Introduction To American Literature

It provides insight into a very important period in American history. For those who do not like history or this period of history, this memoir will be dull and the reader will most likely dread reading it and give

Angry about the reformation of the Church of England in the sixteenth century, a group of extreme separatists known as the Puritans sought the absolute expulsion of Catholicism in their sect of Christianity. Their devotion to their religious practices and beliefs ultimately led the Puritans to emigrate to Holland and subsequently to the new world, where they established a colony in New England. The ideas and mindframes of the Puritans are not important to American history because they were simply the first but because they offered ways of thinking that are still ingrained in the American culture today. In laying a foundation for America, whether they realised it at the time or not, Puritans have influence in present day America in the form

Charles Waddell Chesnutt." Critical Survey of Short Fiction: American Writers, edited by Charles E. May, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?bookId=239&ar ticleName=CSSFA M _10810120000104&searchText=the%20passing%20of%20grandison&searchOperators= exact&category= Literature.

Since its discovery, America has been a haven for the discriminated, the ambitious, and the religiously persecuted. The original New England colonies which embodied all three of these attributes and set the stage for future immigrants were influenced by the Puritans. The Puritans were a religious group who were unsatisfied with the teaching of the Church of England. They continuously pushed for greater reforms and fought to “purify” the church, thus the name Puritans. By the seventeenth century, they had begun searching for places outside Europe to practice their religion without dispute or antagonism.

What is a Puritan? A Puritan is a member of the English Protestant in the late sixteenth and seventeenth century who believes they must live by the Scriptures to abide by God. Anne Bradstreet a Puritan writer of To My Dear and Loving Husband and Upon the Burning of Our House addresses her thoughts and feelings in her writings about God and his actions. Another author Jonathan Edwards who wrote the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God justifies God’s punishment on those who sin. Bradstreet and Edwards view on God and his actions contradict each other however they express their beliefs in related forms.

The Puritans are a Christian religious group that originated in England but ended up in America. The Puritan religious is not commonly practiced now and might even be extinct. Thought they are either sparse or gone the Puritans have effects how we today worship. The Puritans had great effect on the way America was set up, but actually originated in England.

Throughout the history of American Literature, there have been hundreds of influential pieces which have left a mark on other writers. The book “In Honor of David Anderson Brooks, My Father” by Gwendolyn Brooks utilizes a unique writing style, theme and American values. This text was sharing her father’s story and personality to the reader before he passed away. He presumably lived alone and maintained his own home.

The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the

According to (Jess Bloomberg) the puritans were a group of people who grew away from the Church of England and worked towards religious moral and societal reform. John Calvin writings gave a rise to Protestantism and

They wanted to create pure, moral Christian society based on moral living. By hard working, integration of religion in politics, and social development of certain lifestyle practices, Puritans had a large influence on the development of the New England colonies from 1630s through the 1660s. Puritans believed in hard work as the pathway of success since they thought they were favored by God to succeed (Doc I). They tried to shun idleness and believed that being lazy is not profitable (Doc C).

The Puritans in the 1600s had a very important influence in the development of the New England colonies through the 1660s their ideas, values; political, economic and social development would have a lasting effect on the region. The values of the Puritans were greatly rooted in the idea that man was evil and that God alone would save us. By creating this town upon the hill God will reward them for their efforts for trying to reform the Anglican Church. Politically the Puritans were a semi-theocracy that would only allow those who were part of the church to vote. Economically they brought a lasting effect based on their hard work ethic.

Over the course of this week we read two works of writing. One is the short story “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving in 1819. The other is Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. These two stories are pinnacle pieces of literature. One being a well known fictional work through the United States, the other is the writing of and by one of America’s Founding Fathers.

The Puritans first set sailed and started their journey to America in 1630. Not like other groups who were around at the time, the Puritans did not break from the church but decided to change it to there liking instead. They seek to comfort in the bible by re-enacting stories in the Bible. They feel as if they were chosen by God to make new history and establish a new Christian way. John Winthrop was the man in charge and the man who started this whole movement.

Washington Irving’s, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is a collection of thirty-four of his essays and short stories. Attributed to the fictional Dutch historian character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, are two of Irving’s most popular stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is the story of a Dutch villager, living at the foot of the Catskill mountains before and after the American Revolutionary War. Van Winkle is genuinely loved by the people of his village, especially by the children whom he tells ghost stories to, plays with, and gives toys. However, this simple, easy-going man has one great error in his character: he is incredibly lazy, despising work in all forms.

Payton Lehnerz English B CP Final Essay American Literature: How it Changed Over Time Literature has been a constant expression of artistic emotion throughout history. Over the course of the years, Literature has developed and changed due to America’s evolution. These changing time periods can be classified into 9 eras: Colonial, Revolutionary, Romantic, Transcendental, Realism, Modern, Harlem Renaissance, Beat Generation, and Postmodern. Throughout the changing history, new literary eras have begun in response to previous eras and events. American Literature has changed over time by adapting previous values, beliefs, and literary characteristics when a new era presents itself; this progression is due to changing societal views in