Lecture Notes: Puritans to Naturalism in American Literature

Vocabulary flashcards covering major movements, authors, and concepts from Puritan through Naturalist periods in American literature.

Puritans

Religious group seeking plainness, a divine mission in America, and the state of grace; writing used for inspiration and instruction about God, not diversion.

Plainness

Simplicity in dress, worship, and daily life as a core Puritan ideal.

Divine Mission in America

Belief that America has a sacred purpose ordained by God.

State of Grace

Spiritual condition Puritans sought to achieve through faith and discipline.

Age of Reason

Revolutionary War era valuing reason over imagination; emphasis on science and persuasive, clear writing.

World Machine

Metaphor of the universe as a machine with predictable laws; God as Master Mechanic.

Master Mechanic

God as the engineer who designed and governs the world’s laws.

Rhetoric (Age of Reason)

Art of persuasive writing using clear, direct argument and logical devices.

Realism

Literary movement that portrays life truthfully and without sentimentality; focuses on ordinary people and social issues.

Slice of Life

A realistic depiction of everyday experiences and ordinary people.

Anti-Transcendentalism

Belief that humans are not innately good due to original sin; associated with Hawthorne and Melville.

Hawthorne

Author linked to Anti-Transcendentalism (e.g., The Scarlet Letter).

Melville

Author linked to Anti-Transcendentalism; best known for Moby-Dick.

Transcendentalism

Philosophical movement emphasizing inner self, intuition, nature, and the essential goodness of people.

Emerson

Leading Transcendentalist advocating self-reliance and harmony with nature.

Thoreau

Transcendentalist writer known for Civil Disobedience and Walden; emphasized individual conscience.

Inner Self

Core focus of Transcendentalism—the soul’s private, inward life.

Imagination over Reason

Value placed on imagination and insight above strict rational thought.

Intuition

Highest power of the soul in Transcendental thought.

Over Soul

A universal spiritual unity connecting all beings in Transcendentalism.

Civil Disobedience

Thoreau’s essay advocating moral resistance to unjust laws.

Romanticism

Literary movement valuing beauty of nature, inner life, and imagination over reason.

American Renaissance

Mid-19th-century cultural flowering tied to Romanticism and Transcendentalism.

Naturalism

Extreme realism where characters are limited by environment and heredity; often shows oppression by social forces or nature.

The Open Boat

Naturalist short story about humans struggling against indifferent nature.

The Grapes of Wrath

Naturalist novel depicting oppression and hardship during the Great Depression.

Western Expansion

Railroad growth and mass production transforming American society, reflecting Romantic/Realist themes.