What will you need to know? Be able to answer: – What is romanticism and what is not? – How did the previous time periods affect/help create the Romantic movement in America? – Why was the American Romantic movement an absolute necessity? – How does an individual resolve the need to be himself with the requirements/ demands of society? Be able to answer: – Why do artistic/cultural/ literary movements tend to push against each other rather than cooperate/build off of each other? Be able to define and identify: – Elements of A.R. – Techniques used by A.R. authors/poets – The Fireside Poets

Past Literary Periods Early America-

Past Literary Periods Puritan Era-

Past Literary Periods Age of Reason-

American Romanticism 1800s to the 1850s

Definitions: romance – 1.a novel or other narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting. 2.the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales. 3.a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating of heroic, fantastic, or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory. 4.a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.

What Romanticism IS NOT!

What Romanticism IS! Romanticism – – name for the literary period that followed the Age of Reason Country was now established Writers moved away from political matters and revolutionary ideas Began to focus on emotions, possibilities, imagination!

Types of Literature Romanticism- Short stories Romances – – book length stories that differ slightly from novels Poetry Essays Puritans- Historical narratives Sermons Plaine style Age of Reason- Pamphlets Self-help Speeches Political documents

Connected to the Movement 1.Escapism 2.Gothic literature 3.Novel (new form) 4.Intuition 5.Imagination 6.Nature’s: beauty, mystery, symbolism

INFLUENCES What Caused the Movement to Occur Frontier Optimism Mingling of races Experimentation Growth of industrialization

Influences on Romanticism 1. Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations.

2.Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier. Influences on Romanticism

3.Experimentation: defying conventions/norms in science, in institutions. Influences on Romanticism

4.Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive Influences on Romanticism

5.Growth of industrialization: polarization of North and South; North becomes industrialized, South remains agricultural. Influences on Romanticism

THE ELEMENTS What Romantic Wrote About Quest for beauty the far-away and non-normal EscapismInterest in external nature

Romantic Subject Matter 1.The quest for beauty: non-didactic (not meant to teach), develop concept of "pure beauty."

Romantic Subject Matter 2.The use of the far-away and non-normal: a.antique and fanciful: b.a characterization and mood: grotesque, Gothicism, sense of terror, fear; use of the odd and strange.

Romantic Subject Matter 3.Escapism: from American problems; occasionally delusional

Romantic Subject Matter 4.Interest in external nature: a.Nature as knowledge of the primitive. b.Nature as refuge. c.Nature as revelation of God.

With Your Compatriots: (2 minutes) ANSWER THE FOLLOWING: 1.) What kind of beauty did the Romantics seek to understand and portray? 2.) What is the most important Romantic attitude?

TECHNIQUES Themes and Motifs They Used Remoteness of settings Improbable plots. Inadequate characterization. subjectivity a world of "lies" “it just happens”

Romantic Techniques 1. Remoteness of settings in time and space.

Romantic Techniques 2. Improbable plots.

Romantic Techniques 3. Inadequate or unlikely characterization.

Romantic Techniques 4. Authorial subjectivity; the way “I see it.”

Romantic Techniques 5. Socially "harmful morality;" a world of "lies."

Romantic Techniques 6. Informality: the “organic principle,” form rises out of content; “it just happens.”

Representative Writers Romantics: William Cullen Bryant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow DARK/Gothic Romantics: Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville Edgar Allan Poe George W. Irving

Representative Works: Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter “Young Goodman Brown” “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Melville: Moby Dick “Billy Budd.” Irving: “The Devil and Tom Walker” “Rip Van Winkle “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Poe: “The Pit and the Pendulum” MANY others Bryant: “Thanatopsis” Longfellow: “Song of Life”

BIG PICTURE Focus on the individual and his inner world (imagination and emotions).

BIG PICTURE Nature is beautiful, mysterious, and symbolic. God can be seen in nature.

BIG PICTURE Intuition (inner voice or gut feeling) and imagination guides each individual to understanding.

Ticket OUT the Door 1.Name three Romantic writers. 2.Explain which influence you believe would most alter the writing/art of the American Romantics. 3.Discuss which subject matter item would make the writing of the Romantics most appealing. 4.Which technique would you say is most often used in our modern media?