Precolonial and colonial America

1
Precolonial and colonial America

• Exploration to 1752

2
Exploration and Settlement

• The earliest American literature was not
  written down.
• The native American people had an oral tradition
• Their literature was an integral part of their
  religious practice
• They used the elements of nature as metaphor to
  explain the origin of the world and the natural
  phenomena in their lives.

3
Types of Myths

• Creation
• Origin

4
Myth is

• The traditional stories of a people which
  collectively constitute their folk history and
  that of their gods and heroes. The mythology of
  a people is a record of its beliefs and culture.

5
Oral tradition is

• The stories and songs of the people are handed
  down by the elders of the tribe to the younger
  generation. In this way the traditions and
  rituals of the tribe are preserved.
• Few of the Native American tribes deveoped a
  written language. The oral tradition makes the
  literature a product of the whole people rather
  than one author.

6

• In the oral tradition, certain devices are a part
  of the structure or formula for preserving the
  literature repetition, specific rhythmic
  patterns, using certain words as stock images to
  appeal to the listeners imagination.
• We also see in these legends the use of
  anthropomorphism

7
Colonial Literature

• There are 3 groups of writers identified with
  this period of American literature
• The explorers and soldiers who first landed in
  the new world
• The soldiers and adventurers who settled Virginia
  as a part of a commercial venture
• The Puritans

8
The Explorers

• It consists mainly of letters, journals, accounts
  of their adventures and discoveries
• Much of the original writing is not in English
• These works reflect the experiences and
  inspiration which shaped the American character
  and its institutions. Much of the writing
  expresses the central conflict of all American
  literature anticipation of the ideal of freedom
  versus the reality of life in America.

9
La Relacion

• Literary elements
• Narrator tells the story
• Point of view is the attitude or perspective from
  which the story is told
• First person
• Third person limited
• Third person omniscient
• Bias is the mental inclination toward an opinion
  or position.

10
The Cavaliers

• The soldiers and adventurers who came to Virginia
  in 1607 were part of a commercial venture. Their
  goal was to make a profit.
• The eventual development of the plantation system
  and the concept of the gentleman planter is
  characteristic of this group.
• Writers tend to present a materialistic and
  essentially British point of view.

11
John Smith

• The General History
• The forms of discourse
• Smiths view of America
• His portrayal of himself
• His view of violence as a part of the routine of
  life
• Powhatan and Pocahontas

12
The Puritans

• Called Separatists they came to America to
  escape religious persecution.
• The 3 characteristics of the Puritan way of life
  are grace, plainness, and divine mission.
• There are 3 types of writing associated with
  these people (who landed at Plymouth in 1620)
  poetry, journals (diaries), and spiritual
  autobiography.

13
Puritan Influence in America

• 5 key beliefs
• That being moral and being religious are the same
  thing
• That ministers should be well-educated
• That there is dignity in work and that people who
  are poor must be lazy
• That the conscience of the individual is the
  ultimate judge of right and wrong
• That America has a mission to lead the rest of
  the world

14
William Bradford

• 2nd governor of Plymouth
• Of Plymouth Plantation is the story of the
  first 25 years in the settling of the colony
• Begun about 1630 but not published until 1856
• A providential view of history
• Written in the plain style.

15

• Bradfords book presents a vision of America
  dedicated to and sustained by God.
• At the end of the 270 pages, the tone of the
  author changes from hopefulness to
  disappointment. After leaving Europe because of
  the corruption there, the Pilgrims themselves
  begin to fall into the same immoral way of life.
• After surviving hardship, danger, and
  exploitation many people begin moving away from
  Plymouth.

16

• In his disappointment, Bradford once again
  proves typical. He would not be the last
  American writer to feel that the divinely guided
  nation had fallen short of its promise.
  Adventures in American Literature

17
The Poetry

• Purpose for Puritans writing poetry was a way
  of expressing their spiritual lives and also a
  means of instruction.
• Subjects the poetry expressed everyday concerns
  of the people and the transitory nature of their
  lives and existence.
• Types of poetry poems of providential mercy or
  disaster elegy or epitaph personal narrative.

18
The Poets

• Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) was born in England
  and came with her husband and parents to
  Massachusetts sometime after 1630.
• Bradstreets poetry was a private exercise
  intended to be read only by her family
• She wrote about her love for her husband and
  family and about her personal relationship with
  God

19
The 10th Muse Lately Sprung Up In America

• Published in1650
• Poetry is in the Elizabethan literary tradition
  that includes Spenser and Sidney
• Her early work is imitative and conventional in
  both form and content and is largely unremarkable
  
• She has, however, won critical acceptance in the
  20th century for her later poetry, which is less
  imitative and often deeply personal.

20
Edward Taylor

• His poetry expresses the abstract ideas of
  theology by using familiar symbols
• With Bradstreet, Taylor is considered one of the
  great poets of American colonial literature.
• He borrows from the metaphysical poetry of 17th
  century England.

21
What is Metaphysical Poetry

• This is a poetic style identified with John
  Donne, George Herbert and others. In this kind
  of poetry, the author writes about the
  contradictions (or problems) of life. The
  poetry includes the psychological analysis of the
  emotions of love and religion. Sometimes the
  images used by the poet are unusual. Themes of
  this poetry include death, love, and religious
  devotion.

22
Huswifery

• A metaphysical conceit it is a comparison
  between cloth-making and Gods granting of grace
  to the individual. A conceit is an extended
  comparison or metaphor between two very
  different things.
• Taylors poetry has an ornate style that uses
  comparisons of the most intense religious
  experience with very homely and easily identified
  detail.

23
The Great Awakening

• From about 1730-1750, there was a revival of
  Puritan fervor which was brought on by the
  appearance of great preachers like Jonathan
  Edwards. This revival of spirit lasted about 20
  years and as the preachers influence waned so did
  the fervor.
• Puritanism as a political and social force in
  America lasted about 100 years

24
Causes of Puritan Decline

• The deaths of the original Puritan leaders
• The growth of immigration of groups that were not
  associated with the Puritan church
• The scandal of the Salem Witch Trials (1692)

25
Jonathan Edwards

• Persuasive form of discourse
• Authority
• Audience
• Persuasive devices
• Allusion
• Repetition
• Concrete images
• Parallel Construction

26
Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God

• This is a classic statement of the Puritan belief
  in hell and mans complete dependence on God
• Since his audience reads the Bible, he
  establishes his authority to speak by using
  Scripture to illustrate his point