文档介绍：American Literature
Colonial Period(1607-1750)
Major Points
Puritanism
Anne Bradstreet
Edward Taylor
Teaching Material
Supplemented by the lecturer (note-taking by the students)
Colonial Period (1607-1750)
Chapter One
Historical Background
History
People
Religion: Puritanism
Early History:
1) America was first discovered by Columbus at the end of the 15th century.
2) In 1607, Captain John Smith led some Englishmen across the ocean.
3) In 1620, 102 passengers sailed on the ship Mayflower across the sea and settled on the new continent “New England”.
People
Indians were native inhabitants (aborigines).
Now Americans are mainly immigrants mostly from Europe, esp. from England.
People of America
They were the Puritans who wanted to reform the Church of England but later were persecuted by English government and church. They were called Puritans because they aimed to purify the church of Protestantism. When they came to America, they brought Puritanism to this new continent on which only primitive Indians originally settled. But at the very beginning, they met great difficulties and setbacks and they were helped by Indians. The experiences were recorded by them in travel accounts, sermons and poems, which were the earliest forms of American literature. (based on the reference book: Highlights of American Literature)
People of America
The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans.
They were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles.
They carried with them to America a code of values, a philosophy of life, a point of view which, in time, took root in the New World and became what is popularly known as American Puritanism.
The Significance of Puritanism
American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.
Without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of America