Rochelle Latouche

Essay 2b: Evolution of American Literature

I took an Early American Literature class during my lower-level coursework. That class merely scratched the surface on early American texts, unlike this class, which has exposed a variety of texts from a variety of cultures that inhabited America. What I have gained from this class is an insight into evolving genres and themes of literature. We viewed informational texts, journal entries, captivity narratives, and even earlier novels. These various forms of writing still implemented many of the same themes and ideas during the time periods in which they were written.

Reviewing literature by periods can have its pros and its cons. Categorizing literature into periods helps us determine the general movement or ideas that were occurring at that time so we are better able to understand the literature’s purpose or genre. Alternately, literature evolves and does not clean-cut divide into periods. There will be periods that show the transition of other elements from the previous time period through literature, music, or ideas, and then it becomes hard to categorize which time period it truly fits. Despite these issues, I am a fan of learning in time periods because it gives me a frame of reference.

The first early American period we explored was The Renaissance, which ranged from the fifteenth to seventeenth century. In this time period, texts were dedicated to understanding the beginning of the earth and the beginning of America. Various creation stories were finally recorded and studied during this time. We read the Christian creation story Genesis and several Native American creation stories. The intertextuality between the various creation stories was apparent, for they used some of the same ideas such as the “tree of life” idea. Similarly, the account of the beginning of America was not very different from the descriptions of the beginning of the earth. Columbus’s report on America through his letters is similar to the description of earth in Genesis in that there was an abundance of food, the land was beautiful, and it appeared untainted. An example is when Columbus states, “There were palm trees of six or eight varieties, the graceful peculiarities of each one of them being worthy of admiration as are the other trees, fruits and grasses.” This is Columbus’ romanticizing the land in a sense. Through his descriptions, he is portraying to the audience the abundance of food that the land provided, as well as the land’s indescribable beauty. Genesis does this as well when it states, “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” The untainted land, similarly, is beautiful and fully capable of providing an abundance of food for the people. These are a few of the creation stories mentioned during this time period.

The next period we studied was the Seventeenth century, which is known for its theme of religious reformation. The idea of obtaining a utopia based on religious teachings and followings was a hope for most Puritans and Pilgrims. During this time period, John Winthrop gave a motivational speech to Europeans voyaging to America, Bradford gave an account of the early Pilgrim settlers, and Mary Rowlandson described her captivity by the Native Americans. Three very different genres of texts, yet they all anticipate or describe the troubles of trying to settle in a new land. Winthrop described the “ideal” behavior of new settlers; Bradford wrote an account that involved good and bad actions of new settlers, and Rowlandson described the fear above all fears when moving to a new land, being captured by Native Americans. This time period provided an array of new-world accounts and hopes. The Salem Witch Trials also appeared during this time, which displays the ramifications of relying too heavily on religion for punishment as opposed to state.

This unfortunate incident which was caused because there was no separation between church and state created some new and more reasonable thinkers. This was the beginning of the Enlightenment period. Religious focus was rapidly fading and the idea of humanism was becoming more popular. Because of incidents like The Salem Witch Trials, the new generation decided there needed to be some form of government to protect the rights of American citizens. This is one reason the Constitution was created during this time. The texts written during this time period were mainly for the purposes of informing or creating change. After reading many of these texts, I understand why the Romantics came about with their extremely different and fictional ways of writing. The Enlightenment texts can become mundane and boring although many of the texts are very important documents even until today.

During a web review presented in class, I learned that the music during the Enlightenment period was a mixture of Baroque and Romantic elements. The instruments during this time reflected the reasonable attitudes of the people. Benjamin Franklin invented a new instrument called the glass armonica because he had previously witnessed a man making music with glasses full of water. Franklin wondered how he could make the idea more efficient, and that is how the glass armonica came about. His creation was featured in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and a few other popular songs during that time. We do not see the instrument around much more because our current period has created a more efficient version of sounds with technology.

The Romantic time period is one of the periods that does not have a clear defined line between the previous time period. Authors such as Charles Brockden Brown and Susanna Rowson, while writing in a new style that had not been seen before, still implemented some of the Enlightenment thoughts. Charles Brockden Brown’s novel is a gothic novel and the first of its kind in America. The novel is supposed to be fictional, creative, and essentially the opposite of texts written the period before. Most of the novel is opposite, but readers still observe a sense of reasoning through the description of the character Waldegrave. There is one passage where Huntley writes, “His earliest creeds tended to efface the impressions of his education; to deify necessity and universalize matter; to destroy the popular distinctions between soul and body, and to dissolve the supposed connection between the moral condition of man anterior and subsequent to death.” This is essentially what the anti-orthodox group during the Enlightenment period believed.

Similarly, Susanna Rowson implements elements of reasoning when she switches the role of the narrator. Rowson appears to have a third person telling the story, and then she switches to first person in order to explain herself to the audience. She essentially reasons with the audience and reassures them that the story is a fictional account and girls should not follow the actions of Charlotte Temple. An example of this is when she writes, “Oh my dear girls—for to such only am I writing—listen not to the voice of love, unless sanctioned by paternal approbation.” Rowson concludes that young girls should not follow their feelings; they should listen to their parents. This appears more of an Enlightenment idea to me. Although Rowson’s story depicts a girl who follows her heart, Rowson’s lecture to the audience discourages following emotion without consent from the wise parents.

Overall, the time periods are affected by the time period before. The failures of one period lead to an opposite reaction from the following time period, whether through literature, art, or behaviors in life. Although opposing the previous time period, people during the next time period cannot completely neglect the train of thought that led them to their current period. The time periods are like one big puzzle, when put together, it makes sense.