Monograph Ihssane Benbouhia UCD El Jadida .pdf

A monograph submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement of the
degree of Licence in English Studies.
CNE: 1513290777 Academic Year: 2021-2022
University Chouaib Doukkali
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences
El Jadida
A History of American Literature
Under the Supervision of:
Pr. A. Benlamine
Presented by:
Benbouhia Ihssane

Table of Content:
Acknowledgements:..................................................................................................................................... 5
Dedication:................................................................................................................................................... 6
General Introduction:.................................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter I: Early American Literature ....................................................................................................... 3
1. Native American Literature......................................................................................................... 3
2. Literature of exploration. .................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter II: Age of Faith (1607-1750).......................................................................................................... 5
1. Historical Background. .................................................................................................................... 5
2.1. William Bradford (1590-1657). ................................................................................................ 6
2.2. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672).................................................................................................... 7
2.3. Edward Taylor (1644-1729)...................................................................................................... 7
Chapter III: Revolutionary Literature or Age of Reason (1750-1800). ..................................................... 8
1. Historical Background. .................................................................................................................... 8
2. Major writers. .................................................................................................................................. 9
2.1. Benjamin Franklin (1706- 1790). .................................................................................................. 9
2.2. Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826)............................................................................................... 10
2.3. Thomas Pain (1737-1809). ...................................................................................................... 10
2.4. Patrick Henry (1736-1799). .................................................................................................... 10
2.5. Philip Freneau (1752-1832). ................................................................................................... 11
Chapter IV: American Renaissance (1800-1865)..................................................................................... 12
1. Romanticism (1820-1860)............................................................................................................... 12
2. Dark Romanticism. ........................................................................................................................ 12
3. Major writers. ................................................................................................................................ 13
3.1. Washington Irving (1789-1851)................................................................................................... 13
3.2. Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864).............................................................................................. 14
3.3. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). ..................................................................................................... 15
3.4. Herman Melville (1819-1891)...................................................................................................... 16
4. Transcendentalism (1840-1855). .................................................................................................... 17
4.1. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). ............................................................................................ 17
4.2. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). ........................................................................................... 19
Chapter V: American Slavery (1618-1875)............................................................................................... 20
1. Historical Background. .................................................................................................................. 20
2. Major Writers. ............................................................................................................................... 20

2.1. Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897). ................................................................................................... 20
2.2. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)............................................................................................. 21
Chapter VI: The Rise of Realism (1865-1915). ........................................................................................ 23
2. Naturalism (1880-1940).................................................................................................................. 23
3. Civil War (1861-1865).................................................................................................................... 24
4. Major Writers. ............................................................................................................................... 25
4.1. Samuel Clemens (1835-1910).................................................................................................. 25
4.2. Stephen Crane (1871-1900). ................................................................................................... 25
4.3. Frank Norris (1870-1902)....................................................................................................... 26
Chapter VII: Modernism (1910-1950). ..................................................................................................... 28
2. Major Writers. ............................................................................................................................... 28
2.1. Ezra Pound (1885-1972). ........................................................................................................ 28
2.2. Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965). ........................................................................................ 29
3. Imagism (1908-1917). ..................................................................................................................... 30
3.1. William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). ................................................................................... 30
Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................................ 32
Bibliography: ............................................................................................................................................. 34

Acknowledgements:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness and render my warmest thanks
to my supervisor, Professor A. Benlamine, who made this work possible. His
friendly guidance and expert advice have been invaluable throughout all stages
of the work.
I would also wish to express my gratitude to all of my classmates who never
hesitate to give help whenever needed.
Special thanks go also to my monograph mates for their advice and support.
I would like also to thank all the professors of English Studies at Chouïb
Doukkali University for their efforts to pass knowledge to future generations.
An honorable mention goes to my dear parents for their support and
encouragement to the success of this paper.
Thank you.

Dedication:
This monograph is dedicated to:
 My family members who have always been with me in the ups and downs
of life and who have taught me the values of patience and hard work.
 To my supervisor Professor A. Benlamine who has encouraged and
supported me.
 To my classmates who have been a great source of inspiration.
 To all the professors of the English Studies department at Chouïb
Doukkali University.

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General Introduction:
American literature is the written works produced in the United States and its
preceding colonies. During its history, America was merely a group of colonies
scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent.
Therefore, its literary tradition begins with the tradition of English literature.
However, very quickly unique styles emerged to develop an American writing
tradition that stands up in world literature.
This little research paper is divided into seven chapters: The first chapter deals
with the early American literature which belongs to Native American
Literature and early explorers. The second chapter gives an insightful portrayal
of Colonial American literature. The third chapter sheds light on the main
works of Revolutionary literature. The fourth chapter addresses the American
Renaissance which includes romanticism and transcendentalism. The sixth
chapter is about American Slavery and its literature. The seventh chapter call
attention to the realism and naturalism movements. The last chapter points out
the modernism and imagism movements. Not to forget that each chapter goes
along with her major writers that were the most notable of that era.
In writing this research I aimed to present the subject as a sort of essay and
paragraphs rather than a Manuel of a book. I have not undertaken to describe or

2
even to mention every American author or book of importance, but only those
which seemed to be of most significance. Nevertheless, I believe that this
research contains enough detail to reveal the historical timeline of American
literature.

