American Lit WV Practice *UPDATED*

Native/Indigenous WV

Everything is interconnected; identity comes from connections

Native/Indigenous WV

Existence of many truths; many gods

Native/Indigenous WV

Land is sacred and cannot be owned by individuals

Native/Indigenous WV

Time is non-linear; cyclical

Native/Indigenous WV

Humans are not the center of creation; the natural world is just as important

Native/Indigenous WV

Gaining wealth is good for the community, rather than the individual

Christian/Theist WV

There is an omnipotent God who created the universe and is personally involved with humans

Christian/Theist WV

All human life is sacred and all persons are of equal dignity

Christian/Theist WV

History is linear and moves towards a final goal

Christian/Theist WV

Nature is controlled by God and is an orderly system

Christian/Theist WV

Humanity is not the center of the universe, but is a steward of creation

Christian/Theist WV

Righteousness will triumph over evil

Christian/Theist WV

Earthly life does not exhaust human existence but looks ahead to the resurrection (belief in an afterlife)

Rationalist/Deist WV

There is an authoritative, inspired source (the Bible) from which humankind should base it’s society

Rationalist/Deist WV

There was once an omnipotent God, but once creation was complete, this God chose to absent himself from creation. (also known as clock theory)

Rationalist/Deist WV

Also known as the “Enlightenment”

Rationalist/Deist WV

God chose to be absent so that rationalism could take over

Rationalist/Deist WV

During the Revolutionary War, writing was used to communicate to rally the troops

Romanticist WV

Worshipped the imagination

Romanticist WV

Believed our emotions help the external world make sense, and that they give it meaning

Romanticist WV

Stories portrayed the uncommon

Romanticist WV

Extraordinary people in unusual circumstances

Romanticist WV

Nature was God and was very good

Romanticist WV

Original sin was man’s separation from Nature

Romanticist WV

Human intuition replaced the Holy Spirit

Gothic-Romantic Pessimist WV

Use of the supernatural

Gothic-Romantic Pessimist WV

Dark landscapes, depressed characters

Gothic-Romantic Pessimist WV

Emphasis on the strange, bizarre, unusual or unexpected

Gothic-Romantic Pessimist WV

Idealization of love

Transcendentalist WV

Believed that man was basically good, capable of making rational decisions and worthy of respect

Transcendentalist WV

Believed in individualism and plain living

Transcendentalist WV

Individuals should act according to their innermost personal beliefs rather than follow the dictates of society (also known as non-conformity)

Anti-Transcendentalist WV

Disagreed with the inherent goodness of man

Anti-Transcendentalist WV

Disagreed with the worship of nature

Native/Indigenous Author

Wamsutta (Frank James)

Native/Indigenous Author

Gregg Deal

Christian/Theist Author

William Bradford

Christian/Theist Author

Anne Bradstreet

Christian/Theist Author

Edward Taylor

Christian/Theist Author

William Byrd

Christian/Theist Author

Phillis Wheatley

Christian/Theist Author

Jonathan Edwards

Christian/Theist Author

Cotton Mather

Rationalist/Deist Author

Ben Franklin

Rationalist/Deist Author

Thomas Jefferson

Romanticist Author

J.F. Cooper

Romanticist Author

Washington Irving

Gothic-Romantic Pessimist Author

Edgar Allan Poe

Transcendentalist Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalist Author

Henry David Thoreau

Anti-Transcendentalist Author

Herman Melville

Anti-Transcendentalist Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Fact about Wamsutta (Frank James)

Wampanoag man; refused to value myth over historical fact

Fact about Gregg Deal

Modern-day author who refuses to continue stereotypes

Fact about William Bradford

Re-elected as governor fifteen times

Fact about Anne Bradstreet

Wrote poems and her husband had to assure readers that she fulfilled her household duties first

Fact about Edward Taylor

Used metaphors related to spiritual things

Fact about William Byrd

Southern Planter and government official

Fact about Phillis Wheatley

Black, female, former slave, self-educated

Fact about Jonathan Edwards

He preached hellfire and brimstone

Fact about Cotton Mather

Preacher, interested in witchcraft

Fact about Ben Franklin

Values hard work

Fact about Thomas Jefferson

Quiet-spoken; chosen by the nation to write it’s most important document

Fact about J.F. Cooper

Invented the adventure tale

Fact about Washington Irving

Invented the short story form

Fact about Edgar Allan Poe

Perfected the short story

Fact about Edgar Allan Poe

Popularized detective stories

Fact about Edgar Allan Poe

Single emotional effect: one particular mood should dominate

Fact about Ralph Waldo Emerson

Led (invented) New England Transcendental Movement

Fact about Henry David Thoreau

Famous follower of Emerson

Fact about Henry David Thoreau

Put transcendental ideas into practice

Fact about Herman Melville

His writings were not appreciated in his lifetime

Fact about Nathaniel Hawthorne

Human isolation was a theme he explored again and again

Fact about Nathaniel Hawthorne

The mysteries of the human heart and the question of human evil are the true subjects of _________’s writing

Writing by Wamsutta (Frank James)

Suppressed Speech

Writing by Gregg Deal

Indigenous in Plain Sight

Writing by William Bradford

The History of Plymouth Plantation

Writing by Anne Bradstreet

To my Dear and Loving Husband

Writing by Edward Taylor

Upon a Spider Catching a Fly

Writing by William Byrd

The History of the Dividing Line

Writing by Phillis Wheatley

On Virtue

Writing by Jonathan Edwards

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Writing by Cotton Mather

The Devil in New England

Writing by Ben Franklin

Poor Richard’s Almanac

Writing by Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence

Writing by J.F. Cooper

“A Rescue” (From The Deerslayer)

Writing by Washington Irving

“The Devil and Tom Walker”

Writing by Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee

Writing by Edgar Allan Poe

The Tell-Tale Heart

Writing by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-Reliance

Writing by Henry David Thoreau

Walden

Writing by Herman Melville

Moby Dick

Writing by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Minister’s Black Veil

Realist WV

Focused on the details of ordinary lives, refusing to idealize life

Realist WV

Bad things happen all the time to good people

Realist WV

There is no God or force of good

Realist WV

Still sought some meaning as long as it was something that could be seen or felt

Naturalist WV

Nature is unpredictable and at best disinterested

Naturalist WV

If God exists, he is ineffective

Naturalist WV

Human life is transient as are Truth and Good