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Period: 1000 to
(Unit 1)(first time period) Native American Literature
Literature was a very big way for the Native Americans to share their stories, especially through oral means. They believed in works that had a message at the end of the story, such as "The Sky Tree" and "Coyote and the Buffalo". Characteristics of these stories usually included a trickster and a reason for why something is the way it is. -
1200
Native Americans (represents period)
Before colonization, the Native Americans used to live off the land and grow crops in their unique style. This helps represent their time period. -
1400
The Hurons
The Hurons, a tribe located in present day Canada, told many stories, especially "The Sky Tree". It was about how the Earth was created, which was a prominent theme in Native American literature. It was also very similar to the Iroquois "Earth on Turtle's Back" -
1401
Native American Oral Tradition
This is a picture of how the Natives used to tell stories, through oral tradition. -
1492
Columbus discovers the New World
Christopher Columbus discovered a completely new land in the year 1492, which was when the natives were first discovered. -
1501
Dispersion of Natives in US (represents period)
This was a map of the different Native American tribes that was in the US during this time period. -
1550
The Iroquois people orally write "The World on the Turtle's Back"
The Iroquois, a tribe located in New York, had this story passed down from generations and generations to become one of the most popular Native American stories today. The story was about how the world was created. It was published on print in the 1800s, but the story was passed down for generations pre-1600's. -
Jamestown is founded
The first settlement of the Virginia colony is in Jamestown, and was the start of the early American and Puritan stories. -
Period: to
(Unit 1 and 2)(first time period)Early American and Puritan Writing/Enlightenment/Great Awakening
After the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 in MA, the Puritans became prominent in writing with a style called "plain", which was the characteristics of how they wrote. These Puritans wrote about daily life, in a succinct manner, for God. Also, in Europe, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening helped lots of people, especially the people in the New World, a sense of how they use religion and reason in their life, which was they believed in. -
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Although written in 1953, the story was set durning the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 in Massachusetts. The story was about the accusations of witchcraft by some of the girls in Salem, and their punishment that led to their tragic deaths. -
Salem Witch Trials
In 1693, many females in Salem, Massachusetts, were accused of witchcraft, leading to the deaths of twenty innocent people. This is considered one of the most tragic things to happen in US history. -
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
This sermon by Jonathan Edwards was his most famous work, and emphasized hell and how horrifying it is there. He also talked about how all-powerful God was, and if you anger him, it will lead to very bad things. It is a major work in the Great Awakening period. -
The United States wins the Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War between the United States and England ended in a US victory, creating a new nation based on the principles of freedom. The United States eventually becomes one of the biggest nations the world has ever seen. -
Period: to
(Unit 3) (2nd time period) American Romanticism
American Romanticism was a movement protesting the Enlightenment and Industrial Age, and moved towards a emphasis on the arts and the individual. They believed in imagination and truly emphasized the common man. The characteristics of the Romantic movement in literature included a focus on emotions, using nature, and staying mostly in the traditional side of poetry. -
"Nature" by R.W. Emerson
"Nature" was an essay that Emerson wrote that helped start the Transcendentalism Movement, which was a major theme of Romanticism. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was the forcible removal of American Indians to barren lands, especially to the Dakotas and Oklahoma. This is a really bad event in American history. -
Westward Expansion (represents this period)
The Westward Expansion helped represent the Romanticist period as many believed the west was this mystical place, mostly because of stories they heard about this. People during this time were hypnotized by the riches of the West, which in reality, wasn't nearly as great as advertised. -
Slavery (represents period)
Slavery was a controversial topic during the Romanticist period. Many in the South were pro-slaves, while the North and a lot of the Romanticist writers were against this idea. This tension eventually led to the Civil War. -
"The Raven" by E.A. Poe
Poe wrote his most influential piece in 1845. It is a very creepy and mysterious short story, and had very Romanticist qualities. -
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous Romanticist author who was known for many of his works, like "The Raven" and "The Fall of the House of Usher". He is the most well-known Romanticist author today. -
California Gold Rush
Due to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, many poor settlers in America moved out to California, near the Bay Area, to search for gold. This was very prominent in 1849. Many were successful, but most were not. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson is one of the most influential Romanticist poet and writer of all time. He helped the transcendentalist movement, and stressed the individual, which made him a big Romanticist. -
Period: to
(Unit 4) (Third Period) Romanticism to Realism