3
Chapter I: Early American Literature
1. Native American Literature.
American literature began with the oral transmission of stories, legends, and lyrics.
From different Indian cultures. At that time, more than 500 Indian tribes lived in
America. Each one of them had its own charts, songs, tales, and myths. But they were
not documented in writing. So the survival of a Myth Depends on how often they repeat
her for many generations before writing her down. The most central theme in Native
American literature was: First, Nature. Due to its deep relationship with the Indians.
They respect her, consider her their spiritual and physical mother, and their source of
inspiration. Thus, the main character of their stories was always an animal or a plant.
Second, the vital theme in Native American literature is the hero's journey. The hero is
sometimes considered a trickster, a foolish, or a selfish character. Third, the creation
stories. As a supernatural world theme. The popular one is about the creator Maheo,
who sent four birds to bring the earth from the deepest water. Only the coot succeeded
at delivering some mud because he could not fly away. Even if Indian literature was
only oral, we could not ignore her impact on American English. As it contains cords
taken from Indian traditions. Like a raccoon, potato, tobacco, and totem.1
2. Literature of exploration.
The voyage of Christopher Columbus is the first known and sustained contact between the
1
VanSpanckeren, K. U.S.A Literature in Brief. The United States Department of State: University of Florida. Retrieved
from: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00011637/00001 (p. 2-6).

4
Americans and the rest of the world. The trip was funded by the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and
Isabella. In his journal "Dario," Columbus recounts the trip's drama to America. He talks about
how they faked the ship's logs so no one would know how long they had traveled, he described
the new world and how they sailed toward it, and he also described their journey as a very
frightening experience. They felt that they would fall off the edge of the world, But with the
sighting of land1
. An island in the Bahamas called San Salvador. They become mesmerized.
They started exploring the land. Their first impression of the island inhabitants is that they
were timid and full of fear. So they kidnapped some of them to take them back to Spain. When
they arrived back in Spain, Columbus immediately wrote a letter to the king and queen. This
letter is one of the most important documents. It presents the early literature of exploration.
Along with his diaries, journals, and reports which announced his discoveries. Painting
America with glowing colors as the land of riches and opportunities.
1
VanSpanckeren, k. (2010). Outline of American Literature. A. J. Cornell Publications. (p. 4)

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Chapter II: Age of Faith (1607-1750).
1. Historical Background.
Colonial American literature first appeared in the American colonies between 1607 and
the late 1700s. It was largely influenced by British writers. Many of her characteristics can be
found in poems, journals, letters, narratives, and histories written by explorers, settlers, as well
as religious, and historical figures of that time. Colonial American literature includes mainly
the writings of the pilgrims and puritans.
The Pilgrim's writings were the first colonial literature represented in Of Plymouth
Plantation by William Bradford. This first volume focuses mainly on the journey of pilgrims
from England to North America and discusses the founding of the Plymouth settlement. The
book also represents the biblical importance of the pilgrims reaching America and their
struggles. The second Pilgrim's writings were also by William Bradford. The governor of the
Plymouth Colony for over 30 years. This second volume was not completely finished because
of Bradford’s death. The book discusses the struggles of the pilgrims in North America and
their day-to-day living. Like their health, and the spiritual welfare of the colonists.
Unlike the pilgrims, the puritans had a larger influence on American literature. They still
influence moral judgment as well as religious beliefs in the United States these days.
According to VanSpanckeren (2010):
“The Puritan's definition of good writing was that which brought home a full awareness of
the importance of worshipping God, and of the spiritual dangers that the soul faced on earth.
The puritan style varied enormously from complex metaphysical poetry to homely journals
and crushingly pedantic religious history. Regardless of what is the style or genre, certain
themes remained constant. Life was seen as a test, failure led to eternal damnation and hellfire,
and success to heavenly bliss. Puritans tended to feel that earthly success was a sign of

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election. Advancing their own profit, and community well-being is also furthering God's
plans. All of life was an expression of the divine will. A belief that later resurfaces in
Transcendentalism”1
.
Many puritan works were written in poetry form. Anne Bradstreet’s poetry is a good
example of religious texts of the colonial literature era. It was this type of writing that
influence American literature and led later to the Great Awakening movements.
2. Major Writers.
2.1. William Bradford (1590-1657).
William Bradford was an English pilgrim separatist originally from Northern England. He
moved to Holland in order to escape persecution from King James 1 of England, and then
migrated to the Plymouth Colony on Mayflower in 1620. He served as Governor for many
years until the first thanksgiving of 1623. He was the man who led the pilgrims during
formative years in America, shaping and stabilizing the political institution of the first
permanent colony in New England. His remarkable tact, honesty, and political ability proved
indispensable in assuming the colony’s survival and helping avert numerous potential
disasters, making him ideally suited to be the first historian of his colony. Of Plymouth
Plantation is a compelling account of the colony's beginnings and the remembered voyage to
America. In chapter 2, he describes pilgrim's love and devotion to their native land, but the
strength of their religious faith and the oppression they had been facing pushed them to
undertake a very testing plight while they were journeying toward America. Bradford also
states his thoughts on religion and the bible in contrast with the mission of the pilgrims.
1
VanSpanckeren, K. (2010). Op. Cit. (p. 5-6)

