American Literature Exam 2023-2024 Worldview Sheet

Everything is interconnected (identity comes from connection)

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Existence of many truths

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Land is sacred and cannot be owned by individuals

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Time is non-linear (cyclical) (circle of life)

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Humans aren’t the center of creation; natural world is just as important

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Gaining wealth is good for the community, not just the individual

Native/Indigenous major beliefs

Wamsutta (Frank James)

Wampanoag man; refused to value myth over historical fact (Native/Indigenous Person)

Gregg Deal

Modern-day artist; refuses to continue stereotypes (Native/Indigenous Person)

“Suppressed Speech”

Title of story by Wamsutta (Frank James) -Native/Indigenous Person

“Indigenous in Plain Sight”

Title of story by Gregg Deal -Native/Indigenous Person

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

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

All human life is sacred and all persons of equal dignity

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

History is linear and moves toward a final goal

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

Nature is controlled by God and is an orderly system

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

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

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

Righteousness will triumph over evil

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

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

The Age of Faith -Christian Theism major beliefs

Anne Bradstreet

Her husband assured readers that she fulfilled her household duties first (The Age of Faith Christian Theist)

Jonathan Edwards

Preached “hellfire and brimstone” (The Age of Faith Christian Theist)

“To My Dear and Loving Husband”

Title of story by Anne Bradstreet (The Age of Faith Christian Theist)

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Title of story by Jonathan Edwards (The Age of Faith Christian Theist)

There is an authoritative inspired source from which humanity should base its society (The Bible)

The Age of Reason (Deism)

There was once an omnipotent God, but once creation was complete, this God chose to absent himself from creation

-OR

World is like a clock wound up by God many years ago and then left on its own

The Age of Reason (Deism)

Also known as “The Enlightenment”

The Age of Reason (Deism)

God chose to be absent so that rationalism could take over

The Age of Reason (Deism)

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

The Age of Reason (Deism)

Ben Franklin

• He valued hard work

• Wrote maxims praising the virtues of thrift and persistence

  (The Age of Reason -Deism)

Thomas Jefferson

• Quiet-spoken

• Chosen by the nation to write its most important document

  (The Age of Reason -Deism)

• ”Poor Richard’s Almanac”

• ”The Whistle”

Title of story written by Ben Franklin (The Age of Reason - Deism)

“Declaration of Independence

Title of story written by Thomas Jefferson (The Age of Reason - Deism)

Worshipped the imagination

Romanticism major belief

Our emotions help the external world make sense, and they give it meaning

Romanticism major belief

Portrays the uncommon

Romanticism major belief

Extraordinary people in unusual circumstances

Romanticism major belief

Nature was God and was very good

Romanticism major belief

Original sin was man’s separation from nature

Romanticism major belief

Human intuition replaced the Holy Spirit

Romanticism major belief

James Fenimore Cooper

• Invented the adventure tale

• First internationally famous writer

  (Romanticism)

Washington Irving

• Invented the short story form

• Long descriptions of nature

  (Romanticism)

“A Rescue” from The Deerslayer

Title of story written by James Fenimore Cooper (Romanticism)

“The Devil and Tom Walker”

Title of story written by Washington Irving (Romanticism)

Use of the supernatural

Romanticism -Gothic/Romantic Pessimism major beliefs

Dark landscapes, depressed characters

Romanticism -Gothic/Romantic Pessimism major beliefs

Emphasis on strange, bizarre, unusual, or unexpected

Romanticism -Gothic/Romantic Pessimism major beliefs

Idealization of love - love as something pure and nobel that will last beyond death

Romanticism -Gothic/Romantic Pessimism major beliefs

Edgar Allen Poe

• Perfected the short story

• Popularized the detective story

• Single emotional effect: one particular mood should dominate

  (Romanticism - Gothic Pessimism)

• “Annabel Lee”

• “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Title of story written by Edgar Allan Poe (Romanticism -Gothic/Romantic Pessimism)

Believed that man was basically good

Romanticism -Transcendentalism major belief

Believed in individualism and plain living

Romanticism -Transcendentalism major belief

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

Romanticism -Transcendentalism major belief

Each person is inherently good, capable of making rational decisions and is worthy of respect

