Romanticism How It Affected American Literature

What Does It Mean to Romanticize?  to make something seem better or more appealing than it really is SOME MODERN DAY EXAMPLES INCLUDE…

 Online dating profile that says “nice to hug” instead of “overweight”  When you say, “It’s not you, it’s me” when breaking up with someone  Commercials that give incentives for buying their product (BOGO, Free Shipping), even though it’s not a good product  When you think you’re getting a deal, but you’re really not (What’s the catch?)

 When your parents say, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.”  When someone urges you to run a marathon because: “you’ll feel so good afterwards.”  Girl: “Does this dress (that is three sizes too small) fit me okay?  Boy: “It fits great. You look like a model!”

When Did It Begin? first full-fledged literary movement  The first full-fledged literary movement that developed in the U.S and 1860  It was made up of a group of authors who wrote and published between about 1820 and 1860 emotion, a love of nature, and imagination  Emphasized emotion, a love of nature, and imagination  Partly a reaction to Industrial Revolution  America’s movement to machinery replacing several manual labor- type jobs

Romanticism Literature individual issues  Focused heavily on individual issues rather than societal issues (internal conflicts, self-awareness) againstRationalism  Clearly against ideas of Rationalism open to imagination  Much more open to imagination “gothic”  Where the term “gothic” was first coined poetry and short stories  Lots of poetry and short stories symbolismimagery  Used a lot of symbolism and imagery metaphoricalalliterative  Writing was much more metaphorical and alliterative dark and mysterious stories  It was finally “okay” to write dark and mysterious stories  Allowed readers to consider other concepts of the world

Romanticism Authors and Their Works  Nathaniel Hawthorne  Famous Work: The Scarlet Letter  Story about a woman who cheats on her husband and must wear a red “A” on the chest of her clothing for the rest of her life. This was her public punishment for being an adulteress.

 Mary Shelley  Famous Work: Frankenstein  Victor devises a plan to re-create and re-animate a dead body. He uses a combination of chemistry, alchemy, and electricity to make his ambition a reality. The monster become fully-functional in society, which causes great concern for the inhabitants having to coexist with a somewhat-resurrected human being. Romanticism Authors and Their Works

 Herman Melville  Famous Work: Moby Dick  For three days, a crew pursues the great whale named Moby Dick, who repeatedly turns on the Pequod's boats, wreaking destruction and killing Fedallah, sinking the Pequod, and dragging Ahab into the sea and his death. Only Ishmael survives, clinging to Queequeg's coffin. He floats for a day and a night before the Rachel rescues him. Romanticism Authors and Their Works

 Edgar Allan Poe  Famous Works…  “The Pit and the Pendulum”  #torturechamber  “The Premature Burial”  #burnedalive  “The Cask of Amontillado”  #revenge  “The Tell-Tale Heart”  #murderersguilt  “The Raven”  #creepybird  “The Haunted Palace”  #dontgointhere  19 th century examples of Saw, Hostel, and anything written by Stephen King

Poe’s Signature Literary Devices Alliteration repetition of consonant soundsbeginning of wo  the repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words.  Marty the monkey is moving to Montana on Monday.Assonance repetition of vowel soundswithin words  the repetition of vowel sounds, usually within words.  Those who go to shows are old and lonely  Live life free and easy! Internal rhyme  the rhyming of words within a line of poetry, not just at the end of the lines.  I had a cat who wore a hat.  I’m a poet and I don’t even know it.

 Identify Poe’s signature literary devices in his famous poem “The Raven”  We will do the first couple stanzas together as a class  Then, you’re on your own  Use these markings as your indicators:  Circlealliteration  Circle all words being used with alliteration  Underlineassonance  Underline all words being used with assonance  Squareinternal rhyme  Square all words being used with internal rhyme “The Raven” Poem Explication