American literature
U.S. written works
American literature is the body of written work produced in or about the United States, from colonial journals and Puritan sermons through the novels, poetry, and essays that followed independence.
The term encompasses distinct traditions—the Transcendentalists, the Harlem Renaissance, Southern Gothic, the Beats—and canonical figures like Melville, Twain, Fitzgerald, and Morrison.
She's teaching American literature this semester.
Archaic word for two
- FitzgeraldPatronymic from Gerald
- FaulknerAmerican modernist author
- HawthorneSurname from spiny shrubs
- PoeAmerican gothic writer's surname
Hemingway · Steinbeck · Melville · Whitman · Dickinson · Emerson · Thoreau · Wharton
Intuition-based idealist philosophy
- realismAccepting things as they are
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- modernismFavoring contemporary approaches
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
Harlem Renaissance · Beat Generation · Lost Generation · regionalism · Southern Gothic · minimalism · metafiction · local color
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
satire · unreliable narrator · vernacular · dialect · motif · archetype · foreshadowing · first-person
New and unusual
- poetryMetrical literary composition
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- short storyBrief prose fiction
- essayShort argumentative prose work
memoir · autobiography · biography · slave narrative · science fiction · detective fiction · western · gothic
Edge of settlement
- individualismDoctrine of personal independence
- identityWho someone is
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
innocence · reinvention · race · class · immigration · manifest destiny · disillusionment · alienation
Latin American by heritage
- ChicanoMexican-American with activist heritage
- immigrantOne who resettles abroad
- SouthernOf the region below
- queerUnusual or non-normative
feminist · working-class · diasporic · indigenous · hyphenated · BIPOC · multilingual · Appalachian
Anglo surname, political associations
- Common SenseRevolutionary War propaganda text
- JeffersonThird American president
- Federalist PapersFounding-era persuasive essays
- FranklinSurname or locality
Hamilton · Madison · pamphlet · colonial · Enlightenment · republicanism · liberty · democracy
Twain
Archaic word for two
- FitzgeraldPatronymic from Gerald
- FaulknerAmerican modernist author
- HawthorneSurname from spiny shrubs
Hemingway · Steinbeck · Melville · Poe · Whitman · Dickinson · Emerson · Thoreau · Wharton · Stowe
transcendentalism
Intuition-based idealist philosophy
- realismAccepting things as they are
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- modernismFavoring contemporary approaches
postmodernism · Harlem Renaissance · Beat Generation · Lost Generation · regionalism · Southern Gothic · minimalism · metafiction · local color · experimentalism
allegory
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- imageryVivid descriptive language
irony · satire · unreliable narrator · vernacular · dialect · motif · archetype · foreshadowing · first-person · episodic
novel
New and unusual
- poetryMetrical literary composition
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- short storyBrief prose fiction
essay · memoir · autobiography · biography · slave narrative · science fiction · detective fiction · western · gothic · hardboiled
frontier
Edge of settlement
- individualismDoctrine of personal independence
- identityWho someone is
- freedomAbsence of constraint
wilderness · innocence · reinvention · race · class · immigration · manifest destiny · disillusionment · alienation · materialism
Latino
Latin American by heritage
- ChicanoMexican-American with activist heritage
- immigrantOne who resettles abroad
- SouthernOf the region below
queer · feminist · working-class · diasporic · indigenous · hyphenated · BIPOC · multilingual · Appalachian
Paine
Anglo surname, political associations
- Common SenseRevolutionary War propaganda text
- JeffersonThird American president
- Federalist PapersFounding-era persuasive essays
Franklin · Hamilton · Madison · pamphlet · colonial · Enlightenment · republicanism · liberty · democracy · Constitution
- school subjectsmath, English, science, history, reading
- humanitiesphilosophy, history, philosophy class, novels, humanities
- world literatureFrench novels, Russian novels, Japanese fiction, translated works, British novels
- English StudiesShakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, Old English, Middle English
- Americas StudiesCanadian history, Mexican history, colonial history
- social studiescivics, social studies, maps, economics, community
American literatureBritish literature
Writing from the UK
English literature · European literature · French literature · Russian literature · German literature
literature, literary, literate, America, illiterate, American, literati, illiteracy, Americanize