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1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM

1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM. Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions Interest in fantasy and supernatural

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Page 1: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

1800-1865AMERICAN

ROMANTICISM

Page 2: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions Interest in fantasy and

supernatural “deep” Good triumphs over evil, usually Strong focus on inner feelings Imagination over reason/

intuition over factShort stories, novels, and

poetry

CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN ROMANTICISM, CONT’D

Page 3: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

The first imaginative/creative literature that was distinctly AmericanWashington Irving (folktales)

William Cullen Bryant (poetry)

James Fenimore Cooper (novels)

EARLY ROMANTICS

Page 4: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Most popular poets of the time.

Read at home by the fireside

Poems contained strong family values, patriotism, etc.

Often memorized in elementary schools

Representative Poets Henry Wadsworth

Longfellow Oliver Wendell

Holmes James Russell

Lowell John Greanleaf

Whittier

FIRESIDE POETS

Page 5: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Philosophy that came to America from Europe

Occurred after Revolutionary War

Belief that man’s nature is inherently good

Man and society are perfectible (utopia)

Stresses individualism, self-reliance, and intuition

Representative Authors: Ralph Waldo

Emerson Henry David

Thoreau

TRANSCENDENTALISM

Page 6: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Also known as Gothic or Anti-transcendentalism

Man’s nature is inherently evil

Whatever is wrong with society—sin, pain, evil– has to be fi xed by fi xing the individual man fi rst

Use of supernatural

Strong use of symbolism

Dark landscapes, depressed characters

Representative authors: Nathaniel

Hawthorne Herman Melville Edgar Allan Poe

DARK ROMANTICISM

Page 7: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

THE SECRET TO UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN LITERATURE:

Every literary

period is a reaction to

the period that

came before it.

Page 8: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Puritanism Rationalism Romanticism

GodGod directly influences and controls the world

Less emphasis on God

Less emphasis on God, there is only natural order

Things happen because

God’s intervention Laws of nature Destiny

Man’s Nature

Man is inherently evil Man is inherently good

Man is good, civilization corrupts

Source of truth

God Reason and Logic Intuition and self-reflection

Fate

We are predetermined what we are going to do in life, nothing changes that.

God lets the world run its course without interfering

We can influence our own lives, but we are destined for certain things

Truth is available to

The elect Everybody Those who commune with nature

SO WHAT CHANGED?

Page 9: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Colonial Lit/Puritanism

• God controls universe in mysterious ways

• Holy Bible contains all truth

• Diaries, journals, personal narratives

Revolutionary Lit/Rationalism

• More logic/reason based

• Mankind should seek further Truth/knowledge

• Political/patriotic writings

Romanticism

• Less emphasis on God, only a natural order

• More idealistic• Truth comes from intuition and self reflection

REMEMBER: EACH LITERARY PERIOD IS A REACTION TO THE PERIOD THAT CAME BEFORE IT.

Page 10: 1800-1865 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM.  Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions  Interest in fantasy and supernatural

Take notes on the following videos Washington Irving: Bio, works, and style Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Summary and Analysis

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