1. Important American Writers

2. Literary Renaissance Transcendentalism
New England writers and philosophers
Urged people to transcend (overcome) the limits of their minds and let their souls reach out to embrace the beauty of the universe
B/l truth can be found beyond the physical world
B/l all humans share in the spiritual unity of creation.

3. Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson Margaret Fuller
Leader of the Transcendentalism movement
Wrote that those who wanted fulfillment should work for communion with the natural world
Margaret Fuller
Organized groups of Boston women to promote their education
Argued for equal rights for women

4. Writers Henry David Thoreau Washington Irving
B/l individuals must fight the pressure to conform
“Walden” – live separate from society
Washington Irving
“Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
One of the first prominent American writers

5. Writers James Fenimore Cooper Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Last of the Mohicans”
Romanticized Native Americans and the frontier explorers
Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Scarlet Letter”
Explored the persecution and psychological suffering that results from sin

6. Writers Herman Melville Edgar Allan Poe
“Moby Dick” – based stories on his experiences in the US Navy
Adventures of a wandering sailor, confronts class and social status, good and evil, a man’s place in the world
Edgar Allan Poe
Poem and short story writer
Achieved fame as a writer of terror and mystery
The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven

7. Writers Walt Whitman Noah Webster
Perhaps the most important poet of the era
“Leaves of Grass” – collection of poetry
Loved nature, the common people, and American democracy
Noah Webster
1st American dictionary of the English Language

8. Writers Emily Dickinson A recluse wrote love poems
Best remembered female poet of the era
Wrote very sad, simple, personal, deeply emotional poetry