How to Categorize National American Lit
From your Literature: Classic Guide

You are reading a work and you think it might have been written in during the National Period of American Literature, but you aren't sure. Here are some characteristics that will help you to know.

Difficulty Level: Easy    Time Required: varies

1. The National Period spans the years 1790 to 1828, a period significantly shaped by the efforts to establish a new nation and sometimes called the Federalist Age.
2. The early National Period was when we saw the beginnings of a relatively independent and imaginative literature in America.
3. Well known works include William Cullen Bryant's poetry, Washington Irving's essays and stories, James Fenimore Cooper's back-woods adventure novels, the gothic works of Charles Brockden Brown, etc.
4. During this period, the novel flourished in it's different forms: sentimental, gothic, and romantic-naturalistic, frontier-style accounts.
   

Tips:

1. If in doubt, look it up or ask a librarian.
2. The more you read, the more you will start to pick of characteristics and features of each period.

Related Information:

• James Fenimore Cooper
• American Writers
• American Literature
• Anthologies
  

More How To's from your Guide to Literature: Classic