas) civic humanism. particular writer such as Aristotle and cicero.

-civil society, civic virtue, mixed gov

dialectic

dialogue or discourse between two or more people holding a different point of view about a subject; with the purpose of establishing truth through reasoned argument