Advanced Placement Literature and Composition 2018-19 Ms. Lively Assignment One: Fill out 5 of these “Major Works Data packets for 5 different novels you have read that are of literary merit (AP worthy). Assignment Two: Look up all of the attached allusions. These will be checked upon return and a major part of your first quarter grade. We will NOT immediately test on these. Assignment Three: Study the attached list of literary terms by making flash cards for all 100 terms. The bold words SHOULD be a review for you. You WILL have a test over the terms on the second day of school. We will be keeping a running list of terms throughout the course to add to these as we progress through our reading. Assignment Four: 1. Read “Young Goodman Brown,” answer the attached questions, and find literary and rhetorical devices the author uses (use the list for assignment one to help you). Then take it a step further. After you have found the device, write down the purpose for which the author may have used that particular device and/or what it adds to the text. Find as many as you can. There may be more than one correct answer. You do not and may not find some of the terms within the passages. This will be a class discussion upon return. 2. Figure out the time period of this story’s setting; identify the historical allusions (you need to have knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials, Puritan intolerance of the Quakers and King Phillip’s War to be able to identify some of the more subtle allusions) 3. This story also has Puritan and Calvinism allusions – attached is a quick explanation of each 4. Briefly research Nathaniel Hawthorne; this will help you understand his reason for writing it 5. Answer the questions that follow the text. ICE “Young Goodman Brown” (Upon return) Purchasing the books How to Read Literature like a Professor and latest version of English Literature and Composition CliffsNotes will be beneficial, but are NOT necessary. I have a classroom set of How to read Literature like a Professor.
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Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
2018-19
Ms. Lively
Assignment One: Fill out 5 of these “Major Works Data packets for 5 different novels you have
read that are of literary merit (AP worthy).
Assignment Two: Look up all of the attached allusions. These will be checked upon return and a
major part of your first quarter grade. We will NOT immediately test on these.
Assignment Three: Study the attached list of literary terms by making flash cards for all 100
terms. The bold words SHOULD be a review for you. You WILL have a test over the terms on the
second day of school. We will be keeping a running list of terms throughout the course to add to
these as we progress through our reading.
Assignment Four:
1. Read “Young Goodman Brown,” answer the attached questions, and find literary and
rhetorical devices the author uses (use the list for assignment one to help you). Then take
it a step further. After you have found the device, write down the purpose for which the
author may have used that particular device and/or what it adds to the text. Find as many
as you can. There may be more than one correct answer. You do not and may not find
some of the terms within the passages. This will be a class discussion upon return.
2. Figure out the time period of this story’s setting; identify the historical allusions (you need
to have knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials, Puritan intolerance of the Quakers and King
Phillip’s War to be able to identify some of the more subtle allusions)
3. This story also has Puritan and Calvinism allusions – attached is a quick explanation of each
4. Briefly research Nathaniel Hawthorne; this will help you understand his reason for writing it
5. Answer the questions that follow the text. ICE “Young Goodman Brown” (Upon return)
Purchasing the books How to Read
Literature like a Professor and
latest version of English Literature
and Composition CliffsNotes will be
beneficial, but are NOT necessary. I
have a classroom set of How to
read Literature like a Professor.
AP Literature and Composition
Watkins Memorial High School
Name ________________________________
Major Works Data Sheet: Fill out 5 of these packets for 5 novels you have read that are AP worthy.
Title: Biographical information about the author:
Author:
Date of publication:
Genre:
Circle the correct period and explain the historical information about the
period below.
