Abolitionism
Active movement to end slavery in the northern U.S. North before the Civil War in the 1860s.
Allusion
An implied or indirect reference in a literary text to another text.
Beatnik
Artistic and literary rebellion against established society of the 1950s and early 1960s, associated
with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others. “Beat” suggests holiness (“beatification”) and
suffering (“beaten down”).
Boston Brahmins
Influential and respected 19th-century New England writers who maintained the “genteel
tradition” of upper-class values.
Calvinism
Strict theological doctrine of the French Protestant church reformer John Calvin (1509–1564) and
the basis of Puritan society. Calvin held that all humans were born sinful and only God’s grace
(not the church) could save a person from hell.
Captivity narrative
Account of capture by Native American tribes, such as those created by writers Mary Rowlandson
and John Williams in colonial times.
Character writing
Popular 17th- and 18th-century literary sketch of a character who represents a group or type.
Civil War
The war (1861–1865) between the northern U.S. states, which remained in the Union, and the
southern states, which seceded and formed the Confederacy. The victory of the North ended
slavery and preserved the Union.
Conceit
Extended metaphor. Term used to describe Renaissance metaphysical poetry in England and
colonial poetry, such as that of Anne Bradstreet, in colonial America.
Decadents
Late 19th- and early 20th-century “aesthetic” artists and writers, chiefly British and French,
involved with “turn of the century” ideas of endings, decay, and artificiality.
Deconstruction
Controversial mode of textual analysis that can reveal hidden ideological assumptions. Questions
hierarchical thinking in which one term is privileged over another (e.g. culture versus nature,
man versus woman). Draws on thought of French theorist Jacques Derrida, who elaborated on
linguist Ferdinand de Saussure’s vision of language as a system of differences.
Deism
An 18th-century Enlightenment religion emphasizing reason, not miracles; partly a reaction
against Calvinism and religious superstition.
Election
A Puritan doctrine in which God “elects,” or chooses, the individuals who will enter heaven
according to His divine will.
Ellipsis
Omission from a text of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be
supplied to make a construction grammatically correct; the marks denoting such an omission.
Enlightenment
An 18th-century movement that focused on the ideals of good sense, benevolence, and a belief in
liberty, justice, and equality as the natural rights of human persons.
Existentialism
A philosophical movement embracing the view that the suffering individual must create meaning
in an unknowable, chaotic, and seemingly empty universe.
Expressionism
Post–World War I artistic movement, of German origin, that distorted appearances to
communicate inner emotional states.
Faust
Literary character who sells his soul to the devil in order to become all-knowing, or godlike;
protagonist of plays by English Renaissance dramatist Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) and
German Romantic writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832).
Feminism
The view, articulated in the 19th century, that women are inherently equal to men and deserve
equal rights and opportunities; more recently, a social and political movement that took hold in
the United States in the late 1960s and soon spread globally.
Genre
A category of literary forms (novel, lyric poem, epic, for example).
Hartford Wits
Patriotic but conservative late 18th-century literary circle centered at Yale College in Connecticut
(also known as the Connecticut Wits).
Hudibras
A mock-heroic satire by English writer Samuel Butler (1612–1680). Hudibras was imitated by
early revolutionary-era satirists.
Image
Concrete representation of an object, or something seen.
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Imagists
A group of mainly American poets, including Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell, who used sharp visual
images and colloquial speech; active from 1912 to 1914.
Irony
A meaning (often contradictory) concealed behind the apparent meaning of a word or phrase.
Knickerbocker School
New York City–based writers of the early 1800s who imitated English and European literary
fashions.
“Light” literature
Popular literature written for entertainment.
McCarthy era
The period of the Cold War (late 1940s and early 1950s) during which U.S. Senator Joseph
McCarthy pursued U.S. citizens whom he and his followers suspected of being members or former
members of, or sympathizers with, the Communist party. His efforts included the creation of
“blacklists” in various professions—rosters of people who were excluded from working in those
jobs. McCarthy ultimately was denounced by his Senate colleagues.
Metaphysical poetry
Intricate type of 17th-century English poetry employing wit and unexpected images.
Middle Colonies
Present-day Atlantic or eastern U.S. states—colonial New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
sometimes Delaware—known for commercial activities centering on New York City and
Philadelphia.
Midwest
The central area of the United States, from the Ohio River to the Rocky Mountains, including the
Prairie and Great Plains regions (also known as the Middle West).
