Transcript American Romanticism p. 215-6

English III
CHS
C. Edge
I. Characteristics of American
Romanticism
A.
B.
C.
D.
Affirmation of feeling and intuition over
reason
Faith in imagination, inner experience,
and youthful innocence, rather than
educated sophistication
Belief in the unspoiled natural world, as
opposed to the artificiality of civilization
Regard for individual freedom and the
worth of the individual
II. A Reaction Against Rationalism
Americans begin to form their own cultural
identity
B. Romantics helped build this identity
C. Romanticism – the schools of thought that
value feeling and intuition over reason
D. Romanticism developed as a reaction
against rationalism
A.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Industrial Revolution
Squalid cities
Miserable working conditions
Limits of reason
E. Imagination able to discover truths that
rationalism could not
1. these truths were accompanied by
powerful emotion and associated with
natural beauty
2. imagination, individual feelings, and
wild nature valued above reason, logic,
and sophistication
III. Romantic Escapism
A.
B.
Desire to rise above “dull realities” of
life to find a realm of higher truth
Situations and settings from “natural”
past rather than the grimy and noisy
industrial age
A. Supernatural elements
B. Old legends
C. folklore
C. Reflect on natural world until dull reality
fell away to reveal beauty and truth
D. Contemplation of nature leads to
emotional and intellectual awakening
IV. The American Novel and the
Wilderness Experience
America provides a sense of limitless
frontiers
B. Novel develops along with westward
expansion, growth of nationalist spirit, and
idealization of frontier life
C. Unique characters and settings
A.
James Fennimore Cooper
1.
Natty Bumppo – true Romantic hero
a.
1)
2)
3)
4)
Simple morality
Love of nature
Distrust of town life
Superhuman resourcefulness
V. American Romantic Poetry:
Read at Every Fireside
A.
B.
C.
American poets wanted to show that
Americans were a sophisticated people
Worked within European literary
traditions
Used styles familiar to those who had
recently immigrated to America
D. Fireside Poets
1. Boston poets
a. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
b. John Greenleaf Whittier
c. William Cullen Bryant
d. Oliver Wendell Holmes
e. James Russell Lowell
E. Named because their poetry was read
aloud at the fireside as family
entertainment
F. The Fireside Poets were limited by their
literary conservatism and did not
recognize the poetry of the future.
1. How does Romanticism differ
from rationalism?
Answer:
Romanticism differs from rationalism
because Romanticists believed that
there was knowledge and truth that
could not be accessed or understood by
the mind.
2. In what two principal ways did
Romantics try to rise above “dull realities”?
Answer:
The first way was to focus their attention
on pre-industrial or nonindustrial people
and societies. The second way was to
focus on nature so that they could shake
off the dulling effects of everyday life.
3. How were the goals of the American
Romantic novelists different from the goals
of the Fireside Poets?
Answer:
The novelists wanted to celebrate
American uniqueness, while the Fireside
Poets wanted to prove that Americans
could life up to European standards.