1. Early American Romanticism

2. Another Change in Our Thinking? o Ben Franklin v. Arthur Mervyn: Showdown in Early America o Journey into the city (“civilization”) o Franklin: “independence, prosperity, and commerce” o Mervyn (C.B. Brown): “decay, corruption, and evil” o What caused these varied perspectives?

3. Romanticism: Location, Location, Location o City: corruption, greed, death, moral ambiguity o Countryside: health, moral certainty o Frontier: Endless possibility and potential o “In nineteenth century America, this geography of the imagination – town, country, frontier – played a powerful role in American literature and life…” (116)

4. America: No Longer About the Benjamin (Franklin) o Ben Franklin v. Rip Van Winkle: Antithetical figures; both have mythical/symbolic qualities o Freedom is relative (Franklin found it in “civilization”; Van Winkle found it in nature) o Question: At this point, do Americans want to be more like Rip or more like Franklin?

5. Tenets of American Romanticism o A distrust of “civilization” o A nostalgia for the past o A concern with individual freedom o An interest in the supernatural o A profound love for the beauties of the natural landscape

6. Romanticism: Something Borrowed o Origins in Europe (go figure) o Strong influence on music, literature, and painting o Rational thinking is inferior to the imagination o The Age of “What if?” o “The Romantics believed that the imagination was able to discover truths that reason could not reach…” (119) – Example of this?

7. An Important Tip: Romantic = Romance

8. Faith and Romanticism o Puritans and Romantics found divinity in nature o A great deal of Romantic poetry focused on “the contemplation of the natural world” (119) o “Romantics found in nature a far less clearly defined divinity…[a generalized] emotional and intellectual awakening” (119).

9. Romantic Heroes: No Cape Required o Youth (or childlike qualities) o Innocence o A love of nature/distrust of town life o A corresponding uneasiness with women o The need to engage in a quest for some higher truth in the natural world o Examples?

10. The “Fireside Poets” o Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier o Works appealed to “the ordinary, literate man or woman” o Subject matter focused on love, patriotism, nature, family, God, and religion o “Their attempts to create a new American literature relied too reverently on the literature of the past” (122)

11. Questions?