ELA literary periods

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

Langston Hughes

Not Without Laughter

William Bradford

Of Plymouth Plantation

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

Thomas Paine

Common Sense

Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

Henry James

Daisy Miller

Jack Kerouac

On the Road

Nez Perce Tradition

Coyote Finishes His Work

Fahrenheit 451

Post-Modernism

Walden

Transcendentalism

Not Without Laughter

Harlem Renaissance

Of Plymouth Plantation

Puritanism

The Great Gatsby

Modernism

Common Sense

Enlightenment

The Goldfinch

Contemporary

Daisy Miller

Realism

On the Road

Beat Generation

Coyote Finishes His Work

Early and Indigenous

1490-1670

Early and Indigenous

1670-1790

Puritanism

1750-1800

Enlightenment

1800-1860

Transcendentalism

1860-1914

Realism

1914-1950

Modernism

1920-1930

Harlem Renaissance

1950-1965

Beat Generation

1950-Present

Post-Modernism

1970-Present

Contemporary

Puritanism

religiously based; defined by focus on doctrine, straightforward prose, and tendency to be written in the form of journals or letters

Modernism

rejected traditional writing styles; defined by experimentation, fragmentation, free verse, stream of consciousness, and often pessimism

Beat Generation

social and literary movement; defined by countercultural idea, informal style, and accessibility

Early and Indigenous

Earliest American literary movements; defined by oral tradition, myth, and storytelling, as well as practicality and future-focused writing

Romanticism and Transcendentalism

Developed as a rejection of strict rules and religion; defined by idealism, belief in the divinity of nature, and self-actualization and individualism

Enlightenment and Rationalism

Intellectual and philosophical movement; defined by independent thought, logic, and skepticism

Harlem Renaissance

Intellectual and cultural revival of African American expression; defined by themes of racial identity, creative expression, and artistry

Contemporary

modern literary style; defined by reality-based stories, present-day settings, and relevant cultural/social issues

Realism and Naturalism

based on observation; defined by focus on ordinary characters and scenarios, scientifically-observed life, and truthfulness

Post-Modernism

Rejection of modernist values; defined by exploration of multiple meanings/lack of meaning, paradox, and unreliability