Topics for Discussion in The Scarlet Letter Topic 1: tropes/figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, imagery, sentence structure, inverted sentence structure)

Topic 2 Group 2: (a) biblical (b) historic allusions

Topic 3 Thematic development of Sin and Guilt as develop through characterization, setting, and conflict (internal and external)

Topic 4 The theme of Individuality as developed through the characters, setting and conflicts.

Topic 5 Symbolism (scaffold, rosebush, the letter)

Topic 6 Gothic and Romantic elements

Topic 7 Who is the Romantic Hero?

The Romantic Period in American Literature 1800-1860

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson “For all men live by truth, and stand in need of expression. In love, in art, in avarice, in politics, in labor, in games, we study to utter our painful secret. The man is only half himself, the other half is his expression.”

After the Bill of Rights and Before the Civil War

City vs. Country To the Romantic, the city is corrupt and ugly. To the Romantic, the country represents independence, moral clarity, and healthy living.

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Published in 1850 “The Custom House Essay” “The Custom House” was added by Hawthorne because the original text of the novel was too short for publishing.

Imagination over Reason Romanticism is a reaction against rationalism which brought about the sooty, squalid cities of the Industrial Revolution. Imagination was able to apprehend truth the rational mind could not reach.

Romantics vs. Rationalists (Age of Reason) Imagination Spontaneity Individual feelings Wild nature Reason Logic Planning Cultivation The Age of Reason in the United States is best exemplified through the revolutionary writings of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry.

Gothic Novels Allowed Romantics to explore the exotic nature of the supernatural realm and the psychological exploration of the human mind. Edgar Allan Poe published “The Raven” in 1845. Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

The American Journey Takes reader to the literal countryside and the countryside of the imagination. A journey away from corruption of civilization and rational thought. A journey toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of the imagination.

Romantic Poets Believed poetry was the greatest witness to the power of imagination. Still modeled themselves after the European poets. Fireside poets known for their comfortable subjects appealing to families—love, patriotism, nature, family, God and religion. Their literary conservationism kept them from being truly innovative.

Romantic Hero Is innocent and pure of purpose Has a sense of honor based not on society’s rules but on some higher principle Has a knowledge of people and of life based on deep, intuitive understanding, not on formal learning Loves nature Avoids town life

Romantic Heroes Portrayed in Film and Television Television series Sleepy Hollow inspired by a Romantic short story by Washington Irving Film The Last of Mohicans starring Daniel Day Lewis based on a novel by James Fenmore Cooper

5 I’s of Romanticism Imagination Intuition Innocence Inner Experience Inspiration from nature and the supernatural

When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure the When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. (Walt Whitman)

Important Dates Thurs. Oct. 3 quiz on Ch. 1-4 Wed. Oct. 9 quiz through Ch. 9 Mon. Oct. 14 quiz through Ch. 16 Tues. Oct. 22 quiz through 22 Discussion Days Oct. 22-24 Test on Fri. Oct. 25 Every week—two passages of Applied Practice