American Romanticism: 1800 – 1855

Civil Disobedience

Unit Overview

Students will …• investigate ways that members of American

society have disagreed with the governing ideals • make comparisons among several texts that deal

with civil disobedience and form their own claim• identify rhetorical elements in speeches, texts,

and documents meant to persuade an audience.

Unit Essential Question

During the period of American Romanticism…

How did American writers criticize and challenge early American thinking?

Lesson Essential Questions

How do critical readers look for truth? What relationships do you see in the text(s) presented? How does this work illustrate the society’s concept of

independence? How does this work compare societal values? In what ways is the author criticizing his/her own society?

Is his/her critique justified? What would be an effective way to incite public response

to a current social problem? How can you tell if a source is credible?

Vocabulary

Literary Terms• Rhetorical Strategies• Logical Fallacy• Parallelism• SatireTranscendentalismRomanticism• Metonymy• Fireside poets

Historical Concepts• Westward Expansion• Manifest Destiny• Industrial RevolutionSocial Reform• Nationalism • Sectionalism

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

• Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress

• Finds beauty and truth in exotic locals, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination

• Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination

• Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture

Early Romantics• Romanticism is the

period of American writing that is inspired by nature, emphasized by emotions and imagination, and celebrates the individual spirit.

• How does this image reflect the characteristics of American Romanticism?

Early Romantic Writers

• William Cullen Bryant-celebrated as one of the first Romantic poets.

• Washington Irving-pioneered the short story as a literary form. He wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

• James Fenimore Cooper-credited with writing the first “truly” American novel. Inspired by westward expansion, period of exploration that led Americans out to the western wilderness. Known for his masterpiece The Last of the Mohicans. His novels were known as The Leatherstocking Tales.

Quotes from the Romantic Age• “To him who in the love of Nature holdsCommunion with her visible forms, she speaksA various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smileAnd eloquence of beauty, and she glidesInto his darker musings, with a mildAnd healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware…”

-From William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”

Assessment Prompt #1

• Compare/Contrast: How do the views of the Puritans differ with the concepts captured by the Romantics?

The Fireside Poets

A group of New England poets whose work was morally uplifting and romantically engaging.

• Emphasized moral themes• Were viewed as equals of British poets• Stressed individualism and an appreciation of

nature • Were committed to social reform

The Fireside Poets• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – best known of

the group; stressed individualism and an appreciation of nature

The following poets were known for using their poetry to bring social reform, or changes in society, such as abolition, women’s rights, temperance, and factory worker’s rights.

• James Russell Lowell• Oliver Wendell Holmes • John Greenleaf Whittier

Assessment Prompt #2

• Analyze: In what sense did each member of the Fireside Poets attempt to improve the United States?

The Transcendentalists

A group of writers, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who practiced transcendentalism(a philosophical and literary movement that emphasized living a simple life and celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination.

Characteristics of the Transcendentalists

• Emphasized living a simple life• Stressed a close relationship to nature• Celebrated emotions and the imagination• Stressed individualism and self-reliance(a key

term)• Believed intuition(inner perception) can lead to

knowledge• Believed in the inherent goodness of people• Encouraged spiritual well-being over financial

well-being

Comic View

• How does the argument between Calvin and Hobbes reflect the beliefs of the Transcendentalists?

Famous Transcendentalists

• Ralph Waldo Emerson• Henry David Thoreau

• These would influence later writers, such as – Walt Whitman– Robert Frost– Wallace Stevens

Famous Quotes

• Henry David Thoreau once stated, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”

Assessment Prompt #3

• Evaluate: Is Transcendentalism impractical or could it be practiced today?

American Gothic

A group of writers, who unlike most romantics, explored the capacity of human evil and whose work explored darker themes. Considered the “anti-transcendentalists”

Characteristics of American Gothic

• Known as the “Brooding Romantics”• Did not believe in the innate goodness of people• Explored the human capacity for evil• Probed the inner life of characters • Explored characters’ motivations• Agreed with romantic emphasis on emotion,

nature, and the individual• Included elements of fantasy and the

supernatural in works

Gothic Elements

• Grotesque characters• Bizarre situations• Violent events• Began in Europe• Inspired by he gothic architecture of the

Middle Ages

Gothic WritersThese writers were inspired by Washington Irving. Irving,

unlike the official “brooding Romantics” wanted to keep “mankind in good humor with one another.”

• Edgar Allan Poe-consider the father of American Gothic literature; his plots involve physical and mental torture, and retribution from beyond the grave.

• Nathaniel Hawthorne-famous for The Scarlet Letter, which focuses on the psychological effects of sin and guilt

• Herman Melville-blended adventure stories and exploration with issues of madness and the conflict of good versus evil

Assessment Prompt #4

• What aspects of gothic literature appear to have been influenced by gothic architecture?