Early American Literature late 1700s

1
Early American Literaturelate 1700s

• The Foundations -
• The Right to Be Free

2
Historical Background

• Surface conflict between England colonies was
  about money, unjust taxation (according to the
  colonists)
• Inspiration for rebellion came from the English
  writer John Locke and the Bible
• Idea of natural rights
• Right to property
• Jeffersons Declaration of Independence reflects
  these ideas so does the U.S. Constitution
  All men are created equal that they are endowed
  by their Creator with certain unalienable rights
  that among these are life, liberty, and the
  pursuit of happiness.

3
Inspired by John Locke

• Writers inspired by John Lockes ideas
• Phillis Wheatley first published African
  American poet, former slave in Boston -1773
• Patrick Henry Speech in the Virginia Convention
  - makes a plea for armed resistance against
  Britain-1775
• Abigail Adams wife of John Adams, mother of
  John Quincy Adams, wrote famous letters to her
  husband about the power of women -1776
• Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur French
  immigrant, traveled the colonies for 10 years
  before settling in New York, before publishing 12
  essays on life in America,1782

4
Inspired by the Bible

• For the past few centuries the Puritan ministers
  preached about a covenant relationship with
  God that superceded human laws
• Preachers told Biblical stories of rulers
  oppressing Gods people with high taxes and
  unjust laws
• This leads to Biblical allusions which are easily
  seen in Patrick Henrys Speech in the Virginia
  Convention - 1775

5
Controversy

• Founding fathers argued what to do about slavery
  Native Americans
• Ironic that they were beginning a revolution
  because they were feeling unjustly oppressed
  yet could not come to an agreement about slaves
  or Native Americans
• They were fighting for natural rights but did
  not include African Americans, women, Native
  Americans

6
Persuasive Rhetoric

• Rhetoric the art of communicating ideas
• Persuasive rhetoric arguments in favor of or
  against particular ideas
• Styles of persuasion
• Elevated language, rhetorical questions,
  repetition, parallelism
• Types of appeals
• Logical, emotional, ethical appeals

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Styles of Persuasion

• Elevated Language
• Formal words phrases lend a serious tone to
  the argument
• Rhetorical Questions
• Questions that dont require answers used to
  show that answers are obvious
• Repetition
• Repeating words or phrases to emphasize
  importance
• Parallelism
• Repeating phrases followed by different ideas to
  show that those ideas are somehow connected
  grammatical structure (syntax) is identical

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Types of Appeals

• Logical
• Provides rational arguments to support claim
• Uses facts as evidence
• Emotional
• Based on specific examples of suffering or
  potential threats
• Often uses loaded language to create vivid
  imagery
• Ethical
• Based on shared moral values call on a sense of
  right wrong, justice, and virtue