Flashcards: American Literature Movements

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Early American/Colonial/Puritan Literature

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Focus on religion, morality, and the Puritan experience. Themes of faith, obedience, and the wilderness. Genres: sermons, diaries, religious writings.

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Romanticism

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Emphasis on emotion, nature, and individualism. Celebration of imagination and the sublime. Includes Dark Romanticism, focusing on guilt, sin, and the supernatural.

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Transcendentalism

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Focus on the inherent goodness of people and nature. Emphasis on self-reliance, intuition, and spirituality. Rejection of materialism and organized religion.

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Realism

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Focus on ordinary life and everyday experiences. Attention to social issues and class struggles. Often set in urban environments, showing the effects of industrialization.

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Modernism

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Rejection of traditional forms, experimentation with language and structure. Themes of disillusionment, fragmentation, and the search for meaning after WWI.

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Contemporary Literature

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Focus on diverse voices, globalization, and modern societal issues. Themes of alienation, identity, and disillusionment.