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The Age Of Reason And The Enlightenment

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The Age of Reason and The Enlightenment Period Within the course of Honors American Literature, there have been numerous units of writing from within history. In the class, there were a total of eight units covered. Everything from the Native Americans to Realism was studied in depth. Each movement had its own strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, each movement had a core set of beliefs that kept it a group of its own. Topics from religion to self-achievement scattered the broad spectrum of the literature representing these specific movements and time periods in literature (Barge). When looking at a general overview, one can begin to make a decision on which period to them is the best all around. One unit that was rather logical and …show more content…

Compared to the societal norm it was seen as heterogeneous because of its new ideas. It is said that the period thought that reason is the central capacity to man, and it allows him to act and think correctly. Furthermore, the movement understood that everyone had equal respect of their rationalization and recognized this by law. Tolerance was a major factor in the daily tasks of the followers of the movement. When looking at the religion of the Enlightenment period, not all will agree as the movement favored deism and proof of things purely through reasoning. However, despite their lack of religion they remain ahead with their logic by analyzing everything using reason to explain it. Famous and well know writers from the Enlightenment period include: Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jaques Rousseau, John Locke, and Voltaire. Literature in this time period also reflected some of the other beliefs associated with the movement. The Enlightenment was somewhat pejorative in its ways because it based texts on knowledge rather than the older ways of feelings and emotions that once were …show more content…

The Native American unit is self-explanatory and mainly focused on the Natives as well as their traditions, legends, myths, and folklore. The main literature from the movement focused on nature and animals and the relation between both of those and humans. Every tribe had its own eclectic and diverse set of literature that they followed and every set varied. In one region, the Native American Aztecs believed in Gods and Goddesses. One specific God they believed in was known as Quetzalcoatl and it is said that they pit him as the controller of civilization in wind. He was also known for guiding humans to live and grow their own crop. Continuing on with the tenet of the Native Americans view on Gods and Goddesses brings in their set of Creation Myths. The Native Americans had numerous myths that involved the creation of the earth. These texts include the Abenaki Creation Story, Achomawi Creation Myth, and the Aztec Creation Story. Listed is just a few of the massive amount of myths on creation from the Native American unit. While the Native American unit contained a large amount of information and history, the ways of the literature and movement are too old and outdated to apply to modern society. The usage of animals and nature to provide textual support to human life sounds and appears outdated to modern society as well. There are no concurrent figures that help to provide any depth

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