American Literature Timeline Overview
Summary
TLDRThis lecture provides an extensive overview of American literature from its origins to the 1860s, highlighting key literary movements and their historical contexts. It emphasizes the importance of understanding authors within their societal frameworks, discussing Puritanism, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and the influence of the Enlightenment. The lecturer also touches on the evolution of literature from utilitarian to entertainment, including the significance of Native American oral traditions and early slave narratives in shaping American literary identity.
Takeaways
- 📚 The lecture provides an overview of American literature from its earliest stages to the 1860s, focusing on the historical and cultural context of various literary movements and authors.
- 🕊️ The Native American period, prior to 1620, is characterized by oral traditions and stories, with variations in themes and characters across different tribes.
- 🌐 European exploration and early colonization introduced non-fiction writing, including journals, ship logs, and letters, which offer insights into early American myths and realities.
- 📜 The Puritan and colonial period emphasized religious influence, with literature dominated by utilitarian and instructive writings, including sermons and diaries.
- 🏛️ The Revolutionary period and early nationalism (around 1750 to 1815) saw a shift in writing to justify the American Revolution and explore the meaning of being American, influenced by Enlightenment ideals.
- 📖 Romanticism, overlapping with transcendentalism, celebrated individualism, nature, and imagination, with a blossoming of fiction, poetry, and short stories.
- 🌳 Transcendentalists believed in the inherent goodness of people and the importance of self-reliance, with many becoming abolitionists and prohibitionists.
- 👻 Gothic writers, on the other hand, were interested in fantasy and the supernatural, contrasting with the transcendentalist focus on rationalism and human potential.
- 📜 Slave narratives, ranging from 1770 to 1850, detailed the experiences of slaves, with early narratives focusing on religious redemption and later ones on the hardships of slavery and the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners.
- 📚 The lecture emphasizes the importance of considering the historical context in which authors wrote and how their works reflect or challenge the literary movements and societal norms of their time.
- 🔍 The course encourages students to think critically about the authors' intentions, the tensions between their works and the literary movements of their time, and the evolution of American literature towards the future.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the American Literature part one course?
-The course focuses on an overview of American literature, examining the historical and cultural context of various literary movements and authors, and how they have evolved over time.
Why is it important to consider the context in which an author is writing?
-Considering the context helps to understand the author's perspective and the influences on their work, including their reactions to past literary movements and their push towards future developments.
What does the instructor suggest about the perception of historical figures in the context of American literature?
-The instructor suggests that historical figures, once considered heroes, may be viewed differently over time due to the discovery of problematic views such as racism or gender stereotypes.
What are the key literary movements covered in the American Literature part one course?
-The course covers literary movements from the Native American period and European exploration to Romanticism, transcendentalism, and up to the Civil War period.
What is the significance of the 'pendulum' analogy mentioned in the script?
-The 'pendulum' analogy signifies the swings in literary movements, where ideas and styles change dramatically from one extreme to another, reflecting the cultural and intellectual shifts of the time.
What is the role of oral traditions in the Native American period of literature?
-Oral traditions in the Native American period were significant as they included songs and stories that were passed down through generations, often focusing on the sacredness of the natural world and the importance of land.
How does the script describe the transition from the European exploration period to the Puritanism and colonialism period in American literature?
-The transition is marked by the establishment of colonies, such as the Jamestown Colony and the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620, leading to the dominance of Puritan religious influence in literature.
What are some of the characteristics of the Puritan style in literature?
-The Puritan style is characterized by its utilitarian and instructive nature, with an emphasis on plain and direct language, often focusing on religious themes and the importance of faith in daily life.
How does the script describe the shift in literature from the Revolutionary period to Romanticism?
-The shift is marked by a move from highly ornate and rhetorical writing influenced by Enlightenment ideals to a focus on individualism, nature, imagination, and strong emotions, with a blossoming of fiction, poetry, and short stories.
What is the significance of the transcendentalist movement within the Romanticism period?
-The transcendentalist movement within Romanticism emphasizes the inherent goodness of human nature, the importance of individualism, self-reliance, and the belief in an inner light or divine spark within each person.
How does the script address the issue of slave narratives in American literature?
