The Darkness within Unit of Study: No. 4

Who is invited to this shindig? Edgar Allen Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Stephen King

Questions to ponder How does a conscience drive an individual’s actions or feelings? Are actions that benefit yourself but harm others justifiable? Is passing judgment upon others acceptable? Why do people fear the unknown? How does reputation influence a person’s identity?

A slight journal Write a journal entry answering the following questions. What is the scariest or most frightening thing about yourself? What is the worst thing that you have wished upon another? What is the highest price you would pay for what you really wanted? Remember, price isn’t limited to money…

Literary Movement We’ll be discussing a major literary movement or period The works within a literary movements share many similar qualities. Movements are gradual shifts

Romanticism When literary theorists and critics speak of Romanticism, they do not mean this:

Literary Romanticism Begins in the 1770’s and runs strong until around the 1870’s (one hundred years or so) Starts in England and Germany with poetry and art Response to Rationalism Coincides with the “age of revolutions” American Revolution French Revolution Industrial Revolution Various political and economic upheavals

Elements of Romanticism Imagination Nature Symbolism Individualism Everyday and Exotic

Imagination Imagination is the most important use of the brain It allows us to be creative We not only perceive out world, but help create it Human’s version of the power of creation found in Nature or God Where feeling and intellect work together

Nature Work of art created by the divine A language of symbols A healing power A refuge from artificial civilization

Symbolism A symbol represents other ideas/concepts Romantics saw this as a superior means of communicating ideas than a one-to-one relationship Nature was a collection of symbols that God used to communicate to humans

Individualism Romantics were for individualism, uniqueness, and eccentricity Hero-artists, men who spat in the face of God, outcasts Preferred boldness, suggestion, free-experimentation Rejected absolute systems, each person must figure out their own system Art as creation

The everyday and exotic Society was complex Revered the common man, children Alternately, set writing in exotic times/places Appeared in paradoxical situation Paradox – a statement that seemingly contradicts itself, but shows the possibility of truth

Paradoxes “Je ne parle francais pas” – Bart Simpson Can a man drown in the fountain of eternal life? Nobody goes to that restaurant; it's too crowded. “Do not read this sentence.” "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young."-George Bernard Shaw Time Traveler’s Paradox

Write again Can you think of anything you have read, seen, played, or listened to that might be considered Romanticism? What was it? Where was it? Why do you think it was Romanticism?