Name________________________Period______

Unit 1 Introduction
Names and Terms to Know
A. DIRECTIONS: Write a brief sentence explaining each of the following names and terms. You
will find all of the information you need in the Unit 1 Introduction in your textbook.
1. Jamestown: _________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Stamp Act: __________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. The Puritan Ethic: ____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. John Adams: ________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
B. DIRECTIONS: Use the hints below to help you answer each question.
1. What role did Puritanism play in the settlement of North American by Europeans?
[Hints: What caused the Puritans to leave Europe? What was the shining city on a hill?]

2. What were some differences between the New England and Southern colonies?
[Hints: What was the economy of New England like? What was the economy of the Southern
colonies like? How were their lifestyles different? What happened in 1619 in Virginia?]

3. How did Enlightenment ideas influence the new American society?

[Hints: What was the social contract? How did Enlightenment ideas influence the colonists
to seek independence from England?]

Essential Question 1: What is the relationship between place and literature?

A. DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions about the first Essential Question in the Introduction,
about the relationship between place and literature. All the information you need is in the
Unit 1 Introduction in your textbook.
1. The Natural Environment of the New World
a. The natural world the settlers found was _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. The Native American attitude toward nature was __________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. The Colonists and Nature
a. The colonists regarded nature as belonging _______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. The religious colonists dream for the New World was _______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. In contrast to their dream, the colonists reality in the New World was _________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
d. By the eighteenth century, the colonists attitude had changed to _____________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. The Attitudes toward Nature Expressed in the Literature
a. The religious colonists Errand into the Wilderness was ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. Later on, reason and technology made the natural world ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
B. DIRECTIONS: Complete the sentence stems based on the Essential Question Vocabulary
words.
1. In contrast to a city, a wilderness is ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Early Americans appreciated both the danger and the splendor of _____________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Some of the terrors that faced the early colonists were _____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

Essential Question 2: What makes American literature American?

A. DIRECTIONS: On the lines provided, answer the questions about the second Essential
Question in the Introduction, about what makes American literature American. All the
information you need is in the Unit 1 Introduction in your textbook.
1. Theme in Literature
a. A theme is __________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. Themes in literary works are revealed through_____________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Three Early American Themes
a. In their writings about nature, early Americans expressed ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. The public writings of early Americans showed the unique combination of ______________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. Most early American writing emphasized two values: ________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Uniquely American Aspects of These Themes
a. What qualities did early Americans associate with their land? _________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. What was the attitude of early Americans toward the past and traditional European
themes?______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. What vision of themselves did early Americans express in their writings? ________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
B. DIRECTIONS: Complete the sentence stems based on the Essential Question Vocabulary
words.
1. Anitas independence made her very unlikely to ____________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Rajs optimism led him to approach challenges expecting ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. A sense of community developed in our class when _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3

Essential Question 3: How does literature shape or reflect society?

A. DIRECTIONS: On the lines provided, answer the questions about the third Essential Question
in the Introduction, about the relationship between the writer and society. All the information
you need is in the Unit 1 Introduction in your textbook.
1. Social and Political Forces Affecting Early American Literature
a. Puritan daily life, social relations, and lawmaking were all marked by __________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. The Enlightenment is associated with the qualities of _______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. Deep painful marks on American literature were left by relationships between Americans of
European descent and __________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Major Roles of Early American Writers
a. Examples of early American writers as oral poets and historians include _________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
b. Examples of early American writers as preachers and lawmakers include _______________
_____________________________________________________________________________
c. Early American autobiographers include __________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
B. DIRECTIONS: Complete the sentence stems based on the Essential Question Vocabulary
words.
1. When Lani finally learned to govern her impulses, she_______________________________.
2. We celebrate our familys heritage by____________________________________________.
3. The preachers sermon interpreted the doctrine of _________________________________.