-The script addresses slave narratives as an important part of American literature, discussing their evolution from early pamphlets focusing on religious redemption to later works highlighting the hardships of slavery and the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to American Literature
The script begins with an introduction to an American Literature course, emphasizing the importance of understanding authors and their works within their historical and cultural contexts. The lecturer encourages students to consider how past authors, despite potentially problematic views, were influenced by and reacted to the literary movements and societal norms of their time. A timeline of American literature is outlined, starting from pre-1620 Native American and European exploration periods, moving through Puritanism, the Revolutionary era, early nationalism, Transcendentalism, Romanticism, and leading up to the Civil War. The course will cover these periods, highlighting the evolution of American literature up to the 1860s.
🌐 Native American Literature and Early Colonization
This section delves into the Native American period of literature, focusing on oral traditions, songs, and stories with variations across tribes. It discusses the influence of ethnographers and missionaries in recording these narratives, as well as the themes of nature's sacredness and the importance of land. The paragraph also covers European exploration and early colonization, characterized by non-fiction writings like journals, ship logs, and letters that provide insight into the realities of the time. These writings often served utilitarian purposes, detailing the experiences and challenges faced by explorers and colonists.
🏛 Colonial Period and Puritan Influence
The script moves into the colonial period, dominated by Puritan literature that emphasized religious faith and daily life. Puritans are portrayed with a mix of enjoyment of life and serious religious conviction, leading to works that were utilitarian and instructive, such as sermons, diaries, and personal narratives. The plain Puritan style is noted, as well as the emergence of poetry that depicted romantic feelings and the importance of family. The paragraph also touches on misconceptions about Puritans and their actual beliefs and practices.
🗽 Revolutionary Period and Early Nationalism
The Revolutionary period is highlighted for its role in shaping American literature, with writers justifying the American Revolution and exploring the meaning of being American. The shift from the Age of Faith to the Age of Reason is discussed, with literature becoming more ornate and rhetorical. The utilitarian nature of writing during this time is noted, with examples such as The Federalist Papers and the Autobiography of Ben Franklin. The paragraph also mentions the emergence of the novel as a genre and the influence of European philosophers on American thought.
📖 Romanticism and Transcendentalism
This paragraph explores the Romanticism period, which saw a rise in fiction, poetry, and a celebration of individualism, nature, and imagination. Transcendentalists are discussed in detail, with their belief in the inherent goodness of people and the divine spark within. The paragraph touches on the connection between transcendentalist beliefs and movements like abolitionism and prohibition. It also contrasts this with Gothic literature, which had an interest in fantasy and the supernatural, mentioning authors like Edgar Allan Poe and works like 'Walden' and 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.
📜 Slave Narratives and Their Impact
The final paragraph discusses the history and evolution of slave narratives, from early pamphlets focusing on religious redemption to later works emphasizing the hardships of slavery and the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners. It notes the shift in focus from the 1700s to the Civil War era and beyond, with narratives increasingly calling for the end of slavery and supporting abolition. The impact of these narratives on society and literature is highlighted, with examples of influential works like '12 Years a Slave' and the narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡American Literature
💡Historical and Cultural Context
💡Puritanism
💡Transcendentalism
💡Romanticism
💡Slave Narratives
💡Realism and Naturalism
💡Modernism
💡Post-Modernism
💡Literary Movements
💡Oral Traditions
Highlights
Introduction to American Literature Part One, starting with the first lecture in the series.
The importance of considering the historical and cultural context of authors and their works.
The challenge of viewing authors through a modern lens, acknowledging their potential problematic views.
The concept of literary movements as a pendulum swing between opposing ideas.
Timeline overview of American literature, from pre-1620 Native American period to contemporary periods.
Native American literature's focus on oral traditions and the sacredness of the natural world.
European exploration and early colonization's impact on literature, including journals and ship logs.
The Puritan and colonial periods' emphasis on religious influence and the plain Puritan style.
The Revolutionary period's focus on justifying the American Revolution and early nationalism.
The shift to ornate writing and the use of rhetoric in the post-Revolutionary period.
The emergence of the novel as a genre and its utilitarian purpose in the early years of the United States.
Romanticism's celebration of individualism, nature, and imagination in contrast to the Age of Reason.
Transcendentalism's belief in the inherent goodness of man and the importance of self-reliance.
Gothic literature's interest in fantasy and the supernatural as a counterpoint to Transcendentalism.
The significance of early slave narratives in shaping the abolitionist movement and public opinion.
The evolution of slave narratives from religious redemption to a focus on civil rights and societal change.