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2.2. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672).
Anne Bradstreet is the first Puritan woman in American literature. She is notable for her
corpus of poetry. Born and educated in England, Anne Bradstreet was married at sixteen in
1628 and migrated with her parents and husband to the new world in 1630 on a trip of more
than 3 months crossing by the ship Arbela. Anne was the first woman to be recognized as an
accomplished new world poet. She wrote poetry in addition to her other obligations. Her early
works were based on Du Barters' style, but her later writings develop into her unique style of
poetry which centers on her role as a mother, her struggles with the trials and tribulations of
life, and her Puritan faith. Her first collection The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
receive considerable and favorable attention when it was published in 1650 in London. Even
the king, George 3 is reported to have it in his library.
2.3. Edward Taylor (1644-1729).
Like all New England's first writers Edward Taylor was born in England. He was the son
of an independent farmer who owned his own land. Taylor was a teacher who sailed to New
England in 1668 to get rid of the Church of England. He get his degree from Harvard College,
where he mastered speaking Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. When he was the minister in the
frontier town of Westfield, Massachusetts, he served the settlers selflessly. He was the well-
educated man of his era. He used his knowledge to be the town minister, doctor, and civic
leader. Taylor's works were discovered only after his death, which was divided into funeral
elegies, lyrics, medieval debate, and a 500-page Metrical History of Christianity. His greatest
works, based on the modern critics, are a series of short preparatory Meditations.

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Chapter III: Revolutionary Literature or Age of Reason (1750-1800).
The Age of Reason was an intellectual and philosophical movement that began in Europe
and reached colonial America in the 18th Century. It was known for relying on rationality and
scientific inquiry instead of the blind belief of Puritan religion and its traditions, which makes
Americans desire a governmental body instead of a monarch while the thinkers and writers
call for ideals of justice, liberty, equality, and freedom as the natural rights of man. Their
writings that including pamphlets, poems, and essays, were mainly about the problems with
the British government which lead to the idea of the revolution that spread in America during
the 1770s against Britain and was the first modern war of liberation against a colonial power.
VanSpanckeren points out that the attempt at American independence seemed to many at
the time a divine sign that America and its people were destined for greatness1
. Unlike the
victorious military revolutions, cultural revolutions cannot be successfully imposed but must
grow from the soil of shared experiences. It would take 50 years of gathering history for
America to obtain its cultural independence and to build the first great generation of American
writers. 'Americans were painfully aware of their excessive dependence on English literature
models. The search for native literature become a national obsession', states VanSpanckeren2
.
Influenced by British roots, Americans find it very hard to evolve nationalist literary
culture because British writers were more skillful as their products were incomparable. Not
only that, the lack of laws that protect copyrights contributed to spreading their superior works
cheaply, which made American writers incapable of coming up with their own literary
products that could compete with them.
Few works appeared during or soon after the revolution since only the leisured and
1
VanSancken, k. Op. cit. (p. 7)
2
Ibid.

9
independently wealthy could afford to indulge their interest in writing. Some of them were the
first great American writers Like James Fennimore Cooper and Washington Irving.
2. Major writers.
2.1. Benjamin Franklin (1706- 1790).
Benjamin Franklin was a bibliographer, author, printer, publisher, scientist, philanthropist,
and diplomat. He was greatly influenced by European enlightenment thinkers to forgo the
traditions of Puritans that were smothering his ideals, but he kept their hardworking and self-
made virtues. He always tended to better himself with constant self-consciousness and self-
scrutiny until reached a status of wealth and respectability. To be useful to others, he employs
his wisdom to perpetuate his insights and helpful tips in self-help books like Poor Richard's
Almanac. He used to give memorable sayings of encouragement and industriousness like
‘Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise', and he recounts sagacious
anecdotes. One of them is about losing a nail would lead to losing a shoe which can ultimately
result in missing the horse that the rider cannot find and getting lost himself. This shows that
ignoring small mistakes would lead to big ones. Franklin's autobiography consists of some
valuable pieces of advice that encourage 13 important virtues that all people need to acquire.
Although his prosperity and fame, he was also an important democratic exponent as he drafted
the declaration of independence and American institution. The declaration of Independence is
a document that represents a social contact representing the will of colonies to gain
independence from British colonialism. It reflects the ideals influenced by the enlightenment
movement that is based on reason and self-evident and lucid arguments. Franklin maintains
that each man has the right to be free and happy and lives with honor, and he condemns the
British government for its despotism and exploitation. He make it clear to colonizers that
America should be ruled by a democratic government that Americans would choose and be

