T HE A MERICAN R ENAISSANCE

1. WRITERS Think back to what you know about the Romanticist Period. What did Europeans think of Americans? How did they consider America? People doubted if America would ever be able to produce good writers because of the American culture and landscape. Melville, an American author, encouraged American readers to “prize and cherish” their own writers. A literary boom eventually emerged. Literary means what?

3. A LITERARY COMING OF A GE Why do you think it might have been called this? What might be happening that is raising awareness of American authors and causing them to be important, whereas before they were completely ignored as a literary voice?

3. CONTINUED American writers were finally finding their place in literature, separate from Europeans. Americans were beginning to accept that their writing could be different and distinct from European forms. American writers were producing remarkable bodies of work, “masterpieces,” for national literature.

4. REBIRTH Renaissance, meaning rebirth, goes right along with “the explosion of American literary genius.” Writers saw this as a new, exciting period in American literature, calling it a rebirth because it sparked a new era.

12. REFORM MOVEMENTS What is a reform ? New England had long been known for self-improvement and intellectual pursuits, and this led to many reform movements. People were trying to make improvements in public education, conditions for the mentally ill, putting an end to slavery, and women’s rights, to name a few. People were passionate and trying hard to reform and change many different parts of American culture.

6. UTOPIAN Because of the rise of social causes and reforms during this time, many people were trying to come up with ways to better our society. These plans are called utopian in that they are plans for creating a more perfect society. What is an example of a utopian plan / person today?

5. INTUITION Intuition is what we know because of the way we feel; it is an immediate response, not something that can be carefully weighed and considered. Example: If someone makes you feel uncomfortable because he says something that makes you feel dumb, your intuition tells you that you don’t like that person/that you shouldn’t’ trust that person.

10. TRANSCENDENTALISM Definition: One must go beyond the everyday human experience in the physical world. Intuition is an important tool for discovering truth (using our emotion/what is within us). Idealists: Saw the positive in things Believed in human perfectibility (ability to be perfect / good) Worked to achieve this goal Examples of how they did this?

11. EMERSON AND THOREAU Clearly and forcefully expressed Transcendental ideas Believed that nature was evidence of something spiritual (connection between God and nature) Something can be discovered about God by going back to nature.

8. INDIVIDUAL Relying on yourself and doing your own thing is more important than doing what everyone else is doing and following custom and tradition. Don’t conform to what everyone else is doing but do what YOU think is right. “Follow the beat of your own drum.”

2. OPTIMISTIC We can find God directly in nature. Everything can be explained; even the most tragic events like death and disaster can be explained on a spiritual level. If we trust in our ability to know God directly, then we will realize that each of us can be a part of the “source of all good.” Again, this is an emphasis on the individual.

7. DARK SIDE / 9. DARK ROMANTICS Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne, two famous authors of this time period, are Dark Romantics. The Dark Romantics are in contrast to Emerson because Emerson believes that the spiritual facts are basically good, while the Dark Romantics believe that Emerson and others ignore the dark side. They focused on the struggle/conflict between good and evil, the effects of guilt and sin, and madness/derangement in people’s minds.

I N B RIEF … Period was A “rebirth” in American literature No longer any doubt of the voice of American authors Transcendentalism: sought to have individuals “transcend” to a higher spiritual level. To do this, the individual had to seek spiritual, not material, greatness. Also, the individual had to seek the truths of life through intuition. Emerson and Thoreau were two important figures associated with Transcendentalism. Emerson was the philosopher and teacher; Thoreau was the student and practitioner.