2. American Romanticism & Washington Irving

3. American Romanticism  Time: from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War  (2)Reasons (Why Romanticism emerged?) A. Fast development of the new nation (flood of immigrants; pioneers pushing the frontier further west; industrialization; economic boom; a promising new land with prevailed optimistic moods) B. Development of journalism (Some influential periodicals appeared, such as The Atlantic Monthly. They need more literary productions.) C. Foreign influence (Review history of English literature.)(from the 18th century classicism to sentimentalism to Pre-Romanticism to Romanticism which can be divided into passive group and active group)(most influential British writers to American Romanticists-Walter Scott)

4. American Romanticism  General features of Romanticism A. Stressing emotion rather than reason B. Stressing freedom and individuality C. Idealism rather than materialism D. Writing about nature, medieval legends and with supernatural elements

5. More Features of Romanticism  emotions  subjective  original  youth  supernatural  into nature  innocent  pure of purpose  heavy figurative language  imaginative  American heroes  possibly: arabesque grotesque  past subject matter

6. American Romanticism  Features of American Romanticism A. Imitative B. Independent  a. peculiar American experience (landscape, pioneering to the West, Indian civilization, new nation\'s democracy and dreams)  b. Puritan heritage (more moralizing, edifying more than mere entertainment) (careful about love and sex. example: Scarlet Letter)

7. Washington Irving (1783-1859)  Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving also served as the U.S. minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.

8. Washington Irving (1783-1859)  Life  Significance  Works

9. Life  Irving was born into a wealthy New York merchant family. From a very early age, he began to read widely and write juvenile poems, essays and plays. Later, he studied law.  His first book A History of New York, written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, was a great success and won him wide popularity.  In 1815, he went to England to take care of his family business ther, and when it failed, had to write to support himself.

10. Life  With the publication of The Sketch Book, he won a measure of international recognition.  In 1826, as an American diplomatic attach é, he was sent to Spain, where he gathered material for his writing.  From 1829 to 1832, he was secretary of the U.S Legation in London.  Then when he was fifty, he returned to America and bought “ Sunnyside ”, his famous home. There he spent the rest of his life, living a life of leisure and comfort, except for a period of four years (1842--1846), when he was Minister to Spain.

11. Significance  “ Father of American literature ”  “ Father of the American short story ”  The first American writher of imaginative literature to gain international fame.  The short story as a genre in American literature began with Irving ’ s The Sketch Book.  The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of American Romanticism.

12. Works A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich Knickerbocker 1809 《纽约外史》 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent 1819-1820 《见闻札记》 “ Rip Van Winkle ” “ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ” 《睡谷的传说》 Bracebridge Hall 1822 《布雷斯布里奇庄园》 Oliver Goldsmith 1840 《哥尔德斯密斯》 Life of George Washington 1855-1859 《华盛顿传》

13. The End