Colonial literature Flashcards
What was the Great Awakening in response to?
Rise of rational secularism of the colonies in mid 1700s and the passion of religion
growing stale
When was the Enlightenment period?
The European philosophy made its way to America in early 1700
What is Calvinism?
Theology that stressed the importance of faith, scripture, predestination and grace of God
According to Edwards, what is the will?
it is a cause that acts and produces effects upon itself. (choosing)
What role does Edwards see motives as playing in our decisions?
Motives singly, or conjunctly, moves, excites or invites the mind and determines our will.
Who is credited with the beginning of American literature?
John Smith, a soldier of fortune, who extolled his own virtues, although his intention was to share with Englishmen the colonizing opportunities in America.
What did colonial writers argue over?
How American was to be governed, in particular the role of church and state.
When did the American revolution begin?
1775
How did Thomas Paine influence the American revolution?
Based upon Paine’s simple deistic beliefs, they showed the conflict as a stirring melodrama with the angelic colonists against the forces of evil. (Common Sense, American Crisis)
Post American Revolution what kind of writers gained favor?
Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, all distinguished for insight into problems of government and cool logic than for eloquence, these works became a classic statement of American governmental, and more generally of republican, theory
What did Thomas Jefferson urge in his papers, letters, and addresses?
Individual freedoms and local autonomy
How was fiction and drama looked upon in the 17th century in America?
Down upon
A flood of this type of novel flooded America from the 18th to the end of the 19th century?
Sentimental novel
What is the sentimental novel?
Novel that exploits the readers capacity for compassion, tenderness, or sympathy by presenting an unrealistic view of its subject. The sentimental novel exalted feeling above reason and raised the analysis of emotion to a fine art.
Who was the first American writer to win the respect of British critics
Washington Irving: first he wrote in a neoclassical style (polished and bright) about new York, and then introduced a Romantic style inspired by imaginative German literature in the Sketch Book
