English 10 Bell Ringer 10/21/2013 Directions: Answer the
following questions on your own paper. Be prepared to submit your
answers. What do you think of when you hear the word romantic? What
makes you think of these ideas? Minimum : 5 Sentences. Include
evidence. (I think of _________ because of ________.)
Slide 3
Stories Covered In this unit we will read short stories and
poems in addition to The Scarlet Letter. Most of these texts will
be in your literature textbook; therefore, it is important that you
bring your textbook to class EVERY DAY. If a text is not in your
book, I will provide the text for you. At any point, if you feel
that you are having trouble understanding these stories, PLEASE
come to tutoring. I am more than happy to read these stories with
you and help you understand them. You can also find summaries for
many of these works on www.sparknotes.com. Use the website to help
you, but do not let it do all of the work for you. You cannot pass
the reading quizzes, exams, etc. if you do not read these works as
they appear in the textbook.www.sparknotes.com Transcendentalism:
-Self-Reliance Emerson Darkness: -The Devil and Tom Walker Irving
-The Ministers Black Veil Hawthorne -The Raven Poe -The Mask of Red
Death Poe -The Pit and the Pendulum Poe -The Tell-Tale Heart
Poe
Slide 4
The American Romantic Period Be prepared to take a quiz on
these notes! -Stems from a break from the lack of fantastical and
creative artistry of the Puritans -Reflects the still innocent,
pre-Civil War United States -Prominent Romantics: Nathaniel
Hawthorne Edgar Allan Poe Herman Melville Washington Irving Ralph
Waldo Emerson (also a Transcendentalist) Henry David Thoreau (also
a Transcendentalist)
Slide 5
Our Authors Edgar Allan Poe Washington Irving Nathaniel
Hawthorne Ralph Waldo Emerson Images Source: Google Images
Slide 6
Characteristics of Romantic Work: 1. Focus on a love of nature
2. Focus on the individual 3. Focus on truth as a universal concept
4. Imaginative, fantastical settings 5. Highly symbolic 6. Features
elements of the supernatural 7. Favors emotion over intellect 8.
Development of national pride
Slide 7
Big Ideas 1. Optimism and Individualism : Optimism is the
belief that the world around us is always improving. Some American
Romantics presented an optimistic view of human progress. 2.
Kinship with Nature: Many American Romantics believed in the
beneficial effects of a close link between humanity and nature. 3.
The Power of Darkness : There was a dark underside to American
Romanticism. It took a variety of forms, including fascination with
disease, madness, death, evil, the supernatural, and the
destructive aspects of nature.
Slide 8
Transcendentalism & Its Authors Main author: Ralph Waldo
Emerson This first movement of romanticism occurred toward the end
of the 1700s when new ideas began to transform European
civilization. Romantic authors shared two important attitudes: They
valued imagination and feeling over intellect. They believed in the
basic goodness and equality of individuals, and that everyone had
the right to govern themselves. This belief in the value of the
individual was known as transcendentalism.
Slide 9
Emerson & Transcendentalism Transcendentalism: Emersons
belief in the value of the individual was shaped by the era in
which he lived. In the 1830s, the influence of Romanticism began to
be felt in the US. One result was transcendentalism, a loosely
organized movement that embodied the ideas of thinkers who were
active in new England in the 1830s and 1840s. Emerson was a leading
figure in this group. The essence of Transcendentalism was the
philosophy known as Idealism. For idealists, reality is not in
material objects (the stuff you have) but instead exists in our
ideas about those objects. The Transcendentalists believed that
intuition (your gut feeling) is a more valuable guide than sensory
experience (what you can see, taste, touch, smell, and/or hear) in
grasping what nature really is.
Slide 10
Transcendentalism 4 basic principles of Transcendentalism
include: An individual is the spiritual center of the universeand
in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history and,
ultimately, the cosmos itself. It is not a rejection of the
existence of God, but a preference to explain an individual and the
world in terms of an individual. (cosmos=world as a harmonious
system) The structure of the universe literally duplicates the
structure of the individual selfall knowledge, therefore, begins
with self-knowledge. Transcendentalists accepted the neo-platonic
conception of nature as a living mystery, full of signsnature is
symbolic. The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend
upon self- realization.
Slide 11
Do transcendentalists have a better understanding of who they
are as individuals than people who follow the crowd have? Explain
your answer. Who Has It Better? (Exit Slip) Directions: Answer the
following questions on your own paper. Be prepared to submit your
answers. 1. TS Topic Sentence (Answers the question) 2. CD Concrete
Detail (Gives a fact) 3. CM Commentary (Explains why you are right)
4. CM Commentary (Explains further why you are right) 5. CS
Concluding Sentence (Wraps it up) Minimum: 1 paragraph (5
Sentences)
Slide 12
Bell-ringer #2 You must have your literature textbook. If you
do not have it, go get it! Do not begin the bell ringer until you
have all of the appropriate materials in class. Directions: Answer
the following question on your own paper. Use COMPLETE sentences!
Be prepared to submit your work. Do not use your notes. What do you
remember about Transcendentalism?
Slide 13
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882 Emerson was the central figure of
American Romanticism. His ideas about the individual, claims about
the divine, and attacks on society were revolutionary. Even though
Emerson was a ministers son, trouble and hardships caused Emerson
to lose faith and leave the church. He rejected organized religion,
and instead claimed that truth was found within the
individual.
Slide 14
From Self-Reliance, pg. 183 -In this essay, Emerson suggests
that everybody has the potential for genius. -In this essay,
Emerson argues that people should recognize their own ideas and
follow their convictions. People should live by their own opinions
and stop imitating the ideas of others. In other words, dont follow
the crowd; be yourself! Be prepared for a reading quiz on this
text!
