American Literature Timeline. Ashley McIntyre. Colonial 1650-1750. The Colonial movement was mostly instructional. It was to spread the word of God, and help the corrupted-which was everyone. This style of writing is seen in plain writing, in the form of diaries, sermons, and personal notes.
Some examples of the work from this movement is Benjamin Franklin’s “The Autobiography”, which is about his life, and is split into four different parts.
Another example is Thomas Paine’s work such as “The Age of Reason” and “Rights of Man”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle
Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickenson’s poems are great examples of the Romanticism movement.
As is “The Custom-House” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Edgar Allen Poe
Famous Transcendentalism writers are H. D. Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe “The Black Cat” and Emerson’s poems and essays.
A great example of the Modern movement is “The Great Gatsby” by John Fitzgerald.
Some other good examples are Steinbeck, and Hemmingway’s short stories.
Examples of work from this movement is Zora Neil’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.
Langston Hughes poems are also good examples of work from this period.