Final Exam Flashcards
Time period characterized by a simple, plain, and direct style; genres included journals and diaries; theme was God’s providence
Colonial Era
Authors included in the Colonial Period:
- Anne Bradstreet
- Benjamin Franklin
- Edward Taylor
- John Smith
- John Winthrop
- Michael Wigglesworth
- Phillis (“Njambi”) Wheatley
- Roger Williams
- William Bradford
First poet to write verse in America (looks as if the girls win this one)
Anne Bradstreet
Wrote [Autobiography] and [Poor Richard’s Almanac] (he’s also a character in Assassin’s Creed: Rouge, AC: 3, and AC: Unity 😎)
Benjamin Franklin
Best Puritan poet, not published until 1939, and used metaphysical conceits
Edward Taylor
Affiliated with Pocahontas and Jamestown; wrote slightly exaggerated stories of his encounters; kissed Pocahontas in the historically inaccurate Disney movie (no, he wasn’t an ephebophile, and Pocahontas was only around 16 years old when he came to America. Screw Disney 😋)
John Smith
Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (M to W or W to M if you’re looking upside down)
John Winthrop
Most widely read Puritan poet (no, he is not affiliated with The WIGGLES in any way. He wrote about the apocolypse, guys. He wasn’t a fun dude)
Michael Wigglesworth
Second American woman to publish poetry, wrote “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, is Njambi’s ancestor (not really 👩🏿)
Philips Wheatley
Governor of Rhode Island; worked with Indians (because he wasn’t racist like everyone else 👦🏾)
Roger Williams
Father of American history; wrote [Of Plymouth Plantation]; the butthole who invented history 😒
William Bradford
Period characterized by derivations from myths and legends (because people were idiotically superstitious back then)
Romantic Era
Authors included in Romantic Era:
- Herman Melville
- Washington Irving (I thought he was black!)
- Edgar Allan Poe (the Kung-Fu Panda! No?)
- William Cullen Bryant
- Harriet Beecher Stowe
- James Fenimore Cooper
- Emily Dickinson (REALLY IN HER OWN CATEGORY - what Mrs. Ellis said)
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
(Wrote about Moby’s D-…I mean) Wrote [Moby Dick]
Herman Melville
First American author to be international famous; stories were based of Dutch legends (that thieving, racist son of a Baptist preacher!); wrote Rip Van Winkle (he is the dude I thought was black but was white)
Washington Irving
Wrote “The Pit and the Pendulum” and the criteria for short stories; (got his name from a certain panda who knows Kung-Fu and was extremely depressing and a weirdo)
Edgar Allan Poe
Wrote “Thanatopsis” (because he was a weirdo who meditated on Death)
William Cullen Bryant
Wrote the [Leatherstocking Tales] (probably got that name from looking at men wearing leather stockings, I mean, who else comes up with the name Natty BUMPOO?)
James Fenimore Cooper
Recluse who dressed in white (that’s totally not racist); ahead of her time (also the person that Mrs. Ellis screamed, “REALLY IN HER OWN CATEGORY!!!” like a maniac)
Emily Dickinson
Wrote the (SECOND CRAPPIEST BOOK IN HUMAN HISTORY aside from [Silas Marner]) [Scarlet Letter]; constantly used themes of sin a guilt (probably because he knew his book sucked and doomed a generation of Rosedale Baptist juniors to suffer)
Nathaniel Hawkthorne
Period involving the Over-soul (😂) and stems from Unitarianism.
Transcendentalist Era
Authors of the Transcendentalist Era (because they wanted to be primitive monkeys so bad):
- Ralph (“Where’s Waldo?!”) Waldo Emerson
- Henry David Thoreau (get it? ‘Cause he’s thorough? OK, shutting up)
- Walt (“Disney”) Whitman
Era characterized by traditional themes and the Schoolroom Poets (even if they probably never went to school):
Fireside
Authors of the Fireside Era (should’ve just burned them and their books 😈):
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (he was one “long” fellow)
- John Greenleaf (really? He couldn’t think of something better like Grayrock or Browntrunk?) Whittier (that has hints of racism…)
- Oliver (“Sherlock”) Wendell Holmes
- James Russell Lowell (pronounced “LOL”)
Wrote “Self-Reliance”; founder of (the brain-dead cult) of Transcendentalism; wrote [Nature] (also the guy we have to look for in “Where’s Waldo?”)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wrote [Walden]; believed in civil disobedience (this system is broke yo!)
Henry David Thoreau
Said, “I was simmering…” (was probably in a hot tub when thinking this); wrote “Leaves of Grass” (funny, grass doesn’t HAVE leaves); wrote “O Captain, My Captain!” (because he was part of the Lincoln Fanclub for Gay Fanboys)
Walt Whitman
Wrote “Song of Hiawatha”; only American to have a bust in Westminster Abbey (probably because his bust was bigger than any man ever….probably because he was actually a woman)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Was a Quaker (made oatmeal); wrote “Snowbound”; threw “Leaves of Grass” into the fire (my man!)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Known as Mr. Boston; wrote “Old Ironsides”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Wrote “A Fable for Critics” (name sounds like “LOL”)
James Russell Lowell
Authors of the Realism Era (my kind of people!):
- Hamlin Garland
- Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
- Bret Harte
Author who exposed the land speculation system (down with the system! 👎🏼)
Hamlin Garland
Wrote about New England spinsters (like Mrs. Ellis)
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Wrote of the West
Bret Harte
Era characterized by drastic experimentalism:
Modern Era
Authors of the Modern Era:
- e. e. cummings (obviously, this guy couldn’t spell
- Ernest Hemingway
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Joyce Kilmer
- Paul Lawrence Dunbar
- Pearl S. Buck
- Ray Bradbury
- Robert Frost (“cool” LAST name)
- Carl Sandburg(er)
Experimented with capitalism and punctuation (also couldn’t spell)
e. e. cummings
Was an ambulance driver in WWII
Ernest Hemingway
Wrote about the emptiness of the Roaring 20s; wrote [The Great Gatsby] (that was a boring movie)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wrote “Trees” (which I would like to point out to Mrs. Ellis that no one even quotes the stupid thing)
Joyce Kilmer
First black poet to use black dialect (seriously? No other black poet used “yo dawg” or “but I’m notta rappah”? That’s racist)
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Wrote “Missionary Child to China”
Pearl S. Buck
Wrote “The Pedestrian” (when the government turned into the biggest buttholes in the world)
Ray Bradbury
Most popular poet in the 20th century
Robert Frost
Poet from Chicago; wrote “Fog”
Carl Sandburg
Who’s the worst person ever?
Scott Fitzgerald, because F. him