Romanticism -Transcendentalism major belief

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Led (invented) New England Transcendental movement

(Romanticism -Transcendentalism)

Henry David Thoreau

• Famous follower of Emerson

• Put Transcendental ideas into practice

  (Romanticism -Transcendentalism)

“Self-Reliance”

Title of story written by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Romanticism -Transcendentalism)

“Walden”

Title of story written by Henry David Thoreau (Romanticism -Transcendentalism)

Disagreed with Transcendental beliefs

Romanticism -Anti-Transcendentalism major beliefs

Disagreed with the inherent goodness of man

Romanticism -Anti-Transcendentalism major beliefs

Disagreed with the worship of nature

Romanticism -Anti-Transcendentalism major beliefs

Herman Melville

Writings were not appreciated during his lifetime

(Romanticism -Anti-Transcendentalism)

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Human isolation was a theme he explored again and again

• The mysteries of the human heart and the questions of human evil are the true subjects of Hawthorne’s writing

  (Romanticism -Anti-Transcendentalism)

“Moby Dick”

Title of story written by Herman Melville (Romanticism - Anti-Transcendentalism)

“The Minister's Black Veil”

Title of story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Romanticism - Anti-Transcendentalism)

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

Realism major beliefs

Bad things happen all the time to good people

Realism major beliefs

There is no God or force for good

Realism major beliefs

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

Realism major beliefs

Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Wrote one of the most influential books of social criticism

• Known as the little lady who started the great war

  (Realism)

Mark Twain

Famous humorist whose real name was Samuel Clemens

(Realism)

Frederick Douglass

Former slave, abolitionist, and powerful speaker

(Realism)

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

Title of story written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Realism)

• “The Story of the Bad Little Boy”

• "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

Titles of stories written by Mark Twain (Realism)

“What, To the Slave, is the Fourth of July”

Title of story written by Frederick Douglass (Realism)

Nature is unpredictable and at best disinterested

Naturalism major belief

If God exists, He is ineffective

Naturalism major belief

Human life is transient, as are Truth and Good

Naturalism major belief

There is no final authority

Naturalism major belief

God is either uninterested or downright mean

Naturalism major belief

How could anyone who experienced World War I believe in a loving, living God?

Naturalism major belief

Stephen Crane

With no war experience, he wrote what is considered the greatest American war story ever written

(Naturalism)

Jack London

• He was the most popular and successful writer of his time

• His themes usually focused on man’s struggle with nature

  (Naturalism)

“A Man Said to the Universe”

Title of story written by Stephen Crane (Naturalism)

“To Build a Fire”

Title of story written by Jack London (Naturalism)

Fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region

Local Colorists major belief

Contributed to the reunification of the country after the Civil War and to the building of a national identity

Local Colorists major belief

Walt Whitman

• Invented free verse

• Subject matter should be as broad as life itself

  (Local Colorists)

Emily Dickinson

• Unquestionably the best of the regionalists writing during the post-Civil War era

• Saw the uncommon even in the most ordinary things

  (Local Colorists)

• “O Captain! My Captain!”

• “I Hear America Singing”

Titles of stories written by Walt Whitman (Local Colorists)

“I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”

Title of story written by Emily Dickinson (Local Colorists)

Rejected traditional themes and subject matter

Modernism major belief

Focused on alienated individuals rather than “heros” of society

Modernism major belief

Themes of impermanence and change

Modernism major belief

Use of understatement and irony to reveal important emotions and ideas

Modernism major belief

Use of stream-of-consciousness technique to further plot by showing the conflicts from both inside and outside the characters

Modernism major belief

Ernest Hemingway

• Writing style is deceptively simple

• Iceberg principle

T. S. Eliot

Poetry is complex and packed with allusions . . . and full of sense impressions and concrete images

Langston Hughes

• Leader of the Harlem Renaissance

• Invented jazz poetry

• (He was the guy who was probably gay)

“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”

Title of story written by Ernest Hemingway (Modernism)

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Title of story written by T. S. Eliot (Modernism)

“I Too Sing America”

Title of story written by Langston Hughes (Modernism)