American literature - Enlightment, Romanticism, Realism

The period of colonial and revolutionary literature was from 1607 to 1800 and it conveys the differences between the South which supported slavery and the North, which was for its abolishment. The North wanted to be a society based on God´s laws and Christian beliefs. As a result, it developed much faster. There were many philosophers there, who wrote political pamphlets. Benjamin Franklin even wrote his own autobiography. The 19^th century was the period of realism and naturalism. The philosophers of the North explored their inner lives. Herman Melville had a tragic view of life. He viewed it as a struggle between God and evil and portrayed it in his book: “Moby Dick”. The title is the name of a white whale, which is the symbol of God and fate. The main character, Ahab, dies after attacking the whale. Mark Twain, whose actual name was Samuel Clemens, lived in Hannibal, Missouri. This affected his writings a lot. Some of his creations are: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Edgar Allan Poe wrote poems and short fiction. His criticism comes from his substitute father (his own parents died when he was 3). He wrote “The Raven”, “The Pit”, and “The Pendulum” as well as inventing the detective story and psychological thrillers.