10
pleased with.
2.2. Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826).
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher,
and founding father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809.
Jefferson is famous for his document "The Declaration of Independence" which maintains
three main points: First, God created us all equal, and he gives us the right to life. Second, the
government is a way to pursue those rights. Last but not least, if the government tries to take
those rights, man is free to revolt.
2.3. Thomas Pain (1737-1809).
Thomas Paine is the creator of pamphlets during the revolution. These pamphlets were the
embodiment of the true spirit of revolutionary literature. They were distributed to excite the
patriots and warn the loyalists. They were read aloud in public places to stir feelings of
rejecting injustice and submission. Common Sense is one of them, and 200000 copies were
sold. They were clear and easily intelligible while they were written logically and
compellingly.
2.4. Patrick Henry (1736-1799).
Patrick Henry: is one of the founding fathers of the United States and the first governor of
Virginia. He is an American lawyer, orator, and patriot. He was a simple example of the
American struggle against British tyranny. He is a self-made man who educated himself to be
a lawyer. His rhetoric skills and his control over the language were very captivating, and his
famous speech “Give me liberty or give me death” fired up America's fight for independence.

11
This extemporaneous speech was delivered in front of legislators. He beseeched the committee
to drop their delusions that Britain would respond to their demands. He told them that Britain
was stationing more soldiers to attain more control over Americans, and he begged them to
reconsider our subservient position under the despotism of Britain. He demanded that the
current time would be the perfect chance to overthrow this oppressive colonialism. Henry was
very convincing and rhetorical to the point that all delegates voted in favor of the war, and
colonies were preparing to wage the war against Britain.
2.5. Philip Freneau (1752-1832).
Philip Freneau was an American poet, nationalist, polemicist, sea captain, and newspaper
editor. Freneau disentangled himself from the cultural conservatism of the educated class and
aristocracy. He instead embraced liberal and democratic causes. He fought as a militiaman
during the revolutionary war where he was captured and imprisoned in British ships. While
there, he experienced a very harsh circumstance that almost killed him, but his family managed
to release him. He wrote "The British Prison Ship" to condemn the cruelty of the British. This
poem and other ones like "American Liberty", "A Political Litany" and "Midnight
Consultation" gained him the fame of poet of the revolution. He became a powerful and
crusading Newspaper editor who could use to publish his poems. His audience was average
readers who enjoyed his well-organized verses that spoke of subjects that are near the
commoners.

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Chapter IV: American Renaissance (1800-1865).
1. Romanticism (1820-1860).
After the "Age of Reason" came to an end, the people of America were tired of realism
and objective reasoning; they wanted to see life as more than it was. This was the Era of
Romantics. The romantic style focuses on the spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of nature,
universal truths, and freedom. It values the importance of self-expression, inspiration, art,
and individuality. 'According to Romantic theory, self and nature were one, self-awareness
was not a selfish dead end but a mode of knowledge opening up the universe', states
VanSpanckeren1
. The idea of "self", which submitted selfishness to earlier generations was
redefined new compound words with positive meanings surfaced: "self-realization, self-
reliance, and self-expression". Therefore, The Romanticists used self-awareness as a
method to sense people's pain and pleasure through pondering on one's self to realize what
makes one happy or sad. This movement was affirmative and appropriate for most
American poets and creative essayists. The Romantic spirit appeared particularly matched
to American democracy. It stressed individualism, accepted and valued the common
person, and looked to the inspired imagination for its aesthetic and ethical values.
2. Dark Romanticism.
Dark Romanticism is the dark side of Romanticism Literature. It can best be defined as a
form of literature that use symbols and terrifying themes to discuss man's moral weakness,
self-destruction, judgment, punishment, as well as the psychological effects of guilt and
sin. It emphasizes the use of medieval, wild, and mysterious elements including
supernatural events and horrifying situations. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and
1
VanSancken, k. Op. cit. (p. 11)

13
Herman Melville were the most famous authors who embrace this genre. Each one of them
wrote stories and novels filled with gothic and psychological fiction that has helped shape
American Romantic Literature.
3. Major writers.
3.1. Washington Irving (1789-1851).
Washington Irving was the youngest of 11 children born to a comfortable family.
He was known for his artistic abilities in coloring picturesque images and creating
nuanced tones and emotional effects through just words. In his Sketchbook which
gains fame abroad, he managed to reduplicate real places in a magical and
captivating description as he endowed them with life. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
reflects a fertile imagination of Irving that combines comedy and thrilling actions.
It tells the story of a teacher by the name of Ichabod who was now a teacher in the
town of sleepy hollow. The residents of the town were known for believing in the
supernatural. One of these ghost stories was about a headless horseman who was
seen looming near the church. This teacher was infatuated with his beautiful
student. This student attracted other men, and one of them was a prankster who did
not like Ichabod approaching his lover. One night, feeling dejected by the rejection
of the student, he was riding along an abandoned path near the church. Suddenly,
he felt that another horseman was sneaking behind him. When he confronted this
looming figure, he noticed that the rider was headless while his head was settled in
front of him on the horse. He was terrified and ran away, but he still felt that he was
being followed. When he turned to see if he outdistanced his chaser, ahead was

