American Romanticism Industrialization War of 1812 California Gold Rush American Romanticism 1800-1860

War of 1812 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Kbn8hFT1Q Fill out notes sheet while you watch!

Rationalists vs. Romantics View of Society

City = Place of prosperity and self-realization Rationalists City = Place of prosperity and self-realization New York City

City = Cesspool of moral decay, crime, and corruptions Romantics City = Cesspool of moral decay, crime, and corruptions

Nature = Independence, Moral Clarity, and Healthy Living Romantics and Nature Nature = Independence, Moral Clarity, and Healthy Living

Influences on Literature Interest in the past Interest in remote places Mystery and the unknown Individualism becomes a major concern --- America lacks confidence in the shadow of long-established European cultures

“Re-examine all that you have been told at school or church or in any books, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes in in every motion and joint of your body.” ---Walt Whitman

The American People Protestant Christianity sill dominates philosophical/theological outlook Fear and prejudice against Catholicism comes with influx of immigrants American no longer a homogeneous land

Odds and Ends of Romanticism Placed faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination Shunned the artificiality of civilization and seek unspoiled nature as a path to spirituality. Saw poetry as the highest expression of the imagination Dark Romantics: Used dark and supernatural themes/settings (Gothic style)

Romantics Would Have Loved SpongeBob

Romantic Writers American writers were flourishing, but it was still a rather small profession Most notable writers were from the Boston-New York-Philadelphia area The society of writers was rather tight Still difficult to make a good living writing Writers and thinkers begin to address unique American writing not based on European models

Famous Romantic Writers Washington Irving (“Rip Van Winkle”) Emily Dickinson (poetry) Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass) Edgar Allan Poe (“The Raven”) Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)

Walt Whitman American poet, essayist and journalist A humanist --- he was a part of the transition between romanticism, transcendentalism and realism

Walt Whitman Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon Often called the father of free verse His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality

Washington Irving American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century Best known for his short stories:  "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) 

Edgar Allen Poe Dark Romantics Writer/ Wrote in Gothic Style He used dark and supernatural themes/settings Author of “The Black Cat” and “The Raven” He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career

FILL IN YOUR NOTES AS YOU WATCH THE CLIP BELOW Emily Dickenson FILL IN YOUR NOTES AS YOU WATCH THE CLIP BELOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxsWI1J45OM Famous for her poetry she published in the Romantic Period “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”

Nathanael Hawthorne American novelist and short-story writer One of the great masters of American fiction

Nathanael Hawthorne His novels and tales are powerful explorations of moral and spiritual conflicts Most famous for The Scarlet Letter He was born in Salem Massachusetts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUCJY2eCUIU

American Romanticism Review Value intuition over reason Youthful innocence is better than educated sophistication Society = Corruption Nature = Beauty, Truth, and Freedom Supernatural tales and myths