English Time Periods
Old English/Anglo-Saxon 450-1100
Middle English 1100 – 1500
English Renaissance 1500-1660
Neo-Classical Literature (Restoration, Augustan, Age of Sensibility 1660-1798
English Romanticism 1798-1837
Victorian Literature 1837-1901
English Modernism 1901-1939
English Post-Modernism 1940-Present
American Time Periods
Native American Literature ?- present
Puritan/Colonial Literature 1650-1750 Characteristics of the Genre”
Revolutionary Literature/Age of Reason/Enlightenment 1750-1800
American Romanticism/Renaissance 1800-1860
Realism 1860-1900
American Modernism 1900-1950
American Post-Modernism 1950-Present
Historical information about the period of publication:
Plot summary:
Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style: An example that demonstrates this style:
Memorable Quotes
Quote Significance
Major Works Data Sheet Page 3
Characters
Name Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Major Works Data Sheet Page 4
Setting: Significance of the opening scene:
Significance of the ending/closing scene:
Symbols:
Subjects Covered:
Possible Themes:
AP Literature and Composition
Watkins Memorial High School
Name ________________________________
Major Works Data Sheet: Fill out 5 of these packets for 5 novels you have read that are AP worthy.
Title: Biographical information about the author:
Author:
Date of publication:
Genre:
Circle the correct period and explain the historical information about the
period below.
English Time Periods
Old English/Anglo-Saxon 450-1100
Middle English 1100 – 1500
English Renaissance 1500-1660
Neo-Classical Literature (Restoration, Augustan, Age of Sensibility 1660-1798
English Romanticism 1798-1837
Victorian Literature 1837-1901
English Modernism 1901-1939
English Post-Modernism 1940-Present
American Time Periods
Native American Literature ?- present
Puritan/Colonial Literature 1650-1750 Characteristics of the Genre”
Revolutionary Literature/Age of Reason/Enlightenment 1750-1800
American Romanticism/Renaissance 1800-1860
Realism 1860-1900
American Modernism 1900-1950
American Post-Modernism 1950-Present
Historical information about the period of publication:
Plot summary:
Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style: An example that demonstrates this style:
Memorable Quotes
Quote Significance
Major Works Data Sheet Page 3
Characters
Name Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Major Works Data Sheet Page 4
Setting: Significance of the opening scene:
Significance of the ending/closing scene:
Symbols:
Subjects Covered:
Possible Themes:
AP Literature and Composition
Watkins Memorial High School
Name ________________________________
Major Works Data Sheet: Fill out 5 of these packets for 5 novels you have read that are AP worthy.
Title: Biographical information about the author:
Author:
Date of publication:
Genre:
Circle the correct period and explain the historical information about the
period below.
English Time Periods
Old English/Anglo-Saxon 450-1100
Middle English 1100 – 1500
English Renaissance 1500-1660
Neo-Classical Literature (Restoration, Augustan, Age of Sensibility 1660-1798
English Romanticism 1798-1837
Victorian Literature 1837-1901
English Modernism 1901-1939
English Post-Modernism 1940-Present
American Time Periods
Native American Literature ?- present
Puritan/Colonial Literature 1650-1750 Characteristics of the Genre”
Revolutionary Literature/Age of Reason/Enlightenment 1750-1800
American Romanticism/Renaissance 1800-1860
Realism 1860-1900
American Modernism 1900-1950
American Post-Modernism 1950-Present
Historical information about the period of publication:
Plot summary:
Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style: An example that demonstrates this style:
Memorable Quotes
Quote Significance
Major Works Data Sheet Page 3
Characters
Name Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Major Works Data Sheet Page 4
Setting: Significance of the opening scene:
Significance of the ending/closing scene:
Symbols:
Subjects Covered:
Possible Themes:
AP Literature and Composition
Watkins Memorial High School
Name ________________________________
Major Works Data Sheet: Fill out 5 of these packets for 5 novels you have read that are AP worthy.
Title: Biographical information about the author:
Author:
Date of publication:
Genre:
Circle the correct period and explain the historical information about the
period below.
