American Literature

Literature the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism. Where does one begin To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided.

The enlightenment was also called the Age of Reason. It spanned from 1660-1770. The central idea behind the enlightenment was using reason to understand nature and guide the human existence. Some of the popular writers from that time period were Voltaire and Moliere.

Romanticism entailed much more abstract literature than the enlightenment offered. Ideally, romanticism dealt with issues of passion and love. The romantic era covered the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Emerson, Thoreau, Wordsworth, and Goethe were just some of the well-known romantic writers.

Realism is broadly defined as the faithful representation of reality, the attempt to show everyday activities and life, primarily among the middle or lower class society, without romantic idealization or dramatization was the focus of writers. Anti-realists about the past claim that no one has yet manifested a knowledge of the truth of tensed instances of the realist schema  (s is true  there is no evidence for s), instances such as  (Caesar crossed the Rubicon is true  there is no evidence for Caesar crossed the Rubicon). It is true that we cannot decide specific instances of the realist schema and that, consequently, neither our understanding of these instances, nor our knowledge of their truth may be constituted by the recognitional and executive capacities which, according to Michael Dummetts antirealism, constitute grasp of meaning. Although we cannot decide these issues, we can meet Dummetts anti-realists manifestability challenge by arguing for them from contingency. While no recognitional and decisional skills may constitute our knowledge that their truth-conditions are satisfied, we can, without begging the question, derive that knowledge from our folk and scientific theories of the workings of nature.

Modernism, is the movement wherein visual arts, music, literature, and drama which rejected the old Victorian standards of how art should be made, consumed, and what it should mean.
Postmodernism mixes the old themes with new contemporary issues to come up with striking artworks that command, question, and captivate its audience to take part in discovering its inner implication. With its inner meaning and splendor, it was also used as a way of communicating which was.

Knowing these terms or views would help us understand texts and poems, because we can dissect a story, a poem or a chapter of a book using these views.