Millennialism
Seventeenth-century Puritan belief that Jesus Christ would return to Earth and inaugurate
1,000 years of peace and prosperity, as had been prophesied in the New Testament.
Mock-epic
A parody using epic form (also known as mock-heroic).
Modernism
International cultural movement after World War I expressing disillusionment with tradition and
interest in new technologies and visions.
Motif
A recurring element, such as an image, theme, or type of incident.
Muckrakers
American journalists and novelists (1900–1912) whose spotlight on corruption in business and
government led to social reform.
Multicultural
The creative interchange of numerous ethnic and racial subcultures.
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Myth
Legendary narrative, usually of gods and heroes, or a theme that expresses the ideology of a
culture.
Naturalism
Late 19th- and early 20th-century literary approach of French origin that vividly depicted social
problems and viewed human beings as helpless victims of larger social and economic forces.
Neoclassicism
An 18th-century artistic movement, associated with the Enlightenment, drawing on classical
models and emphasizing reason, harmony, and restraint.
New England
The region of the United States comprising present-day Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and noted for its early industrialization and
intellectual life; traditionally, home of the shrewd, independent, thrifty “Yankee” trader.
Objectivist
Mid-20th-century poetic movement, associated with William Carlos Williams, stressing images
and colloquial speech.
Old Norse
The ancient Norwegian language of the sagas, virtually identical to modern Icelandic.
Oral tradition
Transmission by word of mouth; tradition passed down through generations; verbal folk tradition.
Plains Region
The middle region of the United States that slopes eastward from the Rocky Mountains to the
prairie.
Post-modernism
Media-influenced aesthetic sensibility of the late 20th century characterized by open-endedness
and collage; post-modernism questions the foundations of cultural and artistic forms through selfreferential
irony and the juxtaposition of elements from popular culture and electronic
technology.
Prairie
The level, unforested farm region of the midwestern United States.
Primitivism
Belief that nature provides truer and more healthful models than does culture; an example is the
myth of the “noble savage.”
Providence
God’s will, as expressed through events on Earth; Fate is seen as revelation.
Puritans
English religious and political reformers who fled their native land in search of religious freedom
and settled and colonized New England in the 17th century.
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Reformation
A northern European political and religious movement of the 15th through 17th centuries that
attempted to reform Catholicism; eventually gave rise to Protestantism.
Reflexive
Self-referential. A literary work is reflexive when it refers to itself.
Regionalism
Writing that explores the customs and landscape of a region of the United States.
Revolutionary War
The War of Independence, 1775–1783, fought by the American colonies against Great Britain.
Romance
Emotionally heightened, symbolic American novels associated with the Romantic period.
Romanticism
A reaction against neoclassicism. This early 19th-century movement elevated the individual, the
passions, and the inner life. It stressed strong emotion, imagination, freedom from classical
correctness in art forms, and rebellion against social conventions.
Saga
An ancient Scandinavian narrative of historical or mythical events.
Salem Witch Trials
Proceedings for alleged witchcraft held in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Nineteen persons were
hanged and numerous others were intimidated into confessing or accusing others of witchcraft.
Self-help book
Book telling readers how to improve their lives through their own efforts. A popular American
genre from the mid-19th century to the present.
Separatists
A strict Puritan sect of the 16th and 17th centuries that preferred to separate from the Church of
England rather than to reform. Many of those who first settled America were Separatists.
Slave narrative
First black literary prose genre in the United States; accounts of life of African Americans under
slavery.
South
Region of the United States including Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida,
West Virginia, and eastern Texas.
Surrealism
European literary and artistic movement that uses illogical, dreamlike images and events to
suggest the unconscious.
Syllabic versification
Poetic meter based on the number of syllables in a line.
Synthesis
Blending of two senses, used by Edgar Allan Poe and others to suggest hidden correspondences
and create exotic effects.
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Tall tale
A humorous, exaggerated story common on the American frontier, often focusing on cases of
superhuman strength.
Theme
Abstract idea embodied in a literary work.
Tory
Wealthy pro-English faction in America at the time of the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s.
Transcendentalism
A broad, philosophical movement in New England during the Romantic era (peaking between
1835 and 1845). It stressed the role of divinity in nature and the individual’s intuition, and
exalted feeling over reason.
Trickster
Cunning character of tribal folk narratives (particularly those of African Americans and Native
Americans) who breaks cultural codes of behavior; often a culture hero.
Vision song
Poetic song which members of some Native American tribes created when purifying themselves
through solitary fasting and meditation.
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