English Time Periods
Old English/Anglo-Saxon 450-1100
Middle English 1100 – 1500
English Renaissance 1500-1660
Neo-Classical Literature (Restoration, Augustan, Age of Sensibility 1660-1798
English Romanticism 1798-1837
Victorian Literature 1837-1901
English Modernism 1901-1939
English Post-Modernism 1940-Present
American Time Periods
Native American Literature ?- present
Puritan/Colonial Literature 1650-1750 Characteristics of the Genre”
Revolutionary Literature/Age of Reason/Enlightenment 1750-1800
American Romanticism/Renaissance 1800-1860
Realism 1860-1900
American Modernism 1900-1950
American Post-Modernism 1950-Present
Historical information about the period of publication:
Plot summary:
Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style: An example that demonstrates this style:
Memorable Quotes
Quote Significance
Major Works Data Sheet Page 3
Characters
Name Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Major Works Data Sheet Page 4
Setting: Significance of the opening scene:
Significance of the ending/closing scene:
Symbols:
Subjects Covered:
Possible Themes:
AP Literature and Composition
Watkins Memorial High School
Name ________________________________
Major Works Data Sheet: Fill out 5 of these packets for 5 novels you have read that are AP worthy.
Title: Biographical information about the author:
Author:
Date of publication:
Genre:
Circle the correct period and explain the historical information about the
period below.
English Time Periods
Old English/Anglo-Saxon 450-1100
Middle English 1100 – 1500
English Renaissance 1500-1660
Neo-Classical Literature (Restoration, Augustan, Age of Sensibility 1660-1798
English Romanticism 1798-1837
Victorian Literature 1837-1901
English Modernism 1901-1939
English Post-Modernism 1940-Present
American Time Periods
Native American Literature? - present
Puritan/Colonial Literature 1650-1750 Characteristics of the Genre”
Revolutionary Literature/Age of Reason/Enlightenment 1750-1800
American Romanticism/Renaissance 1800-1860
Realism 1860-1900
American Modernism 1900-1950
American Post-Modernism 1950-Present
Historical information about the period of publication:
Plot summary:
Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style: An example that demonstrates this style:
Memorable Quotes
Quote Significance
Major Works Data Sheet Page 3
Characters
Name Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Major Works Data Sheet Page 4
Setting: Significance of the opening scene:
Significance of the ending/closing scene:
Symbols:
Subjects Covered:
Possible Themes:
Assignment Two: Look up the following AP Literature allusions: Allusions are compact keys to meaning. The
following is an introductory list of allusions for literature students. Notice the Bible and mythology get a
huge shout-out here. Please add to this list as you come across new references.
1. Cerberus
2. Medusa
3. Stygian
4. Minotaur
5. Venus
6. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
7. Bacchus
8. Nemesis
9. Zephyr
10. Pan
11. Aurora
12. Persephone
13. Achilles
14. Aphrodite
15. Philistines
16. Clytemnestra
17. Leda
18. Labyrinth
19. Magi
20. Mary (the Virgin)
21. Mary Magdalene
22. Massacre of the Innocents
23. Pontius Pilate
24. Brutus
25. Prodigal Son
26. Herod
27. Prometheus
28. Solomon
29. Proteus
30. Hermes
31. Pygmalion
32. Daedalus
33. Phoebus
34. Icarus
35. Rachel and Leah
36. Hercules
37. Romulus and Remus
38. Ruth
39. Xanadu
40. Ambrosia
41. Elysian Fields
42. Sisyphus
43. Harpies
44. Electra
45. Satyrs
46. Oedipus
47. Scylla and Charybdis
48. Job
49. Adam and Eve/Garden of Eden
50. Hades
Assignment Three:
1. Cerberus 2. Medusa 3. Stygian 4. Minotaur 5. Venus 6. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream 7. Bacchus 8. Nemesis 9. Zephyr 10. Pan 11. Aurora 12. Persephone 13. Achilles 14. Aphrodite 15. Philistines 16. Clytemnestra 17. Leda 18. Labyrinth 19. Magi 20. Mary (the Virgin) 21. Mary Magdalene 22. Massacre of the Innocents 23. Pontius Pilate 24. Brutus 25. Prodigal Son 26. Herod 27. Prometheus 28. Solomon 29. Proteus 30. Hermes 31. Pygmalion 32. Daedalus 33. Phoebus 34. Icarus 35. Rachel and Leah 36. Hercules 37. Romulus and Remus 38. Ruth 39. Xanadu 40. Ambrosia 41. Elysian Fields 42. Sisyphus 43. Harpies 44. Electra 45. Satyrs 46. Oedipus 47. Scylla and Charybdis 48. Job 49. Adam and Eve/Garden of Eden 50. Hades
