American Literature
Native-American Literature, c.20,000B.C.E.-present
Characteristics
The literature is as diverse as the cultures that created it, but there are often common elements such as stories explaining creation or natural forces.
Major Writers or Works
Oral narratives: Myths; legends; songs; creation stories from groups such as the Zuni, Aztec, Navajo, Lakota, Seneca, Tlingit, Cherokee, Blackfoot, Cree, Inuit, and many more.
Exploration Period, 1492-1607
Characteristics
The first European writings about North America are written in this period.
European writings describe the explorers' travels and impressions of the continent and its Native people.
Major Writers or Works
Prose: Christopher Columbus, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Thomas Harriot, and Samuel de Champlain.
Oral narratives: Seneca legend "How America was discovered."
Colonial Period, 1607-c.1765
Characteristics
The Colonial period was dominated by Puritan beliefs and thus literature of this period is usually historical, religious, or didactic.
The most common genres were tracts, polemics, journals, narratives, sermons, and some poetry.
The first slave narratives were written at this time.
Imaginative literature was rare; in some colonies, it was banned for being immoral.
Major Writers or Works
Poetry: Michael Wigglesworth, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor.
Prose: John Smith, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanacks.
Narratives: Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
Revolutionary Period, 1765-1790
Characteristics
This period begins with the passing of the Stamp Act in England and ends in 1790.
The Revolutionary period usually refers to writings that are politically motivated, either in support of British rule, in support of American patriotism and independence, or relating to the Constitution.
Major Writers or Works
Characteristics
The literature is as diverse as the cultures that created it, but there are often common elements such as stories explaining creation or natural forces.
Major Writers or Works
Oral narratives: Myths; legends; songs; creation stories from groups such as the Zuni, Aztec, Navajo, Lakota, Seneca, Tlingit, Cherokee, Blackfoot, Cree, Inuit, and many more.
Exploration Period, 1492-1607
Characteristics
The first European writings about North America are written in this period.
European writings describe the explorers' travels and impressions of the continent and its Native people.
Major Writers or Works
Prose: Christopher Columbus, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Thomas Harriot, and Samuel de Champlain.
Oral narratives: Seneca legend "How America was discovered."
Colonial Period, 1607-c.1765
Characteristics
The Colonial period was dominated by Puritan beliefs and thus literature of this period is usually historical, religious, or didactic.
The most common genres were tracts, polemics, journals, narratives, sermons, and some poetry.
The first slave narratives were written at this time.
Imaginative literature was rare; in some colonies, it was banned for being immoral.
Major Writers or Works
Poetry: Michael Wigglesworth, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor.
Prose: John Smith, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanacks.
Narratives: Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
Revolutionary Period, 1765-1790
Characteristics
This period begins with the passing of the Stamp Act in England and ends in 1790.
The Revolutionary period usually refers to writings that are politically motivated, either in support of British rule, in support of American patriotism and independence, or relating to the Constitution.
Major Writers or Works