After the horrors of the US Civil War, Romanticism ended, leading to a shift into the Realism period. This period was signified by an end in the arts and imagination to realism, which was more honest and real. The realists and transcendentalists wrote things the way they were, similar to romanticism, but not exaggerating nature and the common man. The characteristics of this type of writing included lots and lots of detail and basic, simple diction. -
Surrender at Appomattox
The surrender of the Confederates represented by Robert E. Lee signified the end of the Civil War, which marked the end of the Civil War. -
Walt Whitman
Whitman was a realist poet who wrote about American ideals, breaking away from the traditional style of structure and order in poetry. His most famous collection of poetry is called "Leaves of Grass". He is considered a link from Romanticism to Realism, and his time period is mixed between this. (This counts as a Romanticism to Realist poet/author) -
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain
This book is an example of realism as this story is about a young boy in Missouri, which is where Twain grew up. He used real-life things and settings to create his story, using typical slang language that was used during the time of this story. This book ended up being one of Twain's most famous, with the character Tom appearing in a lot of other stories. -
Mark Twain
Twain was a Realist author from Missouri, who wrote many famous books like "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and other realistic stories. He is considered one of the most important authors during this time. -
President McKinley is assassinated
President William McKinley of Ohio is shot and died of gangrene in Buffalo, NY. This was a big event for the USA, as an anarchist succeeded in his mission of disrupting order. -
First Flight by the Wright Brothers
In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright of Dayton,Ohio succeeded in building the first airplane that flew in Kitty Hawk, N.C. This was a big step in planes becoming a major factor in modern-day technology, and was used greatly in World War 2. -
City of Cleveland in 1910 (represents period)
This was Cleveland,Ohio in 1910. This shows what a normal US city was like during this time of Romanticism to Realism. -
"The Bob" -(represents R to R period)
During the realist and some of the modernist periods, a famous hairstyle for females was the "bob" haircut, which was a big difference from the normally long and feminine style of hair. -
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald (Realism)
The Great Gatsby was a literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald that is considered realist because of the very normal people in the story, especially Nick Carraway. Also, the American Dream is prominent throughout the story, and the detail of Long Island and "West Egg" is amazing for a story like TGG, mostly cause Fitzgerald used to live in Long Island. -
Period: to
(Unit 6) (fourth period)Modernism
Modernism was a period that started after the horrors of WW1. Many of the characteristics during this time included imagism(seeing something for what it specifically is) and disilllusionment(felt betrayed in how the tragedies happened in WW1). These people believed in a break from traditional poetry and explored the impact of rapid change. Characteristics of this movement had some of realism and romanticism mixed in it, while using disillusionment, as stated above. -
Harlem Renaissance Women (represents period)
These three Harlem women help convey what the Modernism and rebirth of African-American culture was all about, which was to show their social statement to the world. This showed their sense of fashion, which was in style at the time. -
Great Depression
This event was a big deal in the US, and even the world, as the Roarin' 20's ended, leading to a glum time in the US. This helped lead the Modernism period to prominence. -
Robert Frost
Robert Frost was a famous modernist poet from San Francisco. He is one of the most revered poets today, with poems like "The Road Not Taken". -
Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound was one of the people who started the modernist movement, with his quote, "make it new". This became the slogan of the modernist movement, influencing many new writers and poets. Ezra also was influential in the imagism movement, which was a major theme in Modernism. -
"Make It New" by Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound, who has already been mentioned in this timeline, helped start this modernist movement by writing his "Make it new" essays. This was a major theme modernist writers everywhere, as they used the old and innovated it in their own way, making it new. -
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men was a story about two workers in California, with one that has mental issues. It is a modernist story because they both have a dream of living on their own farm, but at the end of the story, Lennie, the one with mental issues, gets killed by his best friend George. This disregard for the dream by Steinbeck shows the disillusionment quality of Modernism. -
US Army Recruitment (represents this period)
This Uncle Sam poster helps represent this Modernist movement as the effects of this war made these Modernist people question what the world had amounted to. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The first atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima, and second in Nagasaki days later. This event pretty much ended World War 2, and angered many in the US, who felt that this tragedy was not needed to defeat Japan. -
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
This book is one of Hemingway's most famous, and was a mix between modernist and realist styles. He wrote this in the Modernist period(which is why I put it as Modernist), using a break from traditional styles, but also wrote about fishing, which is a realist quality.