51. Sodom and Gomorrah 52. Abraham and Isaac 53. Styx 54. Absalom 55. Tantalus 56. Midas 57. Thirty Pieces of Silver 58. Antigone 59. Tower of Babel 60. Armageddon 61. Madonna 62. Atlantis 63. The Second Coming 64. Camelot 65. Thebes 66. Atlas 67. Cain and Abel 68. David and Bathsheba 69. Four horsemen of the Apocalypse 70. Good Samaritan 71. Grail or Holy Grail 72. Jacob’s ladder 73. Jephthah’s daughter 74. Joshua 75. Jezebel 76. Judas Iscariot 77. Circe 78. Lazarus 79. Tartarus 80. Ajax 81. Japhet, Ham, and Shem 82. Siren 83. Cyclops 84. Odysseus 85. Adonis 86. Narcissus 87. Pandora’s Box 88. Daniel and Goliath 89. Alpha and Omega 90. Machiavellian 91. McCarthyism 92. Furies 93. Romulus and Remus 94. Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, Sir Gawain, Merlin 95. Trojan Horse 96. Medea 97. Trojan Horse 98. Round Table 99. Excalibur 100. Gordian Knot
101. Noah 102. Jonah 103. Moses 104. Beelzebub 105. Michael 106. Daniel in the Lion’s Den 107. 40 Days and 40 Nights 108. Eye for an Eye 109. Jacob’s Ladder 110. Disciples 111. Forbidden Fruit, Tree of Knowledge 112. Promised Land 113. Loaves and fish 114. Last Supper 115. Wolf in sheep’s clothing 116. Parting of the Red Sea 117. Seven Deadly Sins 118. Coat of Many Colors 119. Walking on Water 120. 10 Commandments 121. Thief in the Night 122. Crown of Thorns 123. Turn the other cheek
Assignment Three: Study the attached list of literary terms by making flash cards for all 100 terms. The bold words SHOULD be a review for you. We will be keeping a running list of terms throughout the course to add to these as we progress through our reading.
1. Abstract/Concrete: Classifications of imagery 2. Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected
words 3. Allusion: Reference to well-known being or event or other literary work 4. Ambiguity: Purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre 5. Anacoluthon: Breaking off a sentence… 6. Analogy: Extended comparison of similar things 7. Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses,
clauses, or paragraphs; for example, "We shall fight on the beaches… 8. Anastrophe: the inversion of the usual order of words or clauses. Also known as inversion 9. Antagonist: a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. 10. Antihero: a central character in a story, movie, or drama that lacks conventional heroic attributes. 11. Antithesis: Placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed, balancing of
contrasting ideas (“Give me liberty or give me death). 12. Aphorism: witty observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” 13. Apostrophe: Addressing person/entity not present. Ex: “Oyez Gods!” 14. Archetype: Recurrent idea (character, plot, theme, setting) that crosses time periods and genres). Ex: The
scapegoat, the wise old man, Happily Ever After, a disorienting forest (especially in Gothic Lit.) 15. Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds 16. Asyndeton: the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence 17. Atmosphere/Mood: Effect of physical environment 18. Bathos (anticlimax): the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style. A
disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events. Ex: Her hair was finely curled, her cheeks were lined with rouge, and her dress was a flowing green and blue which made her look rather like a tired, old peacock. The previous sentence is an example of bathos: an abrupt turn from the serious and poetic to the regular and silly. Rather than likening the woman to a beautiful bird, she is compared, surprisingly, to a tired, old peacock.
19. Bildungsroman: Coming of age novel 20. Cacophony: Harsh, discordant, unpleasant sounds 21. Catharsis : the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions 22. Chiasmus: repeating a phrase in reverse order. Ex: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” 23. Climax: Highest point of tension or conflict in a story 24. Colloquialism: Informal diction; expression often belongs to a regional or local dialect. Ex: “Pop” for soda.