14
soaring towards him. The next day, Ichabod disappeared completely, but a smashed
pumpkin was found next to his hat. Only days later, the news of the prankster
marrying the beautiful student was announced. However, the townspeople were
exchanging the gossip that their teacher was taken by the headless horseman.
3.2. Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864).
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem Massachusetts. He is the
only Anti-Transcendentalist American writer. Even if he is a close friend of the
group of Transcendentalists (optimistic), his prose was rather pessimistic. He used
his writings to express his dark, gloomy outlook on life in a distinct and unusual
style. Nathaniel's writing skills were developed at a young age. When he was four
years old his father dies of yellow fever, he then grew up with his grandparents,
uncles, and aunts. He used to go alone on adventures while taking long walks and
reading excessively. He studied Shakespeare, Pope, Milton, and Thompson, until
he was able to write about his adventures. When Nathaniel turned 15 he moved with
his uncle and later attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick. At that moment,
Hawthorne began writing his first literary piece, the Fanshawe. Which he published
anonymously at his own expense, but regret it later on. Hawthorne, however, soon
found his own voice, style, and subjects, and within five years he was able to publish
successful works such as The Token, Peter Parley, and The Blithe dale Romance,
and The Dolliver Romance. Despite that The Dolliver Romance is an unfinished
piece of art that was to be romance, it was published posthumously along with a
number of others. Even though Hawthorne was perpetually dissatisfied with his

15
works throughout his life. They remain notable for their treatment of New England
Puritanism, personal guilt, and the complexities of moral choices.
3.3. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).
Like all writers, the historical background and life experiences play a significant
role in shaping the literature style and theme of Edgar Allan Poe. The themes of
his poetry and short stories are mainly death, regret, and lost love. As "The Tell-
Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher", as well as his famous poem
"Annabel Lee".
Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809. His childhood was lousy and
stressful. For instance, his father abandoned the family and his mother died in 1811.
Then he moved to Richmond, Virginia, to live with his adoptive family. His
successive trials affect in relationship with his adopted parents. He drop out of the
University of Virginia and got fired from the military academy. Poe worked as a
journalist, writer, and editor in New York, Baltimore, and Richmond. Regardless of
his success as a literary figure, he lived a miserable life. He suffered from
alcoholism, depression, and diabetes. Also, he had grief over the death of his young
wife.
Quite naturally, all these horrific events had created the detective fiction style of
pose short stories, which are widely regarded as the central figure of Romanticism
in the United States, and in American Literature.

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3.4. Herman Melville (1819-1891).
During Pre-Civil War, the harsh times of slavery, several American Romantics
appeared. Herman Melville was one of them. This group of eminent novelists
represents the American Renaissance- who created a new and vigorous national
literature. Herman Melville was born in New York City to a wealthy family.
Melville was full of imagination, therefore, his father’s fortune offers him the
opportunity to travel at a younger age. Until the sudden death of his father urged
him to move back home and help support his family, which was left in a precarious
financial situation. However, this incident didn’t hold him back from seeking his
passion. In 1837, at the age of eighteen, Melville signed as a cabin boy on a
merchant ship that was to sail from Massachusetts to Liverpool. His experiences on
the trip served as a basis for the novel Redburn (1849). That is, the start of a long
travel journey where Melville found his source of inspiration to write other
magnificent works, such as the novel Omoo (1847), and the novel White-Jacket
(1850). Since those works were around his sailing experiences and sea descriptions,
they were so realistic and the audience love it. However, in 1851, with the
publication of Moby Dick, Melville’s popularity starts to diminish. Melville used
to write about his life experiences, and Moby Dick was about a true story of a
whaling accident, and he write it while living on a farm, and taking care of his
mother. This time, Melville’s readers didn’t enjoy the work. They expected a piece
of literature that was more similar to his early work. This story was a symbolic
allegory of humans against the universe. It is ironic that the novel that served to fail
Melville’s popularity during his lifetime is the one for which he is best known today.

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Herman Melville was the first original and daring writer of nineteenth-century
American Literature. Uses his own Dark Romanticism style that can be compared
with other great writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.
4. Transcendentalism (1840-1855).
The transcendentalist movement was a reaction to the emphasis on reason and a
manifestation of humanitarian values that were stressed by democratic principles.
The transcendentalists insisted on individual differences and unique viewpoints,
they as well pushed individualism to extreme limits as they renounce conventions
of society and anything that tied them with others. Transcendentalists advocate
intuition and spirituality above empiricism and materialism It acknowledges that
the soul is part of nature and can arise when it is unified with good. It was linked to
Concord, a village in New England. As was the site of the first revolution battle,
Ralph Waldo Emerson commemorates this fight by describing the resounding shots
of the battlers that were heard across the world. The serenity and sublime natural
view of this village attracted some of the great names of American literature like
Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Harriet Jacobs. The
transcendentalists formed a club where they published a periodical magazine by the
name of The Dial. A number of transcendentalists were also abolitionists.
4.1. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).
Like Emerson, David Thoreau growing up in a poor family. He worked his way
through Harvard to be an imposing American writer. However, his fame and glory

