Units 3&4

The New Frontier

100

After the Civil War, this system had to move west because of the devastated plantation system.

Agriculture

200

American literature began to focus more on this setting rather than city-life after the Civil War and during the New Frontier.

Small-town or rural America

300

This age, sparked by the invention of electricity, transformed the nation's attitude to believe that bigger, stronger, faster, and newer is better.

The Second Industrial Revolution

400

This Act gave free land in the west to anyone who would live on it and improve it.

The Homestead Act of 1862

500

This war pushed America to re-evaluate believes and values, leaving behind the subjectivity of the 19th century and replace it with an objective pragmatism.

The Civil War

Authors

100

This poet wrote mostly about the New England landscape in blank verse.

Robert Frost

200

This author is famous for his unconventional poetry.

E.E. Cummings

300

This author is famous for his simple and succinct writing style.

Ernest Hemingway

400

This author observes and highlights human weaknesses as a basis for humor.

Mark Twain

500

This author emphasized the philosophy that men and women are equal

Kate Chopin

Themes

100

This type of poetry idealizes rural settings and lifestyles.

Pastorals

200

This genre represents a desire for new approaches, techniques, and beliefs.

Modernism

300

This genre portrays common life characters and events in an objective way.

Realism

400

This genre is based in the belief that there is a supernatural force shaping human destinies.

Naturalism

500

These are lyrical expressions of lamentation, hope, and comfort.

Spirituals

Style

100

This style of irony occurs when something happens that contradicts a reader's expectations.

Situational Irony

200

This stylistic device is a reference to another text.

Allusion

300

Journalism influenced fiction to become shorter, snappier, and less flowery to accomplish this goal.

Reach a wider audience or sell more books.

400

This age of literature often left plotlines unresolved and encouraged a break in formality.

Modern Age Literature

500

Mark Twain is known for his use of this humorous, extreme exaggeration.

Hyperbole

The Modern Age

100

This era drew attention to city-life sights and sounds in American Literature.

The Roaring Twenties

200

This era marked American literature with an emphasis on poverty, crime, and racism.

The Great Depression

300

This administration brought about major economic reforms to increase employment, including the support of artists and authors to increase American national pride.

The New Deal or the Public Works Administration

400

This natural disaster caused small-town America to decrease in population and emphasized the struggles of men and women who work the land.

The Dust Bowl

500

These major world events scarred both the landscape and pride in western culture, giving literature an emphasis on emptiness, suffering, and sterility.

The World Wars