Active movement to end slavery in the U.S. North before the Civil War in the 1860s. Allusion

Artistic and literary rebellion against established society of the 1950s and early 1960s, associated with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others. "Beat" suggests holiness ("beatification") and suffering ("beaten down"). Boston Brahmins

Strict theological doctrine of the French Protestant church reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) and the basis of Puritan society. Calvin held that all humans were born sinful and only God s grace (not the church) could save a person from hell. Captivity narrative

Popular 17th- and 18th-century literary sketch of a character who represents a group or type. Civil War

Extended metaphor. Term used to describe Renaissance metaphysical poetry in England and colonial poetry, such as that of Anne Bradstreet, in colonial America. Decadents

Controversial mode of textual analysis that can reveal hidden ideological assumptions. Questions hierarchical thinking in which one term is privileged over another (e.g. culture versus nature, man versus woman). Draws on thought of French theorist Jacques Derrida, who elaborated on linguist Ferdinand de Saussure s vision of language as a system of [..]

A Puritan doctrine in which God "elects," or chooses, the individuals who will enter heaven according to His divine will. Ellipsis

An 18th-century movement that focused on the ideals of good sense, benevolence, and a belief in liberty, justice, and equality as the natural rights of man. Existentialism

Post-World War I artistic movement, of German origin, that distorted appearances to communicate inner emotional states. Faust

The view, articulated in the 19th century, that women are inherently equal to men and deserve equal rights and opportunities. More recently, a social and political movement that took hold in the United States in the late 1960s, soon spreading globally. Genre