American Literature

Lets get it brother

Who wrote ‘‘A Description of New England’’ 1616

John Smith (1580-1631)

Who famously envisioned the Puritan settlement as a ‘‘City Upon a Hill’’, a ‘‘New Promised Land’’, which he linked to the idea of a American Hegemony.

John Winthrop (1588-1649)

Who wrote ‘‘Wonders of the Invisible World’’

Cotton Mather

Name a significant literary genre from the Enlightenment

Sermon. Jonathan Edwards authored the famous sermon, ‘‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’’.

Name two literary works which explored the theme of witch hunts and religious oppression.

Young Goodman Brown (Nathaniel Hawthorne), The Crucible (Arthur Miller)

Name the key Enlightenment figures and what they were associated with

Benjamin Franklin (Autobiography), Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason), Thomas Jefferson (associated with freedom)

What does the ‘‘Middle Passage’’ refer to

Refers to the horrific transportation of captured Africans by ship from West Africa to North America, works by Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglas (18-19th century)

What was the ‘‘Doctrine of Discovery’’ (15th century)

Allowed colonizers to claim dominion over newly ‘‘discovered’’ lands, a ‘‘hegemonic gesture’’.

What did Native Americans use to write with

Wampum Belts, Birch Bark Scrolls and Bison skins

Name notable Native American novels

John Rollin Ridge ‘‘Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta’’, Sophia Alice Callahan ‘‘Wynema, a Child of the Forest’’ N. Scott Momaday’s ‘‘House Made of Dawn’’

What was the first Native American newspaper

The Cherokee Phoenix

Enlist famous authors from the American Renaissance

Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau

Name notable authors of Gothic Fiction

Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson

What were the notable motifs in Gothic fiction

The Doppleganger (a copy of you which you see before you die), The Uncanny (yk), The Sublime (something so distinctive and unique, you cant describe it with words)

Name the main characteristics of gothic fiction

The unreliable narrator

Voice

1^st person narrative

Provide the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson quote

‘‘There is a time in every man’s education, when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide’’

What is Henry David Thoreau known for

His essay ‘‘Civil Disobedience’’ exemplified Emersonian non-conformity, detailing his refusal to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican-American War and American Slavery.

Who is Margaret Fuller (a transcendetalist)

Woman in the 19th Century.

What was the heritage of American Transcendentalism

includes its contributions to the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the development of ecological thought

What was Herman Melville known for

Moby Dick'; or, the Whale

What was Melville’s ‘‘Deliberate Downfall’’

He intentionally chose to write difficult and complex books, causing his popularity and book sales to drop significantly.

What is Moby Dick about?

The novel is about whaling and a story of revenge. Captain Ahab who lost a leg to the gigantic white sperm whale Moby Dick, becomes obsessed with finding and killing it.

What is the iconic opening line of Moby Dick.

‘‘Call me Ishmael’’. Ishmael, the first-person narrator, is presented as an outcast, a ‘‘bastard son’’ from the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah.

What was the ship’s name and why is it important (Moby Dick)

Pequod, it is named after the exterminated Native American tribe, the ship becomes a metaphor for America.

Explain ‘‘Whiteness’’ as a crucial theme from Moby Dick

Whiteness is deconstructed, it is not merely a colour but an ‘‘absence of colour’’ lacking a definite meaning.

Name Walt Whitman themes.

Democracy, The Body, Nature and Culture.

What’s the most important piece of writing from Whitman?

His monumental work, Leaves of Grass, is considered an ‘‘American Pan Tadeusz’’ or an ‘‘epic of the self’’. It is characterized by its free verse, reflecting his consistent ‘‘freedom of expression and freedom of form’’

Was Emily Dickinson a famous author (when she was alive)

No! She was notably against the ‘‘Almighty Dollar’ and the ‘‘cult of success’’

Characterise Emily Dickinson’s poetry.

Idiosyncratic capitalization, frequent use of dashes, and a lack of strict rhyme schemes. Many poems exist in multiple versions due to the ‘‘materiality’’ of her poetry; paper was precious, leading her to write on small scraps like tickets or envelopes, which were prone to damage.

What were the key themes of her poems. (Emily Dickinson) Name some of them

‘‘Success is counted sweetest’’, ‘‘I like a look of Agony’’ (death), Much Madness is divinest Sense (majority doesn’t exactly rule), ‘‘I heard a Fly buzz - when I died (death), ‘‘Publication - is the Auction Of The Mind of Man’’ (publicity and commercialization)

Explain American Modernism

The core of Modernism is a ‘‘rejection of traditional realism’’. This rejection stems from the belief that there is no objectivity of perception or thinking, necessitating a change in writing styles.

Key differences between Modernist and Realist worldviews

Linear vs Discontinuous Narrative: (Linear = chronological, discontinuous = where things happen without a strict linear structure) Omniscient vs Subjective Narration (Realist novels often employ an omniscient narrator who ‘‘knows everything’’ and provide a ‘‘closed ending’’. Modernism, emphasizes impressionism and subjectivity, highlighting ‘‘HOW we see is more important, rather than WHAT we see’’. It introduced the plurality of perspectives, recognizing that each individual’s way of seeing and understanding is ‘‘SPECIAL’’. Fragmented Forms and Collages: modernism embraces fragmented forms, believing that ‘‘even fragments can be beautiful’’. It also utilizes collages of disparate materials, a method where new texts are created by combining other people’s texts or various elements.

What was Ezra Pound known for?

A modernist poet known for his desire to compress poetic expression

What famous two-line poem exemplifies his approach?

(Ezra Pound)

‘‘In a Station of the Metro’’ - ‘‘The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough’’, Pound believed that ‘‘The tradition is a beauty which we preserve and not as a set of fetters to bind us’’ emphasizing that tradition should not enslave us.

Who is William Faulkner?

A major American Modernist writer, his motto is ‘‘NO MORE REALISM’’ and its focus on ‘‘how we see thee world’’ and ‘‘how should we represent what we see’’ in language.

He was the first major American writer to use what technique? (William Faulkner)

‘‘Stream of conciousness’’, also used ‘‘Non-linear chronology’’ (events are not presented in a straightforward temporal order. Multiple narrators (presenting different points of view on a single event, reflecting varied perceptions.

Name two of Faulkner’s significant novels

The Sound and the Fury (a tale told by an idiot through language, using the stream of consciousness too) Absalom, Absalom! (This novel explores family history and is deeply influenced by the idea that ‘‘the past is more ‘real

Who was John Dos Passos?

A prominent Modernist writer, his early work, Three Soldiers, addresses the trauma of war, contrasting it with the romanticized ‘‘glory’’ of being a soldier.

Explain the significance of the U.S.A Trilogy (by John Dos Passos)

It’s his most significant work (the trilogy). Published during the difficult period period of the Great Depression, like Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, it was a challenging read for the public.

What were the aims and four distinct narrative modes John Dos Passos used in the U.S.A Trilogy.

He provided a panorama of American life and experience in the 1930s, he represented the ‘‘American language’’ showcasing the diversity of Englishes across different social classes. Four distinct narrative modes: 1. Newsreel: This mode incorporates authentic headlines, advertisements, slogans and popular songs. 2. Biography: These are factual accounts of famous people, including presidents and businessmen, a unique inclusion for a novel. 3. Camera Eye: Similar to Faulkner’s stream of consciousness or interior monologue, this technique provides subjective, fictional insights into characters’ thoughts. 4. ‘‘Traditional’’ narratives: These are conventional fictional narratives.