American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic...

15
American Roman,c Period 11A

Transcript of American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic...

Page 1: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

American  Roman,c  Period  

11A    

Page 2: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Historical Context (1800-1860)

1803- Louisiana Purchase §  France sold it for 4 cents an acre! §  Double American Territory 1810-Mexico fought

for Independence against Spain

Page 3: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Historical Context continued

§  1812- War of 1812 (British tried to take back America.)

§  1815- Napoleon defeated @ Waterloo §  1820-1821- Missouri Compromise

§  free state/slave state §  1830- Underground Railroad begins §  1837- Queen Victoria rules England §  1845- United States annexes Texas

§  leads to war with Mexico in 1846

Page 4: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Historical Context end

1848- California/Alaska Gold Rush §  Helped develop West §  Led to building railroads 1854- Republican Party §  Formed-opposed

extension of slavery 1858- England rules India

Page 5: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Romanticism is NOT!

about love!

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. -Edgar Allan Poe

Page 6: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Romanticism is…

§ Romanticism, especially in Europe, developed as part of a reaction against rationalism.

§  It is an intellectual and artistic movement.

Page 7: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Characteristics of Romanticism

•  the imagination, individual feelings, and wild nature were of greater value than reason and logic

§  Civilization/Progress is

bad- Nature is good/God.

Page 8: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Characteristics conti…

§  Educated sophistication is bad - Youthful innocence is good.

§  Individual freedom is important §  Poetry is the highest

expression of the imagination

Page 9: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Romantic Escapism: From Dull Realities to Higher Truths

§  The Romantics wanted to rise above the “dull realities” to a realm of higher truth.

§  searched for exotic settings

§  more “natural” past §  far from the grimy and noisy

industrial age §  supernatural realm or in old

legends and folklore.

§  Tried to reflect natural world §  Underlying truth and beauty

Page 10: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

The American Novel and the Wilderness Experience §  The development of the American novel

coincided with westward expansion, with the growth of nationalist spirit, and with the rapid spread of cities.

§  James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851). §  Cooper explored uniquely American

settings and characters: frontier communities, American Indians, and the wilderness of western New York and Pennsylvania.

§  Created the first American heroic figure: Natty Bumppo, a skilled frontiersman whose simple morality and almost superhuman resourcefulness mark him as a true Romantic hero.

Page 11: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

The American Hero

§  Young- or at least acts young §  Innocent and pure §  Sense of honor higher than

society’s honor §  Has knowledge of people and

life based on a deep understand’g, not based on education

§  Loves nature §  Quests for a higher truth

Page 12: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

§  Pioneer of the short story §  “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of

Sleepy Hollow” §  Quit writing after his novel received

criticism. §  Buried in New York’s Sleepy Hollow

cemetery.

Page 13: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside §  AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

new themes, but AR poets attempted to prove their sophistication by working solidly within European literary traditions rather than crafting a unique American voice.

§  Even when they constructed

poems with American settings and subject matter, the AR poets used typically English themes, meter, and imagery.

Page 14: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

The Fireside Poets

§  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

§  John Greenleaf Whittier

§  Oliver Wendell Holmes §  James Russell Lowell Emphasized: social reform, individualism, and nature

Page 15: American)Roman,c)Period)bellsroom.weebly.com/.../8590911/american-romantic... · American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside ! AR novelists looked for new subject matter and

American Romantic Poetry: § Considered most

popular of poets, but they were unable to recognize the poetry of the future, which was being written right under their noses.