Unit 1---Introduction: You may use these notes on any quiz or exam.
A. Directions: Write a brief sentence explaining each of the following names and terms. You will find all of the information in the Unit Introduction in your textbook on pp. 2-15.
1. Jamestown:
2. Stamp Act:
3. The Puritan Ethic:
4. Olaudah Equiano:
5. John Adams:
6. Jean de Crevecoeur:
B. Answer the following questions.
1.What role did Puritanism play in the settlement of North America by Europeans? (Hints: What caused the Puritans to leave Europe? What was the “shining city on a hill?)
2. What were some differences between the New England and Southern colonies? (Hints: What was the economy of New England like? What was the economy of the Southern colonies like? How were their lifestyles different? What happened in 1619 in Virginia?)
3. How did Enlightenment ideas influence the new American society? (Hints: What was the “social contract”? How did Enlightenment ideas influence the colonists to seek independence from England?
C. Directions: Answer the questions about the first Essential Question about the relationship between place and literature. 1. The Natural Environment of the New World a. The natural world the settlers found was
b. The Native American attitude toward nature was
2. The colonists and Nature a. The colonists regarded nature as belonging
b. The religious colonists’ dream fro the New World was
c. In contrast to their dream, the colonists’ reality in the New World was
d. By the eighteenth century, the colonists’ attitude had changed to 3. The Attitudes toward Nature Expressed in the Literature a. The religious colonists’ “Errand into the Wilderness” was
b. Later on, reason and technology made the natural world
D. Directions: Answer the questions about the second Essential Question about what makes American literature American.
1. Theme in Literature a. a theme is
b. Themes in literary works are revealed through
2. Three Early American Themes a. In their writings about nature, early Americans expressed
b. The public writings of early Americans showed the unique combination of
3. Most early American writing emphasized two values:
4. Uniquely American aspects of these themes: a. What qualities did early Americans associate with their lands?
b. What were the attitudes early Americans had toward the past and traditional European themes?
c. What vision of themselves did early Americans express in their writings?
E. Answer the questions about the third Essential Question about the relationship between the writer and society. 1. Social and Political Forces Affecting Early American Literature a. Puritan daily life, social relations, and lawmaking were all marked by
b. The enlightenment is associated with the qualities of
c. Deep painful marks on American literature were left by relationships between Americans of European descent and
2. Major roles of early American writers: a. Examples of early American writers who were poets and historians include
b. Examples of early American writers who were preachers and lawmakers include
c. Examples of early American writers who were autobiographers include