The complex nature of literary works, which often combine elements from multiple movements.
The enduring impact of literature on societal views and the importance of understanding its context.
Transcripts
hi everyone and welcome to American
Literature part one this is the first
lecture in our series and we're going to
be looking at an overview of American
literature so let's get started
before I get into the timeline and then
I explain each different literary
movement I want you to think about what
is going to be one of the driving
questions for our course our authors and
their Works cannot be seen in isolation
so I think we have a tendency as I'm
recording this in 2020 there's a lot of
issues about the past and people who
um were thought of as wonderful people
and heroes of American History or
American literature and then as we look
back at them we say well look this
person did some things well but they
also had very racist views or maybe they
believed in gender stereotypes or maybe
they
um were in some way sort of problematic
but what I want you to do for this
course is think about the context in
which the author is writing many of the
authors even though they're not quite as
Progressive or open-minded or tolerant
as we are today
we're really ahead of their time so
we're going to be talking about for each
book the historical and cultural context
in which the author is writing so what
literary movement or school of thought
came before what literary movement or
school of thought is the author a part
of as they write how are there some
tensions between the author and these
literary movements of the past or
during the time when they're writing and
then how are they reacting to the past
and their current time to push forward
into the future if you think of this
idea of like a pendulum swinging from
one end to the other a lot of times
we'll have a literary movement that
starts here and then people are like no
those thoughts and ideas are horrible
and we're gonna swing over in this
direction and then sometimes people
swing right back right so that is
basically one of
to erase that that's basically one of
the thoughts that I'd like you to keep
in mind where were we where are we and
where are we going for each of the books
that we are going to be reading
so let's take a look at the Timeline I'm
going to go through each one of these
literary movements and describe it in
more detail but just so you have a
general overview
pre-1620 for American literature that's
going to be the Native American period
and European exploration so really
before the colonies were fully
established
1492 Columbus arriving in the Bahamas
1607 the Jamestown Colony being
established
and then the Mayflower Landing in 1620
kind of moves us into our next period of
puritanism and colonialism
now
after that period
um coming into the American Revolution
we have the Revolutionary
um and early nationalism sometimes this
is also called The Age of Reason last
till about 1815 and then we begin oh
there we go the Revolutionary War took
place and then also after the world of
1812 which would be that early
nationalism period
then in around 1830 to 1860 we have
transcendentalism
which kind of happens around the same
time as Romanticism so when we get to
those we'll talk about how they have
some similar features
at the same time
from the 1770s to the 1860s we also see
a lot of slave narratives and we'll be
reading one of those for this course we
of course then have the Civil War taking
place
1861-1865 and that is where the first
half of the the pair of American
literature classes this is where our
class will end
so American literature part one at our
school goes from the beginnings to the
1860s part two picks up after the 1860s
and then we see realism and naturalism
um up here we see the modernism period
during World War One really from World
War one through the Great Depression and
up until World War II and then after
World War II is the post-modern period
so if you're interested
um after this course what you've learned
about the literature the culture The
History of the United States you can
continue and take American lit too as
well
but let's just focus on the literary
movements that we'll be covering
oh I forgot about the Contemporary
period
some people think we're still in
post-modernism and some people think
that it's a little bit different but
that's that's a question for for
American lit 2 to answer
all right so our Native American period
is really before 1620 although there is
obviously Native American literature
taking place throughout the history of
the country but this particular study
features a lot of oral traditions of
songs and stories the original authors
were unknown the written accounts
actually come after colonization so what
happens is that you have a number of
ethnographers people who are interested
in culture and also some missionaries
who are going out into
um interacts with the Native American
tribes
and some Native Americans themselves who
learn English or French or another
European language and begin to translate
some of their songs and stories what
ends up happening is that you have a lot
of differences between these stories
because they are oral Traditions so
creation stories such as myths and
totems if you look up
for example
Native American creation story and let's
say you're you're looking at a
particular tribe
um you can find websites you can find
things on YouTube you can find
um various depictions of the same story
and they'll all be quite different and
then you can read the YouTube comments
about people arguing that that's not the
story that they learned because they're
they're coming from the oral traditions
we have an archetype of trickster or
conjurer a lot of times in those stories