18
did not prevent him from living independently yet moderately by reducing his needs
and acquiring little money. He developed his own principles and rigorously abided
by them. His Masterpiece Walden tells his real experience of living in the woods.
He spent two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built on a property
owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Although he was surrounded by nature, the book
discussed how you can still live in nature and still keep the life of the society as he
describes how to build a house or derive pleasure from meditating on the stars. The
book also promotes the ascetic life as a way to live a good life as Henry David
Thoreau sees that abstaining from earthly sensual pleasure does not prevent the
person from enjoying life as it can be replaced with the spiritual union with nature.
He was also influenced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophy as his retreatment and
concentration are influenced by Asian methods of meditation. Rather than testing
transcendentalism theories, he re-enacted these principles, and in his journals, he
views that although English literature shows a genuine love for nature, it fails to
embody the natural wilderness of men. His essay "Civil Disobedience" describes
the efficiency of passive disobedience for renouncing and changing unjust laws,
which greatly influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King to be the
prominent advocators of peaceful protests. His theories are still relevant even in
present life as people nowadays feel that ecological consciousness, self-reliance,
and peaceful resistance are some of the best ways to overcome the difficulties of
life.

19
4.2. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).
Showing a strong commitment to transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson made
a very controversial comments accusing the church of stressing dogmas while
smothering the spirit of worship. His philosophy refused to build a logical system
of intellectuality that he considered would only negate the romantic beliefs.
Therefore, he always supported American individualism inspired by nature. In his
essay, He calls American to forget their past traditions and create new present
insights by embosomed nature to get their own revelations rather than the ones we
inherited from their own ancestors. His poets reflect the inspiration from different
religions. His poem “Brahma” is based on Hindu principles to ascertain that he can
reunite with the universe order while other mortals can't.

20
Chapter V: American Slavery (1618-1875).
Slavery in America started in the early 17th Century and continued on for the next
250 years by the colonies and states. Wealthy people wanted to use other people to
work for them so they could make more money and have time for other tasks, which
made slavery meant only for labor. Many slaves in the South state strictly worked
in the plantations to produce cotton using the cotton gin. Which was a hard and
unpleasant place to live. The slaves were put into a house where they have to sleep
on the floor. Frederick Douglass introduces in his book the idea of the slaves’
terrible conditions on the plantation with a sarcastic tone not found elsewhere in the
passage. "There were no beds given the slaves unless one coarse blanket is
considered such, and none but the men and women had these"1
. These were also
slaves who served as maids, workers, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc. In fact, they were
viewed primarily as items. They lacked freedom and had no rights. The typical slave
in the rural American South was controlled by "Slave Codes", which consisted of
laws and rules enforced on the enslaved.
2. Major Writers.
2.1. Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897).
In the Autobiography, Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs
1
Douglass, F. (2006). The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Webster's German Thesaurus
Edition. (P. 22)

21
documents her life experiences as a slave during the time of the Civil War. She used
the pseudonym Linda Bent to narrate her story freely. Linda was born in 1813 near
Edenton, North Carolina as a slave. She didn’t realize she was a slave until her
mother died, and she was sent with her younger brother to live with her mother’s
mistress, who treats her well and teaches her to read and write. After a few years,
this mistress dies and Linda was willed to a relative, Mr. Flint, who was cruel and
neglectful. He pressure Linda to have a sexual relationship with him. Which makes
her approve of a love affair with a white neighbor, Mr. Sands, saying that she is
ashamed of this illicit relationship. She hopes that when flint finds out about it, he
will sell her to Mr. Sands for reasons of pride and reasons of his property being
used. However, when Mr. Flint knows about her pregnancy, he sends her to his
plantation so has to work very hard. But Linda escapes and hides in the den of her
grandmother's house in order to save her children. Because of this Autobiography,
Harriet Jacobs is considered one of the most famous African-American writers. She
was brave to tell the world about her painful story, introducing for the first time
slave narratives in the United States of America1
.
2.2. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895).
Frederick Douglass was well known as an African-American writer who
participated in the abolition movement. He helped end the practice of slavery in the
United States. In his writing Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he
introduces slavery to a wide audience. Describes how physical abuse, deprivation,
1
Jacobs, H. (2000). Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Penguin Books. (P.3)

22
and tragedy plagued his childhood as a slave and how he was able to overcome all
these obstacles to escape the North for eventual freedom. As well as, by using an
extraordinary passion, sensitive and vivid descriptions, and storytelling power. Last
but not least, his narratives were largely admirable. He is one of the most
courageous historical figures and champions of civil rights. His great oratory skills
left the largest impact on Civil War time period literature.

23
Chapter VI: The Rise of Realism (1865-1915).
The Rise of Realism movement took place in the Nineteenth Century after the Civil
War (1865-1915); a time of harsh realities and cynical views. American Realism is
most commonly defined as a representation of how things really are, depicting the
accurate and detailed observation of nature. It portrays the world as it really was.
Similarly, Kinsella claimed: "Realism is the art of depicting nature as it is seen by
toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole or a story written by a
measuring-worm". Unlike Romanticism, Realism concentrated on the present
moment, on the here and now. Also, focused on directing attention to the problems
at hand. As well as, emphasizing presenting the middle and lower classes of society
and treating them the same seriousness as other classes.
2. Naturalism (1880-1940).
In literature, naturalism was an American movement that took place from the 1880s
to the 1940s. It’s considered an outgrowth of the realism movement that flourished
in literature during the 19th century. Realism is primarily a style of writing while
naturalism is a philosophy in writing. According to Frank Norris: "Naturalism
incorporated both the concern for surface detail of realism and the sensationalism
and depth of romanticism". This movement suggests that social conditions and
environment forced shaping human character. Thus, naturalism writers write stories
based on the idea that the environment determines and governs a character's actions,

