Romanticism Test Review

Romanticism A Movement in art, literature, and music during the 19th century Characterized by the five “I”s Imagination Intuition Idealism Inspiration Individuality

Romanticism Imagination: Emphasized over “reason.” It was a backlash against the “Age of Reason.” Intuition: Romantics placed value on “intuition,” or feelings and instincts over reason. Can you think of examples of these two from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” or “The Devil and Tom Walker”?

Romanticism Idealism: The concept that we can make the world a better place. It refers to any theory that emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or language over matter- thought plays a crucial role in making the world the way it is. From “Self Reliance”: “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” - Emerson

Romanticism Inspiration: The romantic artist in an “inspired creator” rather than a technical master.” What this means is “going with the moment” or being spontaneous rather than “getting it precise.”

Romanticism Example of Inspiration from “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Ah, so you shall be misunderstood.” Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, [great thinkers whose radical theories and viewpoints caused controversy] and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Romanticism Individuality: Romantics celebrate the individual. They write about personal feelings and ideas. During this time, Women’s rights and Abolitionism were taking root as major movements. Example from “Song of Myself” by Whitman: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself…”

Themes in Romantic Literature Individualism (Nonconformity and Self-Reliance) Imagination and the Supernatural Nature vs. City (Simplicity vs. Materialism) Distant or Remote Settings List specific examples of these from the literature we have covered in this unit. The next slide will tell you what literature will be on the test. Try specifically to tackle #3.

Literature Covered Title Author “The Devil and Tom Walker” Washington Irving “Success” Emily Dickenson “Song of Myself” “I Sit and Look Out” “I Hear America Singing” Walt Whitman “The Raven” “Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe

The Devil and Tom Walker Tom Walker and his wife are a miserable couple who live in a run down home with their starving horse. One day, Tom takes the long way home through a swamp to avoid his wife. This spooky swamp has a history of pirates, buried treasure protected by the Devil, and Indian sacrifice rituals. Tom stumbles on the Devil. Devil says he will make Tom rich (with the unmentioned price of selling Tom’s soul). Tom is not sure. Tom tells wife. Wife goes to strike deal with Devil. Devil kills wife. Tom then strikes deal with Devil to be a usurer, a money lender who charges high interest rates that unsuspecting clients cannot pay back. Tom is happy with his new job, but as he ages, he becomes more concerned about the deal he has made. He carries a bible in his pocket, and leaves a bible on his work desk. He even prays loudly in church. One day, a client says he cannot pay Tom his money because his family is broke. Tom gets angry and says, “The Devil can take me if I have made a farthing!” The Devil then barges in, swoops Tom onto his horse, and they ride off to Hell. All of Tom’s assets are burned to cinders. THE END.

Walt Whitman Poetry “I Hear America Singing” – An uplifting poem about America’s working class and their contribution to our country “I Sit and Look Out” – An exposure to the negative injustices of America’s working class “Song of Myself” – Taken from his book of poetry titled Leaves of Grass, these poems are all about Whitman connecting himself to nature and the grand scheme of life. He explains that grass represents “the uncut hair” above graves, and that there is no death, only “forward life.” When he dies, he becomes one with the soil, which fertilizes our food, which in turn we digest. So all of us will meet up one day in the ground or in someone’s blood after they have ingested us! This is also where “I sound my barbaric YAWP” comes from in Dead Poets Society.

The Raven by Poe It's late at night, and late in the year (after midnight on a December evening, to be precise). A man is sitting in his room, half reading, half falling asleep, and trying to forget his lost love, Lenore. Suddenly, he hears someone (or something) knocking at the door. He calls out, apologizing to the "visitor" he imagines must be outside. Then he opens the door and finds…nothing. This freaks him out a little, and he reassures himself that it is just the wind against the window. So he goes and opens the window, and in flies the raven. The Raven settles in on a statue above the door, and for some reason, our speaker's first instinct is to talk to it. He asks for its name, and the Raven answers back, with a single word: "Nevermore."  The man asks more questions, particularly about his lost Lenore and if he will ever see her again. The bird's vocabulary turns out to be pretty limited, though; all it says is "Nevermore." Our narrator catches on to this rather slowly, and asks more and more questions, which get more painful and personal about Lenore. The Raven, though, doesn't change his story, and the poor speaker starts to lose his sanity.

The Masque of the Red Death by Poe Poe writes about the Red Plague, modeled after the Black Plague happening during Poe’s lifetime. The Red Plague is all about people oozing blood from painful sores and dying in a half an hour. Because of the plague, Prince Prospero decides to host a masquerade party with crazy entertainment, dancing, food and wine. He invites a thousand lords and ladies to attend this party that lasts for months. He shuts everyone into his kingdom, and his home is set up in seven different colored rooms, representing the stages of life. This eerie clock chimes every hour, and the guests get a little nervous about it but the party continues. Little do they know the clock represents their life time running out. When the clock strikes midnight, they notice a grim reaper type figure at the party and the guests get freaked out by this new guy they had not noticed. He starts walking toward the black and red room, so Prospero chases him all the way from the blue room to the black room. When Prospero tries to stab the character with his dagger, the Red Death turns around and Prospero falls dead. The guests become outraged and run toward the Red Death to rip off his mask, revealing nothing. Then, everyone else falls dead and the clock stops ticking. THE END.