so those
songs and stories
focus on the natural world as being
sacred the importance of land and place
and again as I said the variations
entails so characters settings and
themes that might be between different
tribes or races
there are just some pictures the
trickster coyote a trickster is an
interesting character that's kind of a
moral
um
they can get away with things that
regular people can't because they're
outside of morality but they're not evil
necessarily
creation folk tales
and
um this is just a depiction of New York
the Six Nations homelands prior to the
colonists coming in
so you can see the Algonquin the Mohawk
the Oneida the Oneonta the Cayuga and
the Seneca
so also at this point you have European
exploration and early colonization so
this featured a lot of non-fiction
writing things like journals shiplogs
letters military records and reports
um and they come from really a wide
variety of sources now if you're
interested in this
I used to teach these things but I think
that they're much more fitting for an
American history course and a lot of
times our history classes will look at
primary sources so things that came from
the time period like journals and
shipblocks and letters and you can
really see the truth behind a lot of the
American myths so what was Columbus's
Voyage really like why was he taken back
to Spain in Chains and who was bartolome
De La Casas and how did he play a role
in what happened to Columbus and after
how were the natives really treated when
they first came into the Caribbean
um not well but you can get a lot of
detail from those writings there's a lot
of information
about what life was like back then for
example from the Diary of Cortez what
did he see why was he traveling to the
area he was traveling what was he trying
to find or accomplish
um Native American responses to attacks
and invasions and they really focused on
preserving the memories of their
experiences communicating their
experience to others who may follow or
who may provide financial support
um so for example
when you look at a ship log
um or a journal or a diary from that
time they were they had patrons who were
sending them out on these Journeys so
some of their writing is to tell their
patrons hey here are the riches of the
land and sometimes how we can exploit
them and
um and to get information to them for
further financial support distance
difficulties in communicating over time
and distance because they were gone for
quite longer periods of time
that is
um a picture I wish it was labeled this
is a picture of various
Journeys to the New World by different
um Explorers so you can see Cartier
Columbus
Vespucci Hudson
um all different places that they that
they went
um that's a depiction of
explorers needing a tribe of Native
Americans for the first time you can see
that they're putting up a cross that
they have the three ships
um of Legend and that they're being
given things
the New England Sabbath in the winter
going to Sunday
church and again some of their some of
their roots
all right and then we come into the
colonial periods this is really where
our class
um at least this semester that I'm
recording this this is where our class
is going to pick up newly arrived
colonists who create Villages and towns
that establish new governments while
protesting the old ways in Europe these
people were religiously oppressed by
kings and queens who enforce their
religious beliefs on to their people
literature of the period was really
dominated by the Puritans and their
religious influence with an emphasis on
God and the need for faith in daily life
now there's a lot of um misconceptions
about Puritans and it's interesting
because we'll also be looking at a book
that depicts Puritans um a couple
hundred years later but the Puritans
really it's not that they didn't enjoy
life because they did they have poetry
that describes a lot of the Romantic
feelings toward each other they have
poetry about you know the love the
romantic love between husbands and wives
and things of that nature
but they also had some other beliefs
that
um made them seem quite a bit more
serious and many of them were
that they needed to show their faith in
their daily lives
um by
doing acts of good service
which then led to them sort of
criticizing some of the people that they
did not feel were doing these things
which then in turn led to the witch
trials and some of the things that
they're a little bit more famous for but
writing a lot of their writing was
utilitarian and instructive sermons
Diaries personal narratives and they
were known for the plain Puritan style
so being simple and direct they also did
have some poetry and stories but all of
these had a religious emphasis
um this is a depiction of sinners in the
hand of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards
um up there and people are falling down
and fainting and wanting to be saved as
he as he preaches
there it is
um and Bradstreet wrote quite a bit of
poetry
and her work really shows what it was
like to be a Puritan woman at that time
so concerns about religion but also her
family her domestic sphere her children
um some of the children that she lost
and the Heartbreak over that and the um
struggles of trying to do good in the
world which is something that I think
everybody can relate to
the revolutionary period from about 1750
to about 1815 as I said during the
Revolutionary War and then also through
the war of 1812. a lot of the writers in
this period explain or Justify the
American Revolution
just after the revolution this period
becomes known as early nationalism and
writers begin to ponder what it means to
be an American so some of the books that
we are reading fall into this period and
one of them
