1. American Romanticism (1800-1860) ENGLISH 11 AMERICAN LITERATURE

2. WHAT CORRUPTS US? INNATELY CORRUPT- RELIGION SAVES Humans are born corrupt and in need of saving (Puritanical Ideal) INNATELY INNOCENT- SOCIETY CORRUPTS Humans are born innocent, but society/civilization corrupts them by stripping them of their innocent roots. (Romantic Ideal) INNATELY CORRUPT-LOGIC/REASON SAVES Humans are born corrupt, but can be saved through careful attention and development of reasoning and deep thinking to find truth. (Revolutionary Ideal)

3. HISTORICAL & CULTURAL CONTEXT U.S. becomes its own country and grows as a global power. Westward Expansion, Gold Rush, Louisiana Purchase Slavery necessary for economic success by Southern plantation owners Many advances in transportation (railroad, horseless carriage) and communications (telegraph)

4. VIEWS AND BELIEFS (TENETS) Man is born innocent, but corrupted by society and civilization. Man can be “saved” by returning to his natural state through the power of nature and the individual human mind. Truth is no longer found in reason, but in trusting one’s emotions, spontaneity, and sincerity.

5. VIEWS AND BELIEFS (TENETS) CONT… NATURE is the source of instruction, delight, and nourishment for the soul. Life in nature VERSUS unnatural life in society Strong beliefs in values of democracy and freedom (esp. of the individual) Art moves toward highlighting the sublime, grotesque, and the beautiful with a touch of strangeness INSTEAD OF the order and proportion from the Age of Reason (Rev.).

6. MOVEMENTS WITHIN ROMANTICISM Romanticism- celebrates and shows off the power of the individual Dark Romanticism (Gothic)- use of the supernatural and darker side of human emotion and the power Transcendentalism- to achieve a higher understanding of truth and to get back to one’s roots through the power of nature and to rely on only one’s self.

7. MORE ABOUT TRANSCENDENTALISM Many truths about human nature and the universe can be learned through nature. The small things in nature contain the same perfection contained in all of nature. Intuition (instinct) is more powerful than reasoning Everything is connected by an inner “spark” that can be found or fired up.

8. MAJOR AUTHORS AND TEXTS Washington Irving “The Devil and Tom Walker” (Faustian Legend) “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (Headless Horseman) Walt Whitman/Emily Dickinson (poets) Ralph Waldo Emerson/Henry David Thoreau “Walden,” “Self-Reliance,” “Civil Disobedience” Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven” (poem) “The Masque of the Red Death”

9. CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN ROMANTICISM Values feeling and intuition over reason Places faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development