“Buggy” for cart. (May also be known as an idiom) 25. Comic Relief: Lightens mood of a tragic or sad situation 26. Complex sentence: sentence containing one or more dependent clauses in addition to the main clause, as
when the bell rings (dependent clause), walk out (main clause). 27. Compound complex: sentence having two or more coordinate independent clauses and one or more
dependent clauses, as the lightning flashed (independent clause) and the rain fell (independent clause) as he entered the house (dependent clause).
28. Compound sentence: sentence containing two or more coordinate independent clauses, usually joined by one or more conjunctions, but no dependent clause, as the lightning flashed (independent clause) and (conjunction) the rain fell (independent clause).
29. Conceit: extended metaphor that incorporates surprise and shock the readers by making farfetched comparisons
30. A. Connotation: Feelings a words evokes B. Denotation: Dictionary definition
31. Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds 32. Denouement: Resolution, outcome of plot. This is where the loose ends in a story are typically tied up
33. Dialect: a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region
34. Diction: word choice 35. Double Entendre: a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent. 36. Dramatic Irony: Audience knows, character doesn’t 37. Ellipsis: the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the
context (“Some people prefer cats; others, dogs”). 38. Dynamic Character: Character who changes in a story 39. Epiphany: Sudden awareness 40. Epistrophe: the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences. 41. Epithet—a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. Homeric epithets are often compound
adjectives (“swift-footed Achilles”) that become an almost formulaic part of a name. Epithets can be abusive or offensive but are not so by definition. For example, athletes may be proud of their given epithets (“The Rocket”).
42. Euphemism: a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. “To pass away” is a euphemism for dying.
43. Euphony: the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words 44. Eulogy: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has
just died. 45. Exposition: Background information of a story 46. Falling Action: Events in a plot diagram that take place after the climax leading to the resolution or
denouement 47. Flashback: Device to supply background 48. Flat Character: stereotypical character with few traits; usually not a main character 49. A. Figurative Language: generalization of metaphors, similes, and allusions that go beyond the literal
meanings of the words to give readers new insights B. Figure of Speech - a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect
50. Flora and Fauna: Flora is plant life; fauna refers to animals. 51. Character Foils: Characters purposely set to oppose one another 52. Foreshadowing: Hints at coming events 53. Frame device: a story within a story. An example is Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in which the primary tales
are told within the “frame story” of the pilgrimage to Canterbury 54. Hamartia: a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine 55. Hyperbole: Exaggeration 56. Hubris: Extreme pride 57. Imagery: Sensory detail 58. In media res: beginning in the middle of things 59. Inversion: reversal of normal word order 60. Juxtaposition: placing two unlike things side by side for contrasting effect 61. Litotes: a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a
particularly horrific scene by saying, “It was not a pretty picture.”) 62. Loose Sentence: A loose sentence, also called a cumulative sentence, begins with a main clause that is
followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause. Ex: I went to the movies yesterday, bought candy, and shopped at the mall.
63. Malapropism: the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar (“The doctor wrote a subscription”).
64. Maxim: a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage. Ex: Never trust a man who says, "Trust me." You're either part of the solution or part of the problem. "Nothing ever goes away." Same as a aphorism.
65. Metaphor: Comparison of two seemingly unlike things 66. Metonymy: Substitution of associated word for word itself. Ex: “The White House is concerned about
terrorism.” The White House here represents the people who work in it. Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)
67. Motif: Often-repeated idea or theme 68. Oxymoron: Seeming contradiction – short style
69. Paradox: Seeming contradiction – long style 70. Parallelism: Repetition of similar syntactical structure. Ex: “I like to swim, to eat and to fish.” 71. Pathos: insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity. 72. Pathetic Fallacy: Weather in a story mimics mood of characters or atmosphere surrounding them 73. Periodic Sentence: the main clause or predicate is at the end. This is used for emphasis and can be
persuasive by putting reasons for something at the beginning before the final point is made. It can also create suspense or interest for the reader. Ex: In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued.