will have a lot more of a European
flavor because America is such a newly
formed Nation
um the other book that we're going to be
looking at really is considered
um an important part of American
literature because it has more of an
American feel so it's set in very
distinct part of the newly formed United
States and there are so still in both
books some of these themes what does it
mean to be American
um what do we have
to look at in terms of Faith versus
reason and not that those things can't
go together but reason in science as
opposed to just faith alone
um philosophy political science even
though we're looking at fictional works
these are still important themes to
consider so influenced by these
Enlightenment ideals colonists by the
end of the 18th century try to establish
a new and revolutionary political order
based on Democratic principles and
writing begins to shift from being plain
and straightforward to highly ornate so
a lot of the people during this time are
using rhetoric
rhetorical strategies to argue or to
persuade and even in fiction some of
these rhetorical devices are still used
um many
many people are still writing things
that are considered utilitarian so
things that are meant for specific use
pamphlets speeches letters the first
book that we're going to look at is a
seduction novel so the the utilitarian
purpose
in Charlotte Temple is to help young
women not be seduced right that's kind
of the purpose and the author's message
is going to be a lot more important to
her than the in some ways than the
actual story itself
by the time we get to the book Wieland
by Charles Brockton Brown he has a lot
of philosophical themes relating to
early nationalism and
um kind of the opposition of the Age of
Reason versus the previous Age of Faith
but
he also is much more concerned about the
story and his book is a lot more
Americans said Pennsylvania
um and we start pushing into the next
period of literature later on with
romanticism
so here are some of the other works on
The Federalist Papers you may have
looked at high school the autobiography
of Ben Franklin they were influenced by
people like Rousseau and Voltaire
philosophers like uh is depicted down
here and we begin
to have the novel come up as its own
separate genre but again as I said it's
still kind of for a purpose just telling
a story isn't going to be enough at
least not for people during that period
of time and then we come to Romanticism
which kind of overlaps a little bit
which is why Charles Brockton Brown's
novel kind of falls in the middle
um
as it was published in 1798.
um the writing here begins to include
more fiction and poetry there are much
fewer philosophical
and political Treatise by this time the
nation is formed and literature starts
to be a form of entertainment so it's
not just seen as being used for
political or religious or educational
purposes which really would have been
important to the Puritans especially to
um two movements before the Puritans
would have thought that fiction
might be considered lies and therefore
it might be evil in some ways so poetry
is okay as an established art form and
as a way to express emotions a lot of
the poems of that period as I said were
about daily life some of them are like
interpretations or thoughts on on pieces
of scripture but
that is the countries coming together a
lot of the thinkers were really focused
on
um how can we find political freedom and
now we have a little bit of room to
breathe so we can uh have really this
philosophical reaction against those
previous decades where reason and
rational thought and also
um the the religious aspect really
dominated the works and they start to
celebrate individualism nature
imagination creativity intuition and a
focus really on strong emotions so
understanding
before Freud a little bit of that
psychology why do we think the way that
we do we have a lot of symbolism
in these works and a complete
blossoming of short stories novels
poetry and most of the books that we're
going to be looking at are from this
particular period
um in part because they're more
interesting and there's a little bit
more to talk about and also in part
because as I said a lot of the
non-fiction works you'll look at in a
history course
so the subsets of Romanticism
transcendental
um transcendentalist writers have a
belief that man's nature is inherently
good that all people have within them a
Divine spark or an inner light that
produces individualism and therefore we
should be self-reliant many of these
writers became abolitionists and
prohibitionists because
slavery denied the Divine spark enslaves
and so they said look these are people
many of whom have become people of faith
and many of whom have taught themselves
how to write how to write their own
they've written slave narratives
describing their experiences
and their quest for freedom and slavery
is denying this in people and therefore
it is a bad institution that we should
abolish we should get rid of it
in terms of prohibition
they felt that alcohol LED people away
from their Inner Light so it dulls the
senses it makes people act strange or
funny it does not help them come to a
better version of themselves
the
transcendentalists have a lot of other
beliefs as well but we'll get to that
when we talk about those particular
writers
Gothic writers kind of on the opposite
end another type of Romanticism they
have an interest in fantasy and the
supernatural so the book that I
mentioned before we lived by Charles
Brockton Brown he does have an interest
in rationalism in the Age of Reason he
also has an interest in fantasy in the
Supernatural so you can see both of
these kind of competing for our
attention throughout his book it's
really interesting the evil thoughts of