Slide 15
Homework Bring appropriate song lyrics that express
Transcendentalist ideas to class tomorrow. You must bring these to
class in order to be able to complete the class assignment! If your
song lyrics are inappropriate in any way, you will receive a zero
and be referred to the office. Ideas to look for in your songs
lyrics: - Appreciation of nature or a desire to return to nature
-Self Reliance-- either taking care of yourself or thinking about
yourself -Nonconformity--celebrating individuality and being
yourself -Standing up for rights, especially if something seems
unjust - Simplicity (shunning material goods, stress, etc) -Seizing
the day and living life to the fullest.
Slide 16
Minimum: 1 paragraph (5 Sentences) Exit Slip Answer the
following question on your own paper. Use COMPLETE sentences! Be
prepared to submit your work. Do you consider yourself a
transcendentalist or a person who goes with the crowd? Why or why
not? 1. TS Topic Sentence (Answers the question) 2. CD Concrete
Detail (Gives a fact) 3. CM Commentary (Explains why you are right)
4. CM Commentary (Explains further why you are right) 5. CS
Concluding Sentence (Wraps it up)
Slide 17
So, What Does Transcend Mean? 1.To pass beyond the limits of:
emotions that transcend understanding. 2.To be greater than, as in
intensity or power; surpass: love that transcends infatuation. 3.
To exist above and independent of (material experience or the
universe) "One never can see the thing in itself, because the mind
does not transcend phenomena." (Hilaire Belloc)
Slide 18
The Power of Darkness: Dark Romanticism Authors to remember :
Hawthorne, Melville, Poe, and Irving Our experience of the life and
the world has a dark side. We fear the evils we knowpoverty,
violence, disease, madness, deathand are troubled by nameless
terrors that might lurk in the shadows beyond our knowledge. Not
all important American writers of Emersons time shared his
optimism. In fact, Hawthorne admired Emerson, but thought him
unrealistic. To Herman Melville, Emersons optimism was nonsense
that ignored the disagreeable facts of life.
Slide 19
Washington Irving Named after his countrys first president,
Washington Irving won the battle for Americas literary
independence. He was the first American storyteller to be
internationally recognized as a man of letters. During his time, he
was both a lawyer and a writer. urges him to accept the deal, he
refuses out of spite; so she tries to make her own bargain with the
devilbut she disappears. Tom then accepts the devils offer and
becomes a rich money-lender who preys on those in need. When a
borrower asks Tom for an extension on a loan he replies, The devil
take me if I have made a farthing. The devil whisks Tom away, and
his riches turn to cinders. The Devil and Tom Walker : One day, the
devil offers Tom Walker a pirates treasure. When Toms greedy
wife
Slide 20
Nathaniel Hawthorne Almost all of Hawthornes fiction is based
on stories of the past, particularly the history and legends of his
Puritan ancestors in New England. Hawthorne was drawn to the
puritan past as Gothic writers were drawn to the Middle Ages. The
Ministers Black Veil: pg. 266When parson Hooper arrives in church
to preach his Sunday Sermon, he is wearing a black veil that hides
much of his face. His congregation is deeply troubled by the veil,
but no one is willing to ask him why he wears it. As the years
pass, the ministers veil remains an object of dread but also makes
him a more effective clergyman.
Slide 21
Edgar Allan Poe Gothic Horror : Gothic horror relies chiefly on
atmosphere, or mood, to achieve its effects. Writers create an
atmosphere of horror through plot, characters, and settings that
most people find chilling. Edgar Allan Poe was the first American
master of this type of horror. In his poems and stories, Poe often
bettered earlier Gothic writers in achieving spine-tingling
effects.
Slide 22
The Raven In The Raven, the speaker is a melancholy man who has
lost his beloved Lenore. Late one night, while he is grieving, he
is visited by an eerie and mysterious raven. The man questions the
raven about Lenore, but the ravens only response is Nevermore. The
poem shows how loneliness and excessive grieving drive the man to
madness.
Slide 23
Tone in The Raven You are going to create a 4-square index card
for THREE of the following tone words. You may select any three you
wish. Be sure to choose tone words for which you can find textual
evidence. As we read The Raven, you should look for evidences of
these tones in the text. I will show you an example of a completed
4-square index card. Do not lose these cards! You will turn them in
after we finish reading The Raven. 1.Grim of a sinister or ghastly
character; frightful, grisly 2.Melancholy a gloomy state of mind;
sorrowful, glum 3.Fearful feeling fear, dread, or apprehension;
afraid, timid, worried 4.Mournful feeling or expressing sorrow or
grief; heartbroken 5.Depressed sad and gloomy; downcast, dejected
6.Lonely without company; solitary, alone 7.Morbid suggesting an
unhealthy mental state or attitude; unhealthy 8.Haunted
preoccupied, as with emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed 9.Somber
extremely serious; depressing, mournful
Slide 24
The Pit and the Pendulum A soldier is sentences to death by the
Spanish Inquisition but escapes a sharp swinging pendulum. Just as
he is about to be forced into a pit by heated metal walls, French
soldiers enter the city, and he is saved. Be prepared for a reading
quiz on this text!
Slide 25
Bell Ringer The Gothic Tradition: Dark, mysterious, and often
ghastly settings and subjects are part of the Gothic literary
tradition. In the U.S. Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were two of the
most famous authors to write in the Gothic tradition. How is The
Pit and the Pendulum an example of the dark tales of horror that
make up the Gothic tradition? Directions: Answer the following
question on your own paper. Use COMPLETE sentences! Be prepared to
submit your work.