24
choices, and beliefs. These writers are strongly seen to have been influenced by
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. According to Supersummary.com, "The
naturalism movement tries to justify the behavioral patterns of their characters by
evidence, experiment, empiricism, theory, data collection, and laws."1
3. Civil War (1861-1865).
Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War in the spring of 1861. The
Northern and Southern regions of the United States fostered contrasting views
concerning slavery. The people in the North believed in unity and that slavery
should not exist because "all men are created equally". However, the South believed
in permitting slavery. The reason way the Southern states had slavery was because
of the agricultural economy the south had at the time. Their most profitable cropin
was cotton. According to Jeffrey Hummel: "Cotton was the American economy's
leading sector, consisting half of all exports. For ambitious white southerners, the
primary avenue to greater wealth and states remained slave ownership "2
. There was
slavery in the south because there was more profit in it. A white plantation owner
would rather have, slaves because he would not have to pay them any wages for
their work. President Abraham Lincoln was a firm supporter of the north. With his
rhetorical speech about abolishing slavery in the south "This nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom"3
, Lincoln proved the union to be victorious, by
1
https://www.supersummary.com/naturalism/
2
Hummel, J and Majewski, J. (1996). Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War.
Open Court.
3
Lincoln, Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg, 1863.

25
ensuring freedom and equality in the United States. These marvelous changes did
not come easily, the human cost of this devastating war was beyond anybody's
expectations.
4. Major Writers.
4.1. Samuel Clemens (1835-1910).
Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel L. Clemens wrote under
the pseudonym of Mark Twain and went on to pen several novels, including two
major classics of American literature. Twain's novels were mostly considered
realistic because of his vernacular language, acute attention to detail, and
objectivity. For instance, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are a great work of
realism. The novel attempted to portray life as it really was, without the frills and
fantasies depicted in romanticism. Twain's accurate and vivid description of the
setting, places, emotions, and characters in the novel are the most vital part of how
his work is iconic realism.
4.2. Stephen Crane (1871-1900).
Stephen Crane was one of America's foremost realistic writers after the Civil War.
His style included the use of impressionism, symbolism, and irony, which helped
credit him with starting the beginning of modern American Naturalism. It was a
struggle for him to be successful in writing in a new style that people had not been
exposed to yet. Like most writers, Crane gets inspired by his life experiences to
write a book. For instance, his first book The Red Badge of Courage, was mainly

26
about war. It portrays the realistic side of war, recalling the American Civil War.
According to Bio.com, "Stephen was born on November 1871 in Newark, New
Jersey. He was the youngest sibling of fourteen children". Although Crane had little
interest in formal studies, he excelled in writing from an early age. He had several
articles published by the age of 16. In 1893, he published his first novel, A Girl of
the Streets, which is considered the first work of American literary Naturalism.
Hundred years ago, people in America did not see the world in quite an open
manner, as they do today, but thanks to the 22-year-old freelance writer, Crane, they
were able to see things as they really appear. These notable works and others help
him get recognized as an American Realistic, Naturalistic, as well as impressionist
writer.
4.3. Frank Norris (1870-1902).
Frank Norris was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, most notable in
the Naturalistic genre. Born in Chicago on March 5, 1870, his father was a self-
made jewelry store owner who became wealthy late on. Which help Norris to grow
up in a luxurious household where his mother used to read him poetry by Robert
Brewing and Alfred Lord Tennyson. At the age of 14, he moved with his family to
San Francisco in 1885. After studying art in Paris and literature at Berkeley and
Harvard, he worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent. He joined the
publishing firm Doubleday and McClure in 1888, where he met William Dean
Howells, Hamlin Garland, and Theodore Dreiser. Between 1898 and 1902, he
published six novels. Most of them were considered Naturalistic because the

27
characters of his novels are left to the randomness of external forces whether that is
fate, nature, or a force beyond those too.

28
Chapter VII: Modernism (1910-1950).
Modernism is am American literary movement that emerged at the beginning of the
twentieth century, between World War I and World War II. The evolution of this
American literary movement was intimately bound up with the shock and
experiences of World War II, such as Materialism, crime, and depression. This
rebellious movement broke away from the traditional and conventional techniques
to change how artists, musicians, and writers represented the world in their works.
In this context, the modernist era highlighted innovation in the form and language
of poetry and prose, breaking from the artistic conventions that had been shaped by
Europeans. In addition to addressing numerous contemporary topics, like race,
relations, gender, and the human condition.
2. Major Writers.
2.1. Ezra Pound (1885-1972).
A poet, critic, translator, founder of Imagism, and literary force of the Modernist
movement era, Ezra Pound was born in Idaho in 1855. At a young age, Pound knew
exactly what he want, he wanted to become a poet. He studied at the University of
Pennsylvania and the University of Hamilton. After working for two years as a
teacher, he traveled to Spain, Italy, and London. Pound's Contribution to poetry
began with his development of Imagism, a movement derived from classical
Chinese and Japanese poetry. He was famous for his generosity to his contemporary