74. Personification: Characteristics of humans given to non-humans 75. Plot: Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, Resolution 76. Polysyndeton: the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some could otherwise
be omitted, as in: "He ran and jumped and laughed for joy." 77. Protagonist: Main character – doesn’t always have to be a “good guy.” 78. Pun: Play on words 79. Rising Action: Action in the plot of the story leading to the climax 80. Round Character: character in a story who has many traits 81. Sentence Fragment: incomplete sentence. Missing a subject or a verb 82. Sentence Run-on: two or more main or independent clauses are joined without a word to connect them or
a punctuation mark to separate them 83. Simile: Comparison using like or as 84. Simple sentence: sentence having only one clause, as I saw her the day before yesterday. 85. Situational irony: Unexpected result 86. Static Character: Character who stays the same during a story 87. Stream of Consciousness: Thoughts and feelings recorded as they occur 88. Syllepsis: a construction in which one word is used in two different senses (“After he threw the ball, he
threw a fit.”) 89. Synesthesia: Confusion of the senses 90. Syllogism: a three-part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor
premise (“All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal”). 91. Symbol: Is what it is and something more 92. Synecdoche: is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something
or vice versa. Ex: The word “bread” refers to food or money as in “Writing is my bread and butter” or “sole breadwinner.” The phrase “gray beard” refers to an old man. The word “suits” refers to businessmen.
93. Syntax: Sentence and phrase structure 94. Theme: Central idea or bigger picture. Message the author is trying to convey with the piece of writing. 95. Tone: Author’s or speaker’s attitude 96. Tragic Flaw: Character trait that leads to his/her downfall 97. Understatement: Making big things seem small 98. Verbal irony: To say one thing, but mean another 99. Vernacular: the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region. 100. Zeugma: a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g., John and his license expired last week) or to two others of which it semantically suits only one (e.g., with weeping eyes and hearts).
Assignment Four: Background Information
Puritans and Calvinism
The central belief of Calvinism was that only 10% of people - The Elect - will go to Heaven after death. Further, God
has already decided who this 10% will be as He is all knowing and all powerful.
The central belief of Puritanism is that people should live their lives, and rulers rule, according to the Laws of God, in
particular as laid down in the Old Testament. This way they will become better people, make the world a better place,
and increase their chances of entering Heaven after death.
Puritans was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence. In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy commonwealth in New England. Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.
English Puritanism
Associated exclusively with no single theology or definition of the church — although many were Calvinists — the English Puritans were known at first for their extremely critical attitude regarding the religious compromises made during the reign of Elizabeth I. Many of them were graduates of Cambridge University, and they became Anglican priests to make changes in their local churches. They encouraged direct personal religious experience, sincere moral conduct, and simple worship services. Worship was the area in which Puritans tried to change things most; their efforts in that direction were sustained by intense theological convictions and definite expectations about how seriously Christianity should be taken as the focus of human existence.
After James I became king of England in 1603, Puritan leaders asked him to grant several reforms. At the Hampton Court Conference (1604), however, he rejected most of their proposals, which included abolition of bishops. Puritanism, best expressed by William Ames and later by Richard Baxter, gained much popular support early in the 17th century. The government and the church hierarchy, however, especially under Archbishop William Laud, became increasingly repressive, causing many Puritans to emigrate. Those who remained formed a powerful element within the parliamentarian party that defeated Charles I in the English Civil War. After the war the Puritans remained dominant in England until 1660, but they quarreled among themselves (Presbyterian dominance gave way to Independent, or congregational, control under Oliver Cromwell) and proved even more intolerant than the old hierarchy. The restoration of the monarchy (1660) also restored Anglicanism, and the Puritan clergy were expelled from the Church of England under the terms of the Act of Uniformity (1662). Thereafter English Puritans were classified as Nonconformists.
American Puritanism
Early in the 17th century some Puritan groups separated from the Church of England. Among these were the Pilgrims, who in 1620 founded Plymouth Colony. Ten years later, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the first major Puritan migration to New England took place. The Puritans brought strong religious impulses to bear in all colonies north of Virginia, but New England was their stronghold, and the Congregationalist churches established there were able to perpetuate their viewpoint about a Christian society for more than 200 years.
