美国文学史复习整.docVIP

American literature History 1607---1775 Colonial Period 1775---1865 the Early National Period 1828---1865 Romantic Period in American 1865---1914 Realistic Period 1914---1939 Modern Literature 1939--- Contemporary Period Chapter 1 Colonial America(1607---1775) The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. It endured starvation, brutality, and misrule. However, the literature of the period paints America in glowing colors as the land of riches and opportunity. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an English soldier of fortune. His reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinct American literature written in English. Mayflower, 1620 ,brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. Christopher Jones Plymouth Before landing, an agreement for the temporary government of the colony by the will of the majority was drawn up in the famous Mayflower Compact. Harvard, the first college in the colonies, was founded near Boston in 1636 in order to train new Puritan ministers. The first printing press in America was started there in 1638, and America’s first newspaper , The Boston Newsletter, appeared in 1704. They did not draw lines of distinction between the secular and religious spheres: All of life was an expression of the divine will----a belief that later resurfaces in Transcendentalism. Captain John Smith William Bradford John Winthrop Cotton Mather Anne Bradstreet Edward Taylor American Puritanism They stressed predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonement from God’s grace. They went to America to prove that they were God’s chosen people who would enjoy God’s blessings on earth and in Heaven. Finally, they built a way of life that stressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety. Both doctrinaire and an opportunist. Literary Influence: American Literature