“The Age of Reason”Unit 3

Literature from the Revolutionary Period (late 1700s)

Context…

By the end of the 1700s, the Puritan influence on America began to wane (decrease).

People had come from all over Europe to the American colonies. Were the colonists happy, overall, with the

situation they were in? How does this affect literature?

Literature during “The Age of Reason”

Age of Reason: a movement that was marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy.

During the Age of Reason, scientists believed in Rationalism, which is the belief that human beings can arrive at the truth by using reason rather than relying on the authority of the past, or religious faith, or intuition.

Focus on NON-FICTION the most important pieces of literature during the AGE OF REASON

were:▪ Political Documents:▪ speeches, and pamphlets (short, concise works that usually argue for or against a

political cause.)

Important Writers…

Important writers: Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin Thomas Paine Patrick Henry, and any other of the so-

called “Founding Fathers.”

Terms to Know:

Rhetoric- the art of communicating ideas Persuasive Rhetoric- reasoned

arguments in favor of or against particular beliefs or courses of action

Rhetorical Appeals: Logos Ethos Pathos

Persuasion:

Strategy Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning▪ Deductive Reasoning-

generalizations/premises lead to specific examples and facts▪ Inductive Reasoning- begin with specific

examples and facts and draw a conclusion from them

Persuasion

Style Elevated language Rhetorical Questions- questions that

don’t require answers▪ What might their effect be?

Repetition- repeating a point Parallelism- form of repetition where

writer uses the game grammatical form/structure to express related ideas