Richard Mather and John Cotton provided clerical leadership in the dominant Puritan colony planted on Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker was an example of those who settled new areas farther west according to traditional Puritan standards. Even though he broke with the authorities of the Massachusetts colony over questions of religious freedom, Roger Williams was also a true Puritan in his zeal for personal godliness and doctrinal correctness. Most of these men held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought. In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience. These Puritans insisted that they, as God's elect, had the duty to direct national affairs according to God's will as revealed in the Bible. This union of church and state to form a holy commonwealth gave Puritanism direct and exclusive control over most colonial activity until commercial and political changes forced them to relinquish it at the end of the 17th century.
Because of its diffuse nature, when Puritanism began to decline in America is difficult to say. Some would hold that it lost its influence in New England by the early 18th century, but Jonathan Edwards and his able disciple Samuel Hopkins revived Puritan thought and kept it alive until 1800. Others would point to the gradual decline in power of Congregationalism, but Presbyterians under the leadership of Jonathan Dickinson and Baptists led by the example of Isaac Backus (1724–1806) revitalized Puritan ideals in several denominational forms through the 18th century.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was born and raised in Salem, is best known for his novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family had deep roots in Salem. As a result, the town and Nathaniel’s Salem ancestors themselves greatly influenced his writing. Nathaniel Hawthorne was the great-great grandson of the Salem Witch Trials judge John Hathorne.
Hawthorne was haunted by his connection to his ancestor and it is speculated that he may have eventually added the “W” to his last name to distance himself from his great-great grandfather. Hawthorne published two stories under the name “Hathorne” in 1830 but started spelling his name with a W after this date.
Nathaniel Hathorne is not only related to John Hathorne but also to a number of the accused witches from the Salem Witch Trials: Mary and Philip English, John Proctor and Sarah Wilson, as well as one of the accusers: Sarah Phelps. Nathaniel’s great uncles, Captain William Hathorne and Daniel Hathorne, married two of Mary and Philip English’ granddaughters, Mary and Susannah Touzel. Nathaniel’s cousin, Elizabeth Hathorne, married John Proctor’s great-great-great grandson, Thorndike Proctor.
Education
In 1821, Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Among his classmates were Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would become a distinguished poet and Harvard professor, and Franklin Pierce, future 14th president of the United States. Another classmate, Horatio Bridge, was later to offer a Boston publisher a guarantee against loss if he would publish Hawthorne's first collection of short stories.
Hawthorne graduated middle of his class in 1825. Regarding his aspirations, he wrote, "I do not want to be a doctor and live by men's diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer to live by their quarrels. So, I don't see that there is anything left for me but to be an author."
Early Career
For the next 12 years, Hawthorne lived in comparative isolation in an upstairs chamber at his mother's house, where he worked at perfecting his writing craft. He also began keeping notebooks or journals, a habit he continued throughout his life. He often jotted down ideas and descriptions, and his words are now a rich source of information about his themes, ideas, style experiments, and subjects.
Genre
Along with Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe much of Hawthorne's work belongs to the sub-genre of Dark Romanticism (Gothic), distinguished by an emphasis on human fallibility that gives rise to lapses in judgement that allow even good men and women to drift toward sin and self-destruction. Dark Romantics tends to draw attention to the unintended consequences and complications that arise from well-intended efforts at social reform.
End of Life
Hawthorne suffered from poor health in the 1860s and died in his sleep during a trip to the White Mountains with Franklin Pierce on May 19, 1864. He is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. Widely eulogized as one of America's foremost writers, his fellow authors gathered to show their respect. Among his pallbearers were Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, and Emerson. Today he rests there with Washington Irving, Emerson, Thoreau, and the Alcotts, as well as his wife, Sophia.
Seven years after Sophia Hawthorne buried her husband in Concord’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, she passed away in London. She was interred an ocean away from her husband along with their daughter Una when she died in 1877. In 2006, the bodies of Hawthorne’s wife and daughter were unearthed from London’s Kensal Green Cemetery and reinterred next to his side.