1. Romanticism
D. Lindamood

2. Timeline
1858
U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision antagonizes anti-slavery forces.
1791
Bill of Rights is added to the constitution
1830
Underground Railroad is established
1848
Lucretia Scott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organize the first Women’s rights Convention in New York
1970
1860
1849
California Gold rush begins, causing a great migration to Sacramento and the surrounding areas.
1803
Louisiana Purchase is Negotiated
1851
New York Times is founded.
1838
U.S. Army forces Cherokees out of Georgia on Trail of tears to Oklahoma

3. Important Authors Cross of Snow Oliver Wendell Holmes
Romantic Authors and Poets
Washington Irving
“The Devil And Tom Walker”
William Cullen Bryant
“Thanatopsis”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
Cross of Snow
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The Chambered Nautilus
Old Ironsides
Dark Romantic Authors
Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Minister’s Black Veil”
Edgar Allan Poe
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
“The Raven”

4. Characteristics of American Romanticism
Values feeling and intuition over reason
Places faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination
Shuns the artificial nature of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature
Prefers youthful innocence over educated sophistication
Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual
Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development
Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress
Finds beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination

5. The Romantic Hero
“It has been a matter of marvel to my European readers, that a man from the wilds of America should express himself in tolerable English. I was looked upon as something new and strange in American Literature”
--Washington Irving
Due to the fact than most of Europe considered the newly founded Americas (as well as those who lived there) to be unsophisticated and uncivilized, American writers took it upon themselves to completely shed the identity of the sophisticated European, for a new identity of American innocence.
These authors strove to illustrate that eternal truths were not found in dusty libraries, crowded cities, or glittering court life, but in the American wilderness that was unknown and unavailable to the Europeans.

6. The Romantic Hero
To go along with this new idea, American authors crafted a new hero: The Romantic Hero.
The Romantic hero set itself purposely apart from the Rationalist hero (men like Ben Franklin), who was sophisticated, worldly, educated, and bent on making a place for himself IN civilization.
Characteristics of the Romantic Hero
Young or possesses youthful qualities
Has a sense of honor based not on societies rules but on some higher principle.
Has knowledge of people and life based on deep, intuitive, understanding, not on formal learning.
Loves nature and avoids town life
Quests for higher truth in the natural world

7. TAG Notes: Romanticism
T: The Devil and Tom Walker
A: Washington Irving
G: Short Story

8. Making Predictions
“The Devil and Tom Walker” tells the story of a man bargaining with the Devil in order to get what he wants. What predictions can you make about the fate of Tom Walker?

9. Literary Focus
While you read, use your graphic organizer to track the following literary devices:
Setting: Where the story is taking place
Plot: What is happening in the story?
Word Choice/Connotation: How does the language make you feel? Does it create tension, suspense? Are there particularly powerful images?

10. A: William Cullen Bryant G: Poetry
TAG: Romanticism
T: “Thanatopsis”
A: William Cullen Bryant
G: Poetry

11. Making Predictions
Thanatopsis is a word Bryant coined by joining together two Greek words thanatos “death” and opsis “sight”. With that understanding of the title, what can you predict the poem will be about?

12. Literary Focus
As you read “Thanatopsis”, makes notes in your TP-CASTT on the following literary and figurative devices
Personification: Who is “she?” What does she do?
Imagery: How do the images set the mood?
Metaphor: How do the metaphors support the theme?
Theme: What is William Cullen Bryant saying about death?