man
which contrasted with the
transcendentalists who really looked at
the
um the benefits of mankind the great
works that they are capable of so when
we get into
a book like
um Walden by Henry David Thoreau is a
transcendentalist book he would have
considered himself a transdentalist he's
talking a lot about nature and a lot
about individualism and self-reliance a
book like
um Uncle Tom's Cabin has some
transcendentalist themes but also a lot
of other shades of Romanticism
particularly a type of writing called
sentimentality which we will discuss
when we get to that book
so my point is that a lot of these
writers you can you can see just by a
few examples that I've given you they're
not just all one thing
um Frederick douglass's work is a slave
narrative he has some transcendentalist
beliefs
um it seems he has some features of his
writing that are romantic and others
that are a lot more realistic which kind
of pushes forward into the next
phase of American writing with realism
so
um yeah so look you know look at that
pendulum and where people are and what
aspects of these that they're using
um here are some quotes from
transcendentalists do not go where the
path may lead go instead where there is
no path and leave a trail
I went into the woods because I wish to
live deliberately and to
front only the essential Facts of Life
and see if I could not learn what it had
to teach and not when I came to die
discover that I had not lived
um Edgar Allan Poe would fall into the
gothic realm of this particular literary
movement The Scarlet Letter is also a
romantic book many people have heard of
that one as is Moby Dick
some of the some of the classics there
so early slave narratives were really
printed as books or short pamphlets and
again
um
it's saying 1770 to 1850 when we get to
reading Frederick Douglass we'll talk
about how that really went on until the
1950s where people who had
um then were quite elderly but who had
been slaves gave a lot of their
narratives to talk about their
experiences but the early narratives in
the 1700s were really short books or
pamphlets they focused on religious
Redemption moving from paganism to
Christianity most of the writers were
born in Africa unlike some of the later
books where people were born in the
colonies or born in the United States
and some described leaving of their own
free will and being grateful for the
opportunity to come to the new world and
be converted to Christianity I want to
be really clear that some or many of
these writers may have been coerced
um they there's also some who were
really in indentured servitude so before
the laws of slavery changed
um indentured servitude would not have
been unusual in other countries where
people were taken captive and held for a
period of years or if they were in debt
in some way or they pledged themselves
to work for so many years before being
let go
so the early slave narratives a lot of
people now see them as kind of
problematic but they're very interesting
to study to see
um and try to figure out what exactly
what was going on other narratives
describe being in Africa before being
kidnapped and held again almost as
prisoners of War
later on
they focused on the hardships of slavery
being both American and captive
Frederick Douglass has a wonderful
um speech in addition to his books
called what to a slave is the Fourth of
July that really exemplifies this
um
tension uh I am an American but I'm not
an American I am in a country that says
that there should be freedoms and yet I
am not free they focus on what readers
can do to change themselves in their
society and they really demonstrate the
hypocrisy between Christian words and
the actions of the slave owners they
were
beginning to increase in popularity and
we're more widely published particularly
as we lead up to the Civil War as
um
people
as people became more passionate about
ending slavery
they gave way to also fictional novels
and poems in the slave narrative style
that further supported abolition so
Uncle Tom's Cabin which we'll be reading
is an interesting book because again as
many of these in some ways it was really
ahead of its time arguing for the
abolition of slaves and in other ways
she
um still has some some racist beliefs
that are not in keeping with our time
today but would have been part of the
belief system and schools of thought in
which she was living
but she really drew a lot from various
slave narratives to develop that story
and we'll talk about
um the the real life of some of the
people that inspired her characters as
well they continued as I said as after
slavery ended well into the 1950s more
and more people who had been born into
slavery were willing and able to tell
their stories and the focus at that
point was civil rights and further
progress so yes we came ahead of slavery
but we are in a situation where we're
not allowed to live in certain
neighborhoods we're not allowed to go to
certain schools we're not allowed to
vote even though
um technically on paper we should be
allowed to vote right so
um that particular writing project had a
very large impact
so here are some examples
um
these are some early ones
12 Years a Slave you may have heard of
there's Frederick Douglass
and that's Harriet Jacobs who wrote
um Diary of a slave girl
oops
okay so that is the basic overview
um I hope that you have a pretty good
idea of some of the features to look for
with different books that we're going to
be reading and as we go into each book
we'll be talking more about how they fit
into these literary Traditions so I just
wanted to give you a good overview of
what those Traditions were and the
timeline and I am interested to see your
thoughts on our first
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