29
writers. In addition to his writings, he served to discover and shape many of the
greatest writers, including T.S. Eliot, William Carlos William, James Joyce, and
Robert Frost. Hemingway wrote of him in 1925: "He defends his friend when they
are attacked, he gets them into magazines and out of jail…He introduces them to
wealthy women. He gets publishers to take their books. He sits up all night with
them when they claim to be dying…He advances them hospital expenses and
dissuades them from suicide". Pound and his contemporaries, the parties of the
cohesive Modernist movement, were profoundly self-conscious about what they
were trying to achieve. Modernism was an attempt to find new ways of capturing
experience and identity, ways that would prioritize the individual and the interior
mind, and push the boundaries of language and form to their limits.
2.2. Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965).
T.S. Eliot was best distinguished as a leader of the Modernist movement in poetry
and as the author of The Waste Land (1922) and Four Quartets (1943). His critical
prose aided to start a movement of literary Modernism by setting the aesthetic
standards for the New Criticism. He used the Stream-of-consciousness to show the
chaos of modern man's thinking. In addition, he used imagism, repetition, and
fragmentation to depict modern life for the reader and reflect its status in a realistic
manner. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 26, 1888. He attended
Harvard, Sorbonne, and Oxford Universities. In 1914, he set up his residence in
London, where he worked as a teacher, bank clerk, assistant editor, and publisher.
Eliot's astonishing poetic works such as Prufrock and Other Observations (1917),

30
Poems (1920), and others, express the anguish and barrenness of modern life,
cultivating the first piece of modernism literature.
3. Imagism (1908-1917).
Imagism was a sub-set of modernism that was born in America in the early
twentieth century. The followers of this movement gave emphasis on the use of
symbols, simple language, and exacting visual images. To a certain degree of
modernism, imagism poetry aimed to replace abstractions with concrete details. In
other words, it describes images with clear language and great focus. In traditional
poetry, images were described in great detail with many words, and then they are
linked to a philosophical idea or theme. Yet, imagism poetry describes a place, a
person, or a thing with simple and few words without discussing the ideas and
themes of the poem. T.E.Hulme, H.D, and William Carlos William were
practitioners of the imagist principles as laid out by Ezra Pound in March 1913.
3.1. William Carlos Williams (1883-1963).
Based on Wikipiad.org, William Carlos William was an American author, poet,
screenwriter, and doctor who is closely associated with Modernism and Imagism1
.
He was born in Rutherford, NJ on September 17, 1883. Thanks to his parents who
were painters, he was introduced to art and literature at a fairly young age. This
gives him assistance to incorporate Imagism into each of his poems, using skills
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams

31
such as objectivism that allow him to paint a picture of each individual reader as he
read through his poems. The poems seem to be simple due to the simple structure
and vocabulary. However, when put under a microscope, the reader could see the
true complexity of the poem hidden beneath the simplicity. William has several
remarkable pieces, which include The Red Wheelbarrow, Paterson, This is Just to
Say, and lastly Brueghel the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

32
Conclusion:
Even Though the history of American literature is considered short, it is still full of
glorious and shining masterpieces and writers. Whom American literature had
gradually gained its unique styles, themes, and forms that cannot be ignored in the
field of literature around the globe.
After the invade of the Native Americans, the American literature was transformed
from the Oral literature that included epic narratives, creation myths, stories, poems,
and songs to the Colonial literature of pilgrims and puritans which were mostly
diaries and histories that expressed the connections between God and their everyday
lives. Then come the Revolutionary literature was comprised of philosophers, and
scientists, writing speeches, and pamphlets. Whereby human beings can arrive at
truth (God's rules) by using deductive reasoning, rather than relying on the authority
of the past, the religious faith, or intuition. Thereafter, the romanticism movement
occurred with new poetry, valuing emotional sensibility, imagination, idealism, and
inductive reasoning. Afterward, the transcendentalism movement raised and
introduced everything in the world, including human beings and the Divine Soul.
Next, the realism movement flourished because of the Civil War. By representing
the environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible.
The ensuing movement, however, was modernism. The Great Depression period
between World War I and World War II emphasized the bold experimentation in
style and form over the traditional.
In whatever way, American literature keeps developing over the year. Every decade
new writers appear to influence the literary styles, genres, and themes and give the

33
readers a new perspective on their lives and the lives of others.

34
Bibliography:
 Douglass, F. (2006). The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An
American Slave. Webster's German Thesaurus Edition.
 Hummel, J and Majewski, J. (1996). Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free
Men: A History of the American Civil War. Open Court.
 Jacobs, H. (2000). Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Penguin Books.
 Lincoln, Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg,
1863.
 https://www.supersummary.com/naturalism/
 VanSpanckeren, k. (2010). Outline of American Literature. A. J. Cornell
Publications.
 VanSpanckeren, K. U.S.A Literature in Brief. The United States Department
of State: University of Florida. Retrieved from:
https